The hardwood floor in a house I looked at has raised edges. The finish on the floor looks new. It is 3/4 inch red oak stapled to the sub floor. I was not able to see if a barrier of felt paper had been used under the oak. A friend had a water leak that caused his floor to appear as this floor does. Moisture meter @ top read 9.8 on average and 11.3 @ subfloor in basement. Could elevated moisture in basement cause the edges of the oak floor to raise (cup)? What should the MC of the floor be? What is the purpose of the felt paper between sub floor and flooring?
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Replies
I don't know about wood floors and won't answer you question directly.
The the equalibriam moisture level depends on the part of the country that you are in and if the house has AC that has been running.
The moisture level that you mention is on the high side, but might be normal for some parts of the country.
How hold is the house and how old do you think that the floor is?
Atlanta-hot and humid lately with lots of rain.
Haveasafe,
Think you found the problem. Go take some more MC readings on some furniture (underneath) and in spots around the basement. Floor is acting just like a board sitting on wet grass in the sun. Seems like the basement needs a dehumidifier. Equalize the MC and the floor should set down.
KK
KK
Thanx. Present owner only heating basement with auxillary unit for heat pump system. Heat pump has not been installed. Need the dehumidification for sure.
hsd
I do wiring so I might be completely wrong about this, wouldn't be the first time, but it sounds like maybe the flooring expanded but had been laid too tight for the situation. Having nowhere to go the water softened wood squeezed up to form the ridges. If your lucky, and have been praying to the right deitie/s, drying everything out will allow everything to return to normal.
I have seen this sort of thing happen, welcome to Florida. The HO involved dried the rooms, with two dehumidifiers after vacuuming with a wet/dry vac every few days for a week. Then let the dehumidifiers work for a long time, months is what he said. No danger of going too long on this I was told.
Afterwards he had a flooring guy, who had been directing the entire ordeal, sand it flat and refinish. I was impressed with the finished product. HO went ahead and had him refinish the entire house and it looked nice.