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In September 2019 and the months that followed I went through a catastrophe when a major leak was found in my crawlspace which caused serious buckling/cupping of my hardwood floors. Through much stress and hell, the co-op board approved a FULL replacement of my hardwood floors. While it was an undertaking of moving all my furniture out, being displaced for several days, and a cleanup of all dust that I will never ever forget, it all felt worth it when the job was done. This was back at the end of January.
Fast forward to the beginning of July 2020, last week to be exact, and I thought I felt something just a TAD funny when walking on the floors. A few days later when I felt it again, I told myself, it couldn't be...
Then after a thorough inspection, my worst nightmare possible had come true. I felt some wavyness to my brand new hardwood floors. Indeed there was some cupping beginning in them. I had no words. I was speechless. I didn't even bother calling the super and instead went myself into the crawlspace. I found absolutely no signs of a leak. I also saw the brand new insulation that was put in after the original leak was cleaned up and the space dehumidified. Again, this was a massive leak back then.
This all being said.... NOW, here in July 2020, what in the world is causing this now in my new floors, and in the very same spots mind you (a few parts of my place the floors aren't affected). FYI the new wood was acclimated for a solid 4 days.
Is it possible there is still moisture down there somehow? Is it possible the subfloor was warped back during the original leak? If thats the case, how were the new hardwood floors able to be installed so perfectly flush? On top of all this, the floor guy did SEVERAL moisture readings before his installation began. The original leak happened in early September. Everything was cleaned up and finished by some point in November. It is the Summer now here in NY and I've read that hardwood floors can kinda cup a bit due to humidity and then return to normal in the Fall/Winter, but idk, I personally have never experienced that in the near 5 years I've lived here, not to mention have never seen that happen to anyone else's floors in my life.
Someone.... Anyone... Please help...
In September 2019 and the months that followed I went through a catastrophe when a major leak was found in my crawlspace which caused serious buckling/cupping of my hardwood floors. Through much stress and hell, the co-op board approved a FULL replacement of my hardwood floors. While it was an undertaking of moving all my furniture out, being displaced for several days, and a cleanup of all dust that I will never ever forget, it all felt worth it when the job was done. This was back at the end of January.
Fast forward to the beginning of July 2020, last week to be exact, and I thought I felt something just a TAD funny when walking on the floors. A few days later when I felt it again, I told myself, it couldn't be...
Then after a thorough inspection, my worst nightmare possible had come true. I felt some wavyness to my brand new hardwood floors. Indeed there was some cupping beginning in them. I had no words. I was speechless. I didn't even bother calling the super and instead went myself into the crawlspace. I found absolutely no signs of a leak. I also saw the brand new insulation that was put in after the original leak was cleaned up and the space dehumidified. Again, this was a massive leak back then.
This all being said.... NOW, here in July 2020, what in the world is causing this now in my new floors, and in the very same spots mind you (a few parts of my place the floors aren't affected). FYI the new wood was acclimated for a solid 4 days.
Is it possible there is still moisture down there somehow? Is it possible the subfloor was warped back during the original leak? If thats the case, how were the new hardwood floors able to be installed so perfectly flush? On top of all this, the floor guy did SEVERAL moisture readings before his installation began. The original leak happened in early September. Everything was cleaned up and finished by some point in November. It is the Summer now here in NY and I've read that hardwood floors can kinda cup a bit due to humidity and then return to normal in the Fall/Winter, but idk, I personally have never experienced that in the near 5 years I've lived here, not to mention have never seen that happen to anyone else's floors in my life.
Someone.... Anyone... Please help...
You said that the crawlspace was dehumidified after the leak. Was there no crawlspace dehumidifier installed there to keep the humidity at a constant level? If not, that would be my first suggestion.
Thanks for your response. The dehumidifier was in there for several days post leak stoppage and it did the job of bringing the moisture levels way down to the point where it was all good and normal again. I lived here for 4 years before that leak and never had an issue with cupped floors or any crawlspace moisture/humidity, etc issues. Because of this, why would a dehumidifier have to be installed permanently if the levels were checked several times post cleanup and were shown to be good? The leak was stopped and everything that could have been done afterwards (to my knowledge) was done to make things right. New insulation, too.
Tomorrow I will ask the co-op board to do a moisture level check anyway, but yeah, this is where I'm at..
Side note for anyone reading incase you missed it, but... The floors were installed in the dead of winter, late January. The cupping started in what I would believe had to have been late June. Seems like signs might point to humidity, but again, 4 years pre original leak with the old floors and never had a problem with them.
Floor penetrations sealed? Vapor barrier on subfloor?
Do you have central HVAC? How long does it run? At what temp is the t/stat set?
Crawl space floor is concrete. Entrance is a wooden pull up gate kind of thing. To the left of that there are 10 square holes in the bricks going through to the crawlspace. Not sure if you consider that vented or not.
Floor penetrations and vapor barrier on subfloor I honestly have no idea. I was not present during the installations. I just keep going back to the fact that for 4 years prior to all this craziness the floors never showed any signs of issues like this, or at least none that I noticed, and I'm pretty anal when it comes to my place. I probably would have felt this wavyness of my floors on my feet in those 4 years.
I have two wall unit air conditioners. The main one in my living room runs pretty often during the summer. The other in my bedroom I ONLY turn on when I sleep. It should be noted that the bedroom is one of the worst areas with the floors, but that being said, again, going back to the original cause of the buckling/cupping last year was in fact a massive leak. I saw no leak at all when down there today. Nothing.
Crawl space floor is concrete. Entrance is a wooden pull up gate kind of thing. To the left of that there are 10 square holes in the bricks going through to the crawlspace. Not sure if you consider that vented or not.
Floor penetrations and vapor barrier on subfloor I honestly have no idea. I was not present during the installations. I just keep going back to the fact that for 4 years prior to all this craziness the floors never showed any signs of issues like this, or at least none that I noticed, and I'm pretty anal when it comes to my place. I probably would have felt this wavyness of my floors on my feet in those 4 years.
I have two wall unit air conditioners. The main one in my living room runs pretty often during the summer. The other in my bedroom I ONLY turn on when I sleep. It should be noted that the bedroom is one of the worst areas with the floors, but that being said, again, going back to the original cause of the buckling/cupping last year was in fact a massive leak. I saw no leak at all when down there today. Nothing.
Have you put a hygrometer in either your living room or your bedroom (preferably both)? You can get inexpensive ones on Amazon quickly, or even Home Depot or Lowes. I'd be curious what the RH (relative humidity) level is in those rooms.
Have you put a hygrometer in either your living room or your bedroom (preferably both)? You can get inexpensive ones on Amazon quickly, or even Home Depot or Lowes. I'd be curious what the RH (relative humidity) level is in those rooms.
In September 2019 and the months that followed I went through a catastrophe when a major leak was found in my crawlspace which caused serious buckling/cupping of my hardwood floors. Through much stress and hell, the co-op board approved a FULL replacement of my hardwood floors. While it was an undertaking of moving all my furniture out, being displaced for several days, and a cleanup of all dust that I will never ever forget, it all felt worth it when the job was done. This was back at the end of January.
Fast forward to the beginning of July 2020, last week to be exact, and I thought I felt something just a TAD funny when walking on the floors. A few days later when I felt it again, I told myself, it couldn't be...
Then after a thorough inspection, my worst nightmare possible had come true. I felt some wavyness to my brand new hardwood floors. Indeed there was some cupping beginning in them. I had no words. I was speechless. I didn't even bother calling the super and instead went myself into the crawlspace. I found absolutely no signs of a leak. I also saw the brand new insulation that was put in after the original leak was cleaned up and the space dehumidified. Again, this was a massive leak back then.
This all being said.... NOW, here in July 2020, what in the world is causing this now in my new floors, and in the very same spots mind you (a few parts of my place the floors aren't affected). FYI the new wood was acclimated for a solid 4 days.
Is it possible there is still moisture down there somehow? Is it possible the subfloor was warped back during the original leak? If thats the case, how were the new hardwood floors able to be installed so perfectly flush? On top of all this, the floor guy did SEVERAL moisture readings before his installation began. The original leak happened in early September. Everything was cleaned up and finished by some point in November. It is the Summer now here in NY and I've read that hardwood floors can kinda cup a bit due to humidity and then return to normal in the Fall/Winter, but idk, I personally have never experienced that in the near 5 years I've lived here, not to mention have never seen that happen to anyone else's floors in my life.
Someone.... Anyone... Please help...
Do you have anything in the home that can give you an accurate humidity reading? Recently had an A/C drain line clog and we were wondering why the indoor humidity was 82%...
Do you have anything in the home that can give you an accurate humidity reading? Recently had an A/C drain line clog and we were wondering why the indoor humidity was 82%...
No, I don't. But lets just say for argument sake I had a hygrometer and it showed high humidity. What would my next step even be? How would I determine where the humidity is actually coming from?
Moisture is definitely the culprit. It could be the RH level in your house is too high, or the subfloor is still wet, or the crawlspace humidity is too high. Vented crawlspaces eventually reach nearly the level of outdoor RH. If the insulation you mentioned is fiberglass between the floor joists, it only makes the problem worse by holding moisture against the subfloor.
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