Good afternoon! Cupping can be a wood floor owners nightmare. Most owners are unaware of why their floors are cupping to begin with. Cupping is when the edges of the boards are higher than the center of the boards. The boards look concave, or have a dish-like resemblance. Wider boards that are 4-7 in. wide usually have a slight cupping characteristic to them that can only been noticed in reflective light.
All other floors that have cupping, or any excessive cupping in those wider floors are definitely something to take note of. Usually cupping is caused from the sub-floor having more moisture than the wood itself. The drier wood flooring then soaks up the extra moisture, and causes the bottom to swell more than the top of the board. Since the top is not swelling at the same rate as the bottom, the top remains smaller and cupped.
A great example of when this could easily happen would be during new construction. New buildings are usually full of moisture, so the sub-floor soaks it up. When the wood floor installer comes, the wood is usually drier than the sub-floor. After the wood is installed and the heat, or air conditioning is turned on for the first time, the moisture from the sub-floor will soak up into the wood floor resulting in the floors cupping. A lot of these problems can be passed by simply letting the wood acclimate to the building's moisture before installation.
To prevent cupping, remember that the wood must contain nearly the same moisture level as the sub-floor. Make sure the wood is acclimated before installation. Keep the thermometer set to a nice temperature, usually around 70-72 degrees. And clean up any spills or water damage immediately.
If you have any questions or past experiences that you would like to share, feel free to post them on this blog, or give us a call at 316-747-4066. Have a great day!
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