Question
I installed a regular old 3/4" x 1 1/2" plain sawn red oak. It was the middle of the summer of 2007. The house was built 10 years ago and the subfloor was flat and the moisture of the subfloor was 11 percent. We installed the floor and immediately started sanding and finishing it.
About three months later I get a call from the home owner and he wants me to look at the floor. When I went there I discovered that 10 % of the boards had somehow raised up on the tongue side to have over wood again, about the thickness of a business card. It was always on the tongue side of the board. I have had other professionals look at it and no one has an answer. Any words pertaining to this would be much appreciated.
Forum Responses
(Architectural Woodworking Forum)
From contributor J:
Can you clarify "raised up on the tongue side to have over wood again?" I don't understand what you mean by this.
The fact that the compression indication is on the tongue side in all cases means nothing in itself, but I'm surprised the expansion hasn't manifested itself in even the slightest lifting of the boards.
Was it a floating floor or fixed? How much of an expansion gap did you leave all around? The fact that it was fitted mid-summer 2007 with no problems since does add to the mystery, but perhaps you need to ask yourself what sort of weather conditions have prevailed in the last few months? Also, perhaps related to that, has anything happened to affect the subfloor in the interim?
