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buckling bamboo floor mkeary 09-26-2006
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Posted by on September 26, 2006, 10:46 am
The house I bought last winter has a bamboo floor in the kitchen (and
radiant heat in the floors). The bamboo is natural-colored and grained
like a wood floor (lines visible, not dots of endgrain). It sat fine
through the winter, but the humidity of summer has caused the boards to
swell, buckling the center of the floor upwards. The middle 6-7 of the
3-1/2" (x 5/8" thick) boards are humped over most of the 13-foot length
of the kitchen, as much as 2" high in the middle of the hump. In
addition to being trecherous walking if one (visitors) are not
expecting it, I am concerned that further floor or cabinet damage can
occur if a heavy friend steps on it (forcing the adjacent boards
outwards and/or upwards, against wall and under cabinets).

As far as I can tell, the flooring goes all the way to the walls under
the cabinets. The floor was laid about 5 years ago, and the prior
owner simply lived with the fact that it popped up every summer here in
north NJ. He tells me the installer is out of business.

Any suggestions? Will a typical homeowners' insurance plan cover
repair of a problem like this? Is there a solution short of pulling
the cabinets and appliances from one wall, reducing the width of a
board to allow for expansion, and replacing everything? Thoughts?

Regards, Teo


Radiant Heat 468x60
Posted by Todd H. on September 26, 2006, 11:36 am

Oy. I don't know about hte fix, but the folly of the installer/prior
owner perhaps was that wood floors should be installed in the
summertime, and the wood should be allowed to sit and acclimate in the
house for a good period of time to prevent this stuff from happening.

Short of reinstallation, I'm not sure what can be done. Sorry to hear
of this problem!

Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

Posted by Goedjn on September 26, 2006, 12:05 pm
On 26 Sep 2006 07:46:21 -0700, mkeary@gmail.com wrote:

>The house I bought last winter has a bamboo floor in the kitchen (and
>radiant heat in the floors). The bamboo is natural-colored and grained
>like a wood floor (lines visible, not dots of endgrain). It sat fine
>through the winter, but the humidity of summer has caused the boards to
>swell, buckling the center of the floor upwards. The middle 6-7 of the
>3-1/2" (x 5/8" thick) boards are humped over most of the 13-foot length
>of the kitchen, as much as 2" high in the middle of the hump. In
>addition to being trecherous walking if one (visitors) are not
>expecting it, I am concerned that further floor or cabinet damage can
>occur if a heavy friend steps on it (forcing the adjacent boards
>outwards and/or upwards, against wall and under cabinets).
>
>As far as I can tell, the flooring goes all the way to the walls under
>the cabinets. The floor was laid about 5 years ago, and the prior
>owner simply lived with the fact that it popped up every summer here in
>north NJ. He tells me the installer is out of business.
>
>Any suggestions? Will a typical homeowners' insurance plan cover
>repair of a problem like this? Is there a solution short of pulling
>the cabinets and appliances from one wall, reducing the width of a
>board to allow for expansion, and replacing everything? Thoughts?
>

Running a dehumidifier to keep the humidity down will work.
If you can get under the toe-kick and or up against the far
wall with a saw, you can cut a kerf anywhere to allow for
expansion, but if you want the cut concealed, you'll have
to move whatever is going to be covering the cut.


Posted by on September 28, 2006, 11:59 am
> Running a dehumidifier to keep the humidity down will work.
> If you can get under the toe-kick and or up against the far
> wall with a saw, you can cut a kerf anywhere to allow for
> expansion, but if you want the cut concealed, you'll have
> to move whatever is going to be covering the cut.

I started a dehumidifier in the basement area below/behind the kitchen
in mid-August, with no apparent change. I suspect I need to set the
humidity lower or run it upstairs in the room itself.

You are exactly right - I am very reluctant to try to move the cabinets
(fancy, cherry-veneer, granite tops, on both sides of room). I have
called several flooring places to come give me their opinions.

Regards,
Teo


Posted by on September 26, 2006, 12:33 pm
well, if you remove the covering trim and shorten the boards where they
contact the wall will does that look like it will correct the problem
(is it binding), there are a number of tools that can handle this, the
easiest would be a circular say set to the right deapth, but you may
remove too much that way, best to use something that will only take off
1/2" at a time.

Empressess #124457


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mkeary@gmail.com wrote:
> The house I bought last winter has a bamboo floor in the kitchen (and
> radiant heat in the floors). The bamboo is natural-colored and grained
> like a wood floor (lines visible, not dots of endgrain). It sat fine
> through the winter, but the humidity of summer has caused the boards to
> swell, buckling the center of the floor upwards. The middle 6-7 of the
> 3-1/2" (x 5/8" thick) boards are humped over most of the 13-foot length
> of the kitchen, as much as 2" high in the middle of the hump. In
> addition to being trecherous walking if one (visitors) are not
> expecting it, I am concerned that further floor or cabinet damage can
> occur if a heavy friend steps on it (forcing the adjacent boards
> outwards and/or upwards, against wall and under cabinets).
>
> As far as I can tell, the flooring goes all the way to the walls under
> the cabinets. The floor was laid about 5 years ago, and the prior
> owner simply lived with the fact that it popped up every summer here in
> north NJ. He tells me the installer is out of business.
>
> Any suggestions? Will a typical homeowners' insurance plan cover
> repair of a problem like this? Is there a solution short of pulling
> the cabinets and appliances from one wall, reducing the width of a
> board to allow for expansion, and replacing everything? Thoughts?
>
> Regards, Teo


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