Cure Wood Floor Cupping

Wood floors will cup if installed in damp basements or if the concrete subfloor beneath did not properly cure before installation.

Cure wood floor cupping.

However several common situations that are known to cause cupping can be addressed and can even be reversed. Leaks from plumbing or appliances can also cause wood floors to cup. Cupping can happen even to a flawlessly installed wood floor depending on the conditions of the building and the environment. Here s how that happens.

Like cupping wood floor crowning happens because the boards are exposed to a moisture imbalance over an extended period of time. This is referred to as dry cupping wood floor cupping and product quality. One instance that involved a delayed manifestation of a cupping problem was a wood floor installed on the second of three levels in an existing structure in a warm humid climate. Cupping is a result of the changes in moisture in the room.

Cupping develops gradually often due to inadequate acclimation of the wood before installation. After the floor had performed well for a year and a half the floor suffered a serious failure within the period of a few weeks and had to be replaced. Wood floor cupping can occur with any width board though the cupped appearance will often be greater with a wide plank due to its wider width. When the moisture increases the wood swells and then when it decreases the wood shrinks.

Wood floor crowning is the opposite of cupping and happens when the center of the board is higher than the edges. It refers to a state when the individual wood planks appear to be higher on the edges as compared to the center of the board forming the shape of a cup.