Bamboo Floor Buckling
In October we had an engineered bamboo click floating floor (from Cali Bamboo) installed in our English basement (50% below grade) in our brownstone. Our contractor out down a subfloor form Home Depot that consisted of square wood pieces that came with a rubber moisture barrier attached to it, which he laid over the cement slab. About a week ago I noticed some pretty obvious buckling and as per the manufacturers advice, I bought a dehumidifer and it’s been running continously for 3 days. There has been a slight improvement and the room is now at 35% humidity but the floor still has a ways to go to being normal again. I’m fairly certain there is no leak or serious moisture coming from underneath the floor, though until we lift up the floor we can’t rule that out. It’s been raining an awful lot lately, and it’s a below grade room and it seems likely that there was too much moisture there w/o a dehumidifer. I’m wondering if now that the humidity in the room is under control, it will take more time for the mositure to leave the floor and resettle. The other option option I discussed with our contractor (not a floor expert but a GC) is removing the moulding and if it’s evident that there was not enough space left upon install for floor expansion to cut a little more, thus giving room for the floor to settle. Any floating floor/bamboo experts please advise. Thank you.
xistent
in Flooring 13 years ago
4
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4 replies
sandyman | 13 years ago
Was a vapor barrier installed between the sub-floor and finish floor? As TTW notes, installing wood floors below grade can be very problematic, and is almost always discouraged. While the dehumidifier will draw out the moisture, it is still passing through the floor. Also, bamboo is problematic because it is more closer to grass than wood. The fibers are like straws that will drink up moisture and swel, especially at the endsl. On this I’m not sure, but I suspect the fibers may come apart over time if it’s subjected to repeated moisture cycles.
xistent | 13 years ago
Wanted to dd as the OP that after 6 days of dehumidier the floors are 80% + back to normal. I assume there was too much humidity therer and I will need to keep the humidity at a reasonable level during the warmer times of the year.
stevecym | 13 years ago
if the flooring did not buckle near the walls, I would bet that it is not pressed that close to the walls. Some spots may have held better than others and buckeled where it was weakest (and mind you I am not an engineered flooring person, so I do not know how these are secured). I do not install any flooring below grade or over concrete as there always seems to be issues, even when done by the most competent installers. I have read about this kind of install and if I remember, even if there was never any water present and even if you were going to install a moisture barrier and a subfloor, there was a critical moisture level in the concrete that could not be exceeded (again, that was with all of the precautions) and if it was higher than that number the install was not to be done. I am certain of this as I went on a quote many years ago and I remember taking a moisture meter and in the end I refused to even write the quote (that was when I made up my mind to never do these). Now, you say you have the humidity down to 35%. In a shop environment we try to store wood at 30% – but there is nothing wrong with 35%. I will say this, at 35% you have removed some of the moisture from the outter layer of that wood but it will take two months to remove it at the inner layer or all the way through. The way we check the wood is to take a reading on the outside and then cut the wood away and take a reading on the inside. Ideally wood used inside a house should be under 10% but that is going to depend on the environment. Maybe if wood was going to be installed in a moist basement, one would want it to have a higher percent moisture so as to not soak up too much and pop (do not quote me here, that is an idea I have). Which reminds me, did he let the wood aclimate? I doubt aclimation means too much these days with controled environments and extremes between dry steam heat, moist springs and dry a/c, but it is something to consider and we always do it in spite of what we think. There is a lot written on wood and moisture content. The National Wood Floor Manufacturers Association also has a lot written about installation and we are supposed to follow their guidelines when installing. It may be worth reading up on this as I only know enough to know when I too have to refer to a book. Steve
Townie | 13 years ago
Is the DRIlock subfloor buckling as well or just the bamboo? If the subfloor has raised there is a significant moisture problem. I would have your contractor remove the shoe moulding/baseboard and check to see where the floor is binding. You sure you didn’t get a flood during those major rain falls earlier in the month?