What Is Cupping On Hardwood Floors

This problem can happen with either solid or engineered hardwood flooring and is a response to changes in the moisture content of the wood.

What is cupping on hardwood floors.

Some of the causes of installation related cupping are. A cupped floor develops as moisture from the underlayment or subfloor moves upward through the hardwood. To find out more about the cellular structure of wood see my article understand the science of water and wood floors cupping in solid wood floors. The center of the board dips below the edges.

See the picture at the top of this post for an example of a cupped floor. Increase the relative humidity in the room with cupped floors to 20 percent to prevent cupping from the air being too dry. Cupping occurs in solid wood flooring as a result of an elevated mc in the bottom of the flooring compared with the mc of the face. As the name implies the surfaces of boards that suffer from cupping have a concave shape.

Let s face it no matter if you installed a light colored oak hardwood floor a darker toned cherry wood floor or something in between like hickory you want your floors to look good. How to fix cupped hardwood floors. Whether your hardwood floor is made of solid or engineered wood it is bound to react to moisture so ensure you take the precautionary measures to prevent cupping. A poor flooring installation can also result in the cupping of a hardwood floor.

Cupping is a common problem found in hardwood floors. Cupping means that the wood that is raised on the edges of each individual floor board. Cupping occurs whenever the individual planks of a floor become concave in the center and rounded on the sides thereby creating a sort of cup or bowl. As furniture and people begin to inhabit the area it will bring about a new level of moisture and.

Homeowners take pride in their wood floors. This makes the wood appear to be in a u shape. The sides of each board are higher than the middle sections. They bow inward resembling the bowl of a spoon or the inside of a cup.

Underlayment and or subfloor that is too wet at the time of installation will cause wood floor cupping. It s surprising how quickly some people can point out a hardwood floor that is not flat and if you. Cupping can also occur in rooms with dry humidity. If a hardwood floor is installed before a subfloor is properly dried or before the floorboards reach an equilibrium moisture content emc such as before the inside of a building s air is conditioned there is a chance for cupping later on.

5 tips to prevent hardwood floor cupping this summer.