Q: I had a very expensive hardwood floor installed on concrete about a year ago. It started cupping in places within a month, and now the problem has spread to about 70% of the floor. I have had both the manufacturer as well as the company who installed the floor originally back to inspect the problem. Nobody can give me a satisfactory reason why they should not replace the floor.
Can you suggest a reason why “it just happened” and they should not be expected to fix the issue?
Is there a product they should have used to seal the floor, if in fact “the concrete is bleeding moisture”? Should they have tested the moisture level of the concrete to check for the need of said products use? This is not a fly by night business, so I trusted my purchase would be installed correctly and the manufacturer would honor a warranty for a faulty product. Please if you have any information or suggestions, I would appreciate any help!
A: If this floor is below grade there probably isn’t a solid wood manufacturer who would warranty it.
In any case, if installing on concrete even a slab at ground level the slab should have been checked first for moisture penetration. If I faced such a floor “bleeding moisture” I’m not installing the floor directly on the concrete. Clearly you have a moisture issue.
There are a number of adhesive type spreads available which serve the purpose of both a sound retardant and moisture barrier. Bostik makes such a product.
In your case it sounds like you may have been much safer putting down some type of membrane over the concrete then using dry core, for example, and installing an engineered floor on top of that.
If you have moisture coming through the concrete it is only a matter of time before mold also becomes an issue.