Lots of loose boards in engineered wood floor

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Q: What happens to an engineered wood floor when a home is left unoccupied with no power/AC for a year? I’m about to buy a repo with lots of loose boards. Is this the reason why? Too dry and shrinking away from the floor glue? I know they used glue originally via the exposed edge at dishwasher area.

A: I don’t think that is the reason. If it is a repo, the owner may have been short on money and this was a DIY project. He may not have used the correct trowel to sped the adhesive (too small a notch) and probably didn’t roll the floor so he got inadequate grip on the back of the boards with the adhesive. That is my theory.

Follow-up Q: Is there any solution short of replacing the boards? I may be able to remove and re-glue some areas that are totally hollow sounding but there are places that have pockets that are loose. How do I fix these?

A: Bostik makes an injectible adhesive. Drill a small hole and inject. The adhesive will expand and fill the void below the floor, gripping both the sub floor and finished floor.

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