Hi,
I would appreciate some advice on the following:
We had a solid oak floor laid onto a ground floor concrete floor (laid about 25 years ago) in Aug 2007 and had not had any problems with it til Aug 2008 after the heavy rains. The floor started to buckle at two end of the room (perpendicular to the length of the boards).
The original fitter came to assess the floor and ripped part of it up. He took some readings with his hygrometer and said that he thought we had had a leak. We have not pipes that run under the floor so I was perplexed. My theory was the humidity in the air.
He ripped up some boards on the perimeter of the wooden floor and it seemed that the floor boards were touching the skirting boards. It seemed that the floor had shifted all the way to the perimeter. After removing some of the perimeter boards the floor seemed to settle back into place.
The fitter is adamant that he fitted the floor correctly and that the apparent "leak" is the cause of the buckling. In some areas the wood has pulled up some of the screed and bitumen. Surely that is just where the contact is the weakest?
He advised us to get a de-humidifier over the weekend to dry the room out. We just turned up the heating full-time and did not bother with a de-humidifier. On returning the following week he took some more measurements and said that the room had now dried out, (despite us not getting a de-humidifier.)
We are in constant debate over what the cause was and whether we should pay for the new wood and the relaying of the floor.
My theory is that he did not leave enough perimeter space for the floor to expand. He also did not let the wood acclimatise in the room prior to starting the laying, which I thought was routine?!
I would appreciate some advice as he is not too keen on accepting responsibility for the costs and relaying the floor.
thanks
Dennis
I would appreciate some advice on the following:
We had a solid oak floor laid onto a ground floor concrete floor (laid about 25 years ago) in Aug 2007 and had not had any problems with it til Aug 2008 after the heavy rains. The floor started to buckle at two end of the room (perpendicular to the length of the boards).
The original fitter came to assess the floor and ripped part of it up. He took some readings with his hygrometer and said that he thought we had had a leak. We have not pipes that run under the floor so I was perplexed. My theory was the humidity in the air.
He ripped up some boards on the perimeter of the wooden floor and it seemed that the floor boards were touching the skirting boards. It seemed that the floor had shifted all the way to the perimeter. After removing some of the perimeter boards the floor seemed to settle back into place.
The fitter is adamant that he fitted the floor correctly and that the apparent "leak" is the cause of the buckling. In some areas the wood has pulled up some of the screed and bitumen. Surely that is just where the contact is the weakest?
He advised us to get a de-humidifier over the weekend to dry the room out. We just turned up the heating full-time and did not bother with a de-humidifier. On returning the following week he took some more measurements and said that the room had now dried out, (despite us not getting a de-humidifier.)
We are in constant debate over what the cause was and whether we should pay for the new wood and the relaying of the floor.
My theory is that he did not leave enough perimeter space for the floor to expand. He also did not let the wood acclimatise in the room prior to starting the laying, which I thought was routine?!
I would appreciate some advice as he is not too keen on accepting responsibility for the costs and relaying the floor.
thanks
Dennis
