Help! Warped hard wood floor has locked me out!

[warpedfloor]

Hi, can anyone offer any advice to this rather ridiculous problem. In a nutshell I've had hard wood flooring layed, which I now realise was with an insufficient expansion gap plus there is no beading under the door.

While I've been away the floorboards have expanded and warped upwards and are now jamming my front door shut, so I cannot get in!

I would like some advice on how to get in my home either by solving the warped boards or getting in via a window (uPvc)... The front door has a letter box only (no window pane).

Please see the photo attached I have just taken through the letterbox!

Untitled

• warpedfloor
• 5 Apr 2010
• 1

 

[big-all]

assuming you can get your hand and wrist through the letter box
broom handle /bit off wood 6"greater than the floor letter box measurement
through the letter box on a bit off string

try and place on the bump and see if you can push down enough to clear the door

of that dosnt work push about 30-50kg off books through the letterbox to try and lower the floor

 

[mac391]

My thoughts as well big-all...

if that doesn't work you can remove the beading from some pvc windows and remove the glass withought damaging it, then put it back.

Or !! push the floor fitter through the letterbox with the help of the broom handle !!

 

[warpedfloor]

Thanks for your ideas! I can get my hand in through the letter box and have tried pushing the floor down with a walking stick to no joy. The people who fitted the floor are suggesting I should have left the heating on and that damp has got under the door (I think this is highly unlikely as there is an external weatherboard), they seem to think they can gain access by slicing a bit off the bottom of the door and then placing a new piece of beading across the base of the door and a piece of quarter bead against that and the floor; does this sound feasible?!

 

[mac391]

From looking at your picture, the ends of the boards butt up against the door, with no expansion gap at all. Oak flooring does not expand length ways it only expands across its width so the floor must have been wrongly cut like this initially.

I would only let these cowboys cut at your front door if they were to replace it with a new one. It is their fault entirely and to have a floor of approx 1 metre wide expand that much is their lack of fitting knowledge.

There is a small argument about having your house in normal living conditions before and after fitting a new floor but if fitted correctly this wouldn't have happened.

You should demand instant access to your home in whatever way possible and your fitters expense. This is not your fault for being away, it's theirs..

 

[warpedfloor]

Thanks that makes total sense to me; from relooking at the photos I can see that a gap should have been left under the skirting for the floor to expand width ways (and a lot more by the door itself). From doing a swift google, this site says:

'You should always allow for an expansion gap all around a hardwood floor. It is important to understand that any movement that may occur will be across the width of the boards and not in the length.'

It is hardwood oak flooring (from Wickes), laid on top of lino with a concrete base (ex council property). Thankfully I have somewhere else to stay but I want to gather my facts before I agree to doors being hacked up.

http://www.britishhardwoods.co.uk/fitting.php

 

[mac391]

On the fitting side, Your floor has been floated, therefore, should also have a DPM (damp proof membrane) underlay to protect it from moisture in the concrete.

 

[warpedfloor]

Thanks, yes it did have a DPM. My concern is how (once I gain access..) the floor can best be rectified; if wood expands width ways, would removing the skirting board allow the floor to re-settle, or will I need to replace the entire buckled section? Good grief what a nightmare!

 

[big-all]

thats the option you should look at
remove the skirting trim the floor to give a 12mm gap all round then refix the skirting

 

[warpedfloor]

Thanks alot! The idiots who laid the floor don't seem aware of wood expanding width ways, and are still implying it is due to damp coming through the door (i.e my fault) and the heating being off. The flat is pretty much hermetically sealed due to the upvc windows, and the floor was laid last October!

 

[mac391]

As big-all says, once the expansion gap has been trimmed into the floor, which isn't easy to do by the way, you'll need specialist tools and someone who knows what they're doing, it's a good idea to put some weight on the middle of the floor as it dries.

 

[warpedfloor]

Thank you both for your wise words; the saga continues! On your advice, I have googled further and forwarded this to the floor layers.

http://manuals.woodyoulike.co.uk/sp...4-Gaps-They-are-there-for-a-very-good-reason-

'Doorposts: undercut architraves and doorpost with handsaw as far as the height of the new floor and chisel out what is needed – making sure you chisel out enough for the floor to hide its edge and still have room to expand'

It seems screamingly obvious that the door was not undercut and as Big-All says, the planks butt directly to the door, and a woefully lacking expansion gap. The response to this has been, 'we didn't put trim/skirting over the floor as the door is very near the ground'...plus continued implication that it is indeed 'my fault' due to the flat being unheated and damp getting under the door...

 

[mac391]

woodyoulike is a frequent poster on here and king of the "floating floors" ... There will be more info on door trimming if you look on the site.
Trimming doors is simply part and parcel of the job and there are numerous profiles to connect your new floor with existing floors through doorways, whether it's carpet, vinyl, wood, whatever....

and yes, Big-all persisted at you with good reason, the all important expansion gap!!

At least it sounds like you're in.. Keep at these bodgit and leggits, the less that are in our industry the better for all concerned!!

 

[WoodYouLike]

woodyoulike is a frequent poster on here and king of the "floating floors" ...

Could you make that Queen? (And my partner is King of the Design Parquet )

 

[mack4]

Trimming doors is simply part and parcel of the job
Keep at these bodgit and leggits, the less that are in our industry the
better for all concerned!!

Not if the doors are metal



This from the guy who didn't know what a slipfeather/spline was?
mack