Bamboo Floor Cupping Bowing

Exposed to moisture for an extended period of time bamboo flooring products can absorb moisture and weaken.
Bamboo floor cupping bowing. Cupping most often appears after the floor has been installed and in some cases the floor will cup even if it was installed correctly. Carpeting was previously on the. As wood takes on moisture it naturally expands. The level of airborne and sub floor moisture relates to the time of year the sub floor and or hardwood flooring was installed.
Bamboo flooring problems 1. When moisture interacts with a hardwood floor the side of the boards closest to the moisture expands. Moisture is at 4 5. How to fix bowed floors.
Bamboo and exotic wood floors bamboo floor buckling help. I called the company who installed the floor and they said the moisture level was too high. David land august 13 2018 at 4 29 pm. One instance that involved a delayed manifestation of a cupping problem was a wood floor installed on the second of three levels in an existing structure in a warm humid climate.
Bowing or warping of floor boards can occur for several reasons. Bamboo is prone to moisture cupping and swelling. The wood is wetter on the bottom of the board than on the top surface which dries quicker than the bottom. Splits and checks also can appear.
They bow inward resembling the bowl of a spoon or the inside of a cup. Splits are openings that go all the way through the board from top to bottom you can drop a dime down it and checks are similar but smaller not the entire depth of the board. The sides of each board are higher than the middle sections. Because bamboo is grass the grain runs the length of the board.
My father and i installed a hand scraped 5 8 th inch engineered bamboo floor over a concrete subfloor. Cupping is caused by a moisture imbalance through the thickness of the wood. This expansion can be in the form of cupping the center of the board is lower than the edges or crowning the center of the board is higher than the edges. Cupping isn t the only problem that happens when engineered and prefinished floors become stressed due to low rh.
If water has seeped into the boards they may swell against one another which can cause the bow. Can wood floor cupping be. Cupping is a common problem found in hardwood floors. Before your hardwood is installed the sub floor or floor your hardwood will be fastened to may begin to take on excessive moisture do to humid weather conditions.