How to solve the problems of wood flooring such as warping, cracking, shrinking, and water damage: Many people pay special attention to indoor decoration. A good indoor decoration not only affects the progress but also impacts future home decoration and overall effect. Today, I will introduce some common problems and solutions.

Common problems with wood flooring

1. The main reason for an uneven surface is an uneven base or deformation and warping of the floorboards. During construction, a level should be used to ensure the surface of the joists is flat; if it is uneven, wooden shims should be used for adjustment. Ventilation grooves should be made on the joists. A 10mm ventilation gap should be left between the board edges and the wall. The insulation and soundproofing materials must be dry to prevent the wood from warping due to moisture. The surface flatness error of the wood flooring should be within 1mm.

2. The reason for hollow sounds is due to improper fixing, mainly caused by insufficient or insecure nails between the underlayment and the joists or between the underlayment and the flooring. Sometimes it is due to changes in the moisture content of the boards causing shrinkage or substandard adhesive. Therefore, it is particularly important to strictly inspect the moisture content of the boards and the quality of the adhesives. Only after passing inspection can they be used, and the number of nails during installation should not be too few.

3. The reason for poor joint tightness, besides non-standard installation during construction, is also due to significant dimensional errors in the width of the boards and poor processing quality.

4. The main reason for localized warping is not only moisture-induced deformation of the boards but also small or no seams in the underlayment, or water leaks from pipes that wet the flooring. After the flooring is installed, the floor paint should be applied with a complete film, and during daily use, care should be taken to prevent water from flowing under the flooring and to promptly clean up any standing water on the surface.

Causes of wood flooring problems

1. Wood flooring shrinkage

In southern regions, flooring shrinkage is more severe. Besides air conditioning causing excessive dryness leading to shrinkage, the shrinkage of the flooring is also related to product quality. You can immediately contact the manufacturer and request a quality analysis report. In northern regions, the shrinkage of each individual piece of flooring is within 2.5mm, which is considered normal; any excess can be discussed with the manufacturer.

2. Joint warping

Cause: Water entering the surface of the flooring. During installation, it is unavoidable that sometimes the adhesive does not completely fill the seams.

If water drips from the mop while mopping, it can cause standing water on the surface of the flooring and enter through the seams where adhesive is sparse, causing the base material to absorb moisture, leading to localized swelling and small bubbles. This situation results in localized warping at the seams on the surface of the flooring.

Water entering from below the flooring causes warping: The surface phenomenon is that the seams bulge uniformly, with areas closer to the water source being more severely affected and those further away being flatter. Problematic areas include near bathrooms, kitchens, heating pipes, air conditioning condensate outlets, and windows. If the water exposure time is long and the surface phenomenon is no longer obvious, you can open the flooring to check for watermarks to determine the cause.

Short seam warping of the flooring: This is characterized by warping at each short edge seam of long boards, usually caused by excessive moisture in the ground. The higher the bulge, the greater the moisture in the ground.

3. Cracking of wood flooring

Cracking in wood flooring occurs as many types of wood will deform or crack in natural environments or under drying conditions. Cracked wood affects the quality grade of the flooring. However, sometimes improper control of the drying process can cause internal cracks, forming hidden defects that gradually become apparent during use.

Generally speaking, the humidity of the environment in contact with the bottom of the wood flooring will be slightly higher than that of the flooring itself, so the flooring absorbs moisture and expands, causing mutual compression and leading to cracking. Some cracking is related to the wood fibers themselves and is unavoidable. If a large batch of wood flooring shows extensive cracking, it may be related to the processing technology, and you should contact the manufacturer to resolve the issue.

4. What to do if indoor flooring gets wet

1. If there is a small area of water on the flooring

If the flooring gets wet, the first thing to do is to dry the water. First, use a dry cloth to wipe off the moisture on the surface of the flooring, then you can choose to use a vacuum cleaner to suck out the moisture from the seams of the soaked flooring or use a hairdryer on the cool setting to dry it; next, you can place some heavy objects on the slightly warped areas, and after a while, the wood flooring will return to normal by itself. If after some time the bulge at the seams has gone down but the color is significantly different from the original flooring, you can try waxing the flooring, which should make the soaked flooring look similar to the original. If after waxing the color and shape still differ greatly from the original, then partial replacement of the flooring is necessary.

2. If the water damage is severe

If there is extensive soaking, then we cannot handle it so simply. We should carefully pry up the flooring and stack it in a '井' shape in a ventilated area to air dry, using the weight generated by the stacking to prevent deformation. Generally, high-quality solid wood flooring can be reused.

3. Water damage to laminate flooring

Whether it is extensive soaking or small area water damage, it is not recommended to pry up laminate flooring to dry it, as this can easily damage the laminate flooring and may lead to serious consequences where it cannot be reused. It is best to quickly drain the surface water from the flooring, then temporarily remove the baseboards to expose the expansion joints, allowing moisture to dissipate through the expansion joints. Depending on the amount of water, drying usually takes about seven to fifteen days. High-quality laminate flooring or flooring that has not been soaked for long can recover on its own; if it does not recover after fifteen days, then replacement must be considered.

4. Pry up solid wood flooring along multiple joists

For small areas of water damage detected in time, after cleaning the ground, pry up the boards, air dry the damp flooring, and reinstall it; if the water damage is slightly larger, not only should the boards at the leak be pried up, but also the opposite boards should be pried up along the direction of the joists to allow internal airflow to carry away the moisture. If the amount of water cannot be determined, it is best to pry up the boards in the order of the water flow to check the moisture situation, ensuring thoroughness.