Sanding Cupped Hardwood Floor

Sanding hardwood floors is a tough job.

Sanding cupped hardwood floor. We sanded our herringbone floors by ourselves and it wasn t much different than sanding floorboards. Tough on hardwood and any floor that hasn t been sanded in 20 years or more will have significant areas that are cupped crowned or simply skewed. His photo illustrates why we have such disdain for stain manufacturers who make it sound easy to stain wood floors. Do not sand a cupped floor.

If a hardwood floor is installed before a subfloor is properly dried or before the floorboards reach an equilibrium moisture content emc such as before the inside of a building s air is conditioned there is a chance for cupping later on. Recently we installed a new oak strip floor during renovation of an old unoccupied house and now the floor has permanently cupped. Sanding a cupped floor flat before it is brought to a normal mc can eventually result in a crowned floor convex surface once the drying process is complete. Examine the cross section of the floor in a doorway to determine its sanding history.

The first thing you must do when you notice a cupped floor is to identify the source of moisture. The original yellow pine flooring was badly damaged by termites so we laid new 3 4 inch plywood subflooring over the yellow pine put down felt paper and installed the floor. The house is built over a fairly damp crawlspace and has diagonal board floor sheathing. Whenever there is too much moisture the wood expands.

How to fix a crowned hardwood floor. A crowned wood floor is another problem that is usually the result of a moisture issue. About half the floors we will be sanding is a regular hardwood floor and the tiles and herringbone are about evenly over the other half. The planks that make up wood flooring expand and contract based on the amount of moisture in the room.

New floorboards are usually 3 4 inches thick and to level a cupped floor you may have to remove as much. If your hardwood floors have a wavy appearance they are likely cupping due to we. The good news is that hardwood floor cupping can be reversed setting the planks back to their original condition. Wet floors should not be sanded flat until the drying process is completed.

Lot of it is hallway with a ton of corners. How to fix cupped hardwood flooring. As furniture and people begin to inhabit the area it will bring about a new level of moisture and. Sanding a hardwood floor while it is still cupped will result in a problem called crowning.

Cupping in engineered wood floors.