Why Is Some Hardwood Flooring Rippled

My hickory 4 inch board floors were installed in december 2005 in a brand new home the boards are not laying completely flat.

Why is some hardwood flooring rippled.

All the hardwood floors in my 1927 bungalow were refinished with 3 coats of oil based polyurethane this week. Read about troubleshooting the causes of rippled floors. Hardwood floors with significant movement or noises could be the result of several factors. Buckling occurs when the wood flooring actually pulls up from the subfloor lifting several inches in one or more places.

The light reflected by the. Hardwood floor is designed to stand all sorts of moisture from high humidity to low humidity. It sounds like it is caused by humidity but allowed to happen because of a poor finish and a lack of sealant. After work completed we noticed areas of visual rippling i e.

Many homeowners like this approach because they can save material that otherwise would go to the landfill. I think that there is some issue with the. It re appeared the second time probably because once these ripples are in the floor you would have to initially sand on a bit of an angle to flatten the floor and remove them. While i m sure it got a bit damp as it does in the summer in indiana i don t think that s the cause of the problem.

Otherwise the floor machine will simply follow the contour ripples and probably make them even more pronounced. I noticed the waves on hardwood floor probably a month or so after installation. If the floors were installed with improper nailing schedules or the incorrect adhesive they will be loose and cause noise. Your question sounds like you are referring to the flat surface of the planks rippling.

Rippling after sanding is normally caused by a drum sander that doesn t work properly. They have a wavy like appearance and you can feel the waves with your hands. They re beautiful and smooth to the touch but there are many ripples cutting perpendicular to the boards that can be seen when light skips off the floor at a low angle. Floor buckling happens most often after a floor has been flooded for an extended period of time.

Floor buckling is the most extreme reaction to moisture in a hardwood floor. Reclaimed hardwood flooring refers to the use of planks that have already served another purpose. Fortunately this is not a common occurrence.