Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Wood flooring is buckling

Ok so I installed laminate wood in all of my bedrooms. I installed it properly and left plenty of room on every side (I took off the trim and installed the wood under it. Lately I have had some buckling problems, I live in AZ so the humidity goes from 15% in the winter and summer to 70% during monsoon season. I am assuming this is my problem. What is happening is I am getting small buckles in several spots. Is there anything I can do about this? Should I start running dehumidifiers? (I had not done this because we are MN natives and miss the humidity). And will the wood settle back down after the humidity drops?


EDIT: I forgot to mention that the temperature goes from about 60 in the winter to 90 in the summer. (we dont run our air or heat because were stubborn)

i would remove some of the trim and see whats there. perhaps yours gaps are gone.

Ok so I installed laminate wood in all of my bedrooms. I installed it properly and left plenty of room on every side (I took off the trim and installed the wood under it. Lately I have had some buckling problems, I live in AZ so the humidity goes from 15% in the winter and summer to 70% during monsoon season. I am assuming this is my problem. What is happening is I am getting small buckles in several spots. Is there anything I can do about this? Should I start running dehumidifiers? (I had not done this because we are MN natives and miss the humidity). And will the wood settle back down after the humidity drops? EDIT: I forgot to mention that the temperature goes from about 60 in the winter to 90 in the summer. (we dont run our air or heat because were stubborn)

First thing that you need to do, like I tell all home owners installing wood floors (laminate or solid), is to go to Radio Shack and buy a HYGROMETER ! Here is the link to one that I recommend:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?parentPage=search&summary=summary&cp=&productId=2049773&accessories=accessories&kw=hygrometer&techSpecs=techSpecs&currentTab=techSpecs&custRatings=custRatings&sr=1&features=features&origkw=hygrometer&support=support&tab=summary

Bring this into the home and place in the area that the wood floor is installed. Let it acclimate for 24 hours. This will tell you what the Relative Humidity is. If the Relative Humidity is above 55% you need to install a Dehumidifier... I already have come to the conclusion that this is what you need to do! After the dehumidifier is installed and running for a week or so - The floor will settle down and the buckle will go away. If it does not within a week, give it another week. You may need to close the windows for a period, it would be great if you had an a/c running!! That would help dramatically because relative humidity is directly related to temperature!

If you do not have an A/C running, you may need to remove the trim (if the floor does not settle down after 14 days) and remove 3/8" from the boards that run around the perimeter. Humidification in the winter is important as well, so if you see the HYGROMETER drop below 35% you will need to bring in a humidifier. Do NOT keep the Humidifier in one area of the room, move it around the room bi-weekly. This will ensure that you do NOT put too much moisture in one area of the floor. This is true for the DEHUMIDIFIER as well.

I can not stress enough to everyone out there with Hardwood Floors (Laminated, Engineered or Solid) to maintain the Relative Humidity within the space(s) that the wood floor is installed. This is done with a HYGROMETER - a $20 investment will give you the proper tell tale signs as to what you need to do in order to keep your wood floor STABLE... BEFORE your floor starts to move in the WRONG direction!

Greg - Retired Hardwood Flooring Installer/Refinisher
Maine

I did go pull up some of the trim and the wood has pushed itself against one of the walls, (only one though not the other). I am going to go buy a couple of dehumidifiers and see what happens. Now my question is. there are a couple of spots that are really bad, like it is enough to almost trip over. Will these fix themselves, I already checked at Home Depot and the floor is discontinued. I do have a few scrap pieces that I saved but they have the edges trimmed so they do not have the locking parts on them. Am I going to have to just try and fit these in?

I did go pull up some of the trim and the wood has pushed itself against one of the walls, (only one though not the other). I am going to go buy a couple of dehumidifiers and see what happens. Now my question is. there are a couple of spots that are really bad, like it is enough to almost trip over. Will these fix themselves, I already checked at Home Depot and the floor is discontinued. I do have a few scrap pieces that I saved but they have the edges trimmed so they do not have the locking parts on them. Am I going to have to just try and fit these in?


That is what I hate about Home Depot... Buying prefinished laminate or prefinished hardwood from them, you are up against an extreme possibility that if you go back a year later - the flooring has been discontinued. To all other DIY'ers out there - *Add 10% to your total flooring needs when buying from these big box stores! maybe even 15%! This will give some left over for future repairs, if needed! Just store the extra flooring sealed in the boxes, in a dry area!

Ok, so you have one side of the floor pushing up against the walls (you found this out by removing the baseboard molding). My suggestion to first control the Humidity level in the house... then wait 2 weeks to see if it settles down and the floor goes back to where it should be.

It also sounds as though while you were installing the floor, it may have been getting pushed up against the starting wall as you were installing it. Did you use spacers on the starting wall to prevent this from happening? If not what you have is common to a first time DIY'er... the floor, when being installed, got pushed over to the starting wall, even though may have left a gap - it moved because there was not a space installed to STOP it from moving.

If the dehumidification process (if needed) does not work, I suggest removing ALL of the base board on the wall where the flooring is coming into direct contact. Lay down (3) layers of Blue Painter Tape (3") (two rows) along this wall on the floor, this will protect the finish for the next step. Snap a chalk line making a parrallel line 3/8" out fronm the wall the flooring is pushing up against. You will have to rent a "flush cut saw" because a circular saw will NOT allow you to cut within 3/8" of the wall! Now, using the flush cut saw, *set to cut just the THICKNESS of the FLOORING and *NO deeper, cut along the line you snapped on the floor. DO this SLOWLY. A flush cut saw can kick out on you as you go, especially if there is pressure on the flooring! Depending on how comfortable you are, it may be worth hiring a flooring pro to come in for the actual cut... just pay him an hourly wage - it should not take more than hour to do properly, per room.

Good luck,

Greg
Maine

I did use spacers all around the wall and checked again when I was done to make sure it wasn't butting up against it. My best guess is that the pieces that go into the closet are butting up against the outer closet door wall and that is preventing me from using the gap on the otherside of the room. I bought a couple of dehumidifiers and if that didnt solve all of it I was just going to take a chisel set and a couple off wacks would cut about 1/4 strip off and I would just work my way down the wall.

If I were you I'd listen to the advice you've been given. Whacking a chissel through the top of a laminate floor board certainly isn't my idea of a good time - the finish on those floors is guaranteed for a reason.

Tape the floor, snap a line and use a saw.