What Are The Causes Of Warping?
Warping refers to gaps between the flooring boards caused by changes in moisture, humidity or temperature. When a hardwood flooring gets wet, it swells, and then shows gaps in between the flooring boards. Warping mostly happen on unfinished hardwood flooring due to the fact that finished hardwood flooring is protected against moisture. The moisture can also get into the hardwood flooring if the vapor barrier on the subfloor is not properly installed or the finish on the hardwood flooring is excessively worn. Apart from moisture, the hardwood flooring can shrink due to direct sunlight, high temperature, or excessively dry conditions creating gaps between the flooring boards.
Ways To Fix Warping On Hardwood Floor
The warping is of two types i.e. minor warping and serious warping and the ways to fix both types of warping are as follows;
- Minor Warping:
The minor warping in the hardwood flooring can be fixed by balancing the room's humidity. During the summer season, the user needs to run fans in the room in order to blow warm air. The room's AC should also be turned off as it can only dry the air further. Besides that, the user needs to set crawlspace underneath the damage or set dehumidifier in the floor's basement. The step will dry out the affected hardwood flooring by pulling the moisture out of it.
- Serious Warping:
If the above-mentioned method is unable to get the warped flooring back to normal, it is a clear indication that the hardwood flooring has suffered a serious warping that can only be fixed with removal & replacement. The removal and replacement process doesn't mean that the user needs to remove and replace the entire flooring rather the warped flooring area should only be replaced. First, the user needs to remove wood flooring boards from an inconspicuous place such as under the refrigerator or closet and then replace it with the warped flooring. After that, the user needs to find the closest match of the flooring and then attach it at the removed inconspicuous flooring area.