So you’re starting to notice a change in your hardwood flooring — and you don’t like it. The edges are becoming raised, while the centers stay a bit lower, creating somewhat of a skateboard half-pipe. This phenomenon is known as hardwood cupping, and happens for a few reasons. While very unappealing, it can also be dangerous to have in your home, as well as costly to fix. Below are a few causes for this issue and a fix on how you can prevent it from happening again in the future.
Moisture
The main culprit of cupping floors deal with moisture in the air, or on the flooring. When cleaning your floors, you’ve heard that it’s important to mop up all moisture, and this is the reason. Whether the moisture comes from a spill, sub-floor moisture or high humidity, it can really harm the wood planks, causing major issue and necessary repair. Worst case scenario, your flooring can buckle, which isn’t something you want happening, ever.
Fixes
If you’re dealing with high humidity, there are a few things that you can do at home to prevent your flooring from buckling. One of the easier options is keeping a dehumidifier somewhere in the affected area, and trying to maintain a balance of humidity in the room. If the moisture comes from other areas, Try running your A/C on hot days, which can help eliminate moisture, and cool your home at the same time.
For spills and leaks in the floor, there isn’t too much you can do once the damage has set in. Because of this, there are important measures to take to prevent it from happening in the first place/ One of these revolves around the cleaners you’re using, and making sure that they’re getting mopped up immediately, or you’re using ones that evaporate shortly after the process of applying them. This can prevent buckling from ever being an issue.
Should you be starting or continuing a flooring project at home, there ARE things you can do — but you’ll need the supplies first. And when it comes to needing supplies, nobody has you quite like Hall Flooring does.
Hall Flooring is open year-round with top flooring brands available at many locations in the Tri-State area. Call us today at one of our large locations, or reach out to us here. For more tips, tricks, and flooring ideas, like us on Facebook!
