Warped / buckled solid oak board - please help!

[ashbye]

Hi there.

We had a leak under our floating solid oak floor and relaid a good portion of it. Since then 2 boards have warped/ buckled to a height of perhaps an inch along about 2 ft of their length. Of course as luck would have it the boards are in the middle of the floor and miles away from any wall!! It is therefore both difficult and expensive to lift the floor and relay the it. Is there a shortcut which could solve the problem for me? Aesthetics are not as important as a cost-effective fix - although I don't want it looking too crappy if I can help it.

All advice gratefully received.

Thanks

Ed

 

[WoodYouLike]

After the leak, did you check how far the water had gone underneath your wood floor?
It is more than possible residue moist is now causing this buckling.
When you lifted part of the floor, did you give the underfloor (hope you also removed the underlayment) time enough to dry out?

did you contact your insurer about the leak?

 

[ashbye]

Hi

Thanks for your response. Yes the floor was dried when it was relaid. You are probably right about this being caused by residual moisture. The original leak was several years ago and has not got any worse so I think the original cause has been addressed.

Insurance - we got caught out failing to renew on time. Was going to get round to it and never did.

Any ideas how I can sort this out?

Thanks again

Ed

 

[WoodYouLike]

Come again?
It is not the result of a recent leak, but you had a leak many years ago.

And now - years later - another part of the floor has raised. It could be unrelated to the former problem.
What caused the original leak?

As for insurance: you don't have any content insurance at all? I would fix that immediately.

 

[ashbye]

That's right it is the result of a leak some years ago which was caused by a leaking radiator pipe. The issue that I currently have has existed from shortly after the original issue.

Yes you are right about the insurance. All sorted now - too late of course!

 

[WoodYouLike]

This might sound strange, but have you tried jumping on it? If it started straight after the leak years ago, it could be there is no problem any more and those two boards are just 'stuck' in this position.
Jumping on it might get the floor moving again - in the right direction. Before you do this, check if there is enough space in the expansion gaps.

Note: executing this method is at your own risk! It hard to tell from a distance if it could work in your situation , but we've got floors back in place this way without any damage.

 

[ashbye]

Thanks. I'll get my heavy boots on.

Any ideas for a plan b) if that fails?

 

[WoodYouLike]

Cut one cupped board through the middle is what we would do and try to remove the bits. Hopefully you have some spare boards?