Wooden floor warping

[foxhole]

Does the floor go all the way to the wall under the cupboards. As it could be touching the end wall under the cupboards.
The intense scrutiny is because we think its has not been fitted correctly leading to "cupping" as it expands. It looks like it has but does this floor have a coating - did the chap do it or was it like that out the box (factory lacquered )

The harm it would do is partly what you are experiencing. I agree with what crazydayz has said lino should of been removed and probably added a proper DPM then the correct underlay for the Oak or as I was suspecting the full real oak should not be a floating floor - it should be nailed to a wooden sub floor or possibly glued but I am not to sure about the glue. I fitted my oak floor as a floating one but it was engineered oak and was supposed to be fitted that way with each T+G glued.
What do the box instructions say about laying the floor.

Does your floor go all the way to the wall under the cupboards.
Another thing about the picture here is that he has put down a lot of the short planks right in the main walkway, It could just be my OCD but I dont think this is best practice either as that leads o lots of joins in the heavy traffic area. 1/4 way up from the bottom of the picture I can see 3 short pieces all in a row.
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Laid in wrong direction , wood expands across the plank , the more planks the more the expansion .You have a round 30 plank widths against less than 10 if laid in the other direction . NO expansion joint at threshold .You can’t lay on top of vinyl as it allows enough movement to break any joints .

 

[crazydaze]

I cant see why anyone would want full oak in that case.
@crazydaze what are your thoughts on my issue with using too many short pieces in busy areas, am I being OTT.

It's not ideal but if that's what you have to work with then that's what you have, perennial issue with multi length boards.

 

[crazydaze]

I appreciate your opinions but this pile on isn't helping. I am already pretty depressed about it and just want to make the best of it having already spent good money. I am not a floor specialist so wasn't to know. I can only trust someone who does a lot of work for clients (some big expensive jobs in large houses)

having said all that I appreciate the help nevertheless.

Here are the details as we still have a full box and a half left. Again, he over ordered, not myself.

No one is 'piling on' all I see here is people trying to help you, but to be able to help you, we need some pretty comprehensive questions answered so we know what's going on with the installation.

Firstly, Woodpecker Solid Wood floors are not suitable for floating installations, if you float a solid Wood Floor you will forever have issues with movement unfortunately, this will either present itself with expansion/lifting as you are experiencing at the moment, or the opposite issue, gapping, where the boards will open up. Gapping can happen anyway and is part of a solid floor installation with seasons etc and natural movement of the floor but this can excessively open gaps in boards if the floor is not installed correctly.

With a Solid Oak floor like yours, the floor needs to be securely fixed to the subfloor, this gives the floor strength and allows the floor move as one in a regulated manner. If you float the floor, there's nothing stopping the floor from moving all over the place which is what you are experiencing.

the difference with an engineered floor is that the top 'solid' layer above the tongue and groove is supported and counter balanced in it's movement and stabilised by multi layers of engineered ply or similar laid in criss-cross layers to give the board dimensional strength to make a more stable floor that can then be floated and nowadays fixed to the subfloor if desired.

A floor that is fixed directly to the subfloor or prepared subfloor wether it be Solid or Engineered will feel more solid underfoot than a Floated floor.

You will see on Woodpeckers Website exactly how your floor should have been laid and it's completely out of spec.

You can't expect a short cut to fix your issues you are experiencing.

We can try and help you, although I am not so sure this floor will ever lay flat, perhaps if you can answer some questions we can get it flat for now.

Can you confirm, were the Kitchen units fitted on top of the Wood Flooring or were they n place before the flooring was fitted?

Do you have access or the means to ensure the flooring can move freely with at least a 10mm gap around all edges of the floor?

The original subfloor has a Vinyl on it, do you know if this was fully stuck to the subfloor?

Can you confirm how old this part of the house is?

Can you confirm if you know there is a Damp Course in this part of the House?

 

[aveatry]

Can you confirm, were the Kitchen units fitted on top of the Wood Flooring or were they n place before the flooring was fitted?

i think looking by the pictures that the floor go's under he units. Hopfully not all the way to the wall in this case.

 

[aveatry]

NO expansion joint at threshold .You can’t lay on top of vinyl as it allows enough movement to break any joints .

As far as I know you only ( might) need an expansion join at thresholds if you are carrying on into another room and the span is very long.
I did my living room out into the hall way and into the dining room all in one piece without any expansion joins at the door threshold as I wanted it to completely flow through the house. BUT it was an engineered floor on the correct underlay and skirting off then plaster cut back to allow even more room and bottom of door casing cut architraves also were replaced.

 

[crazydaze]

As far as I know you only ( might) need an expansion join at thresholds if you are carrying on into another room and the span is very long.
I did my living room out into the hall way and into the dining room all in one piece without any expansion joins at the door threshold as I wanted it to completely flow through the house. BUT it was an engineered floor on the correct underlay and skirting off then plaster cut back to allow even more room and bottom of door casing cut architraves also were replaced.

The floor needs expansion everywhere including at door thresholds, if you have an engineered with enough expansion you may get away with butting it to a threshold but no wood floor manufacturer will recommend that.

 

[aveatry]

The floor needs expansion everywhere including at door thresholds, if you have an engineered with enough expansion you may get away with butting it to a threshold but no wood floor manufacturer will recommend that.

We might be getting mixed up, by threshold I mean the dividing line between two rooms, not the one before you step outside.

 

[crazydaze]

We might be getting mixed up, by threshold I mean the dividing line between two rooms, not the one before you step outside.

We always advise if you run through a doorway in one and if problems occur, a profile can be fitted retrospectively, the flooring manufacturers will always spec a threshold but if installed correctly you probably won’t experience any issues

 

[DIY67]

Laid in wrong direction , wood expands across the plank , the more planks the more the expansion .You have a round 30 plank widths against less than 10 if laid in the other direction . NO expansion joint at threshold .You can’t lay on top of vinyl as it allows enough movement to break any joints .

We were asked which direction we wanted and astheaticalky we preferred it that way. It doesn't make any difference. At both ends the wood is free to expand (doorway and end that steps down into tiled utility area) It only goes under the units so far and not against walls.

Again, correct underlay was used.

 

[foxhole]

We were asked which direction we wanted and astheaticalky we preferred it that way. It doesn't make any difference. At both ends the wood is free to expand (doorway and end that steps down into tiled utility area) It only goes under the units so far and not against walls.

Again, correct underlay was used.

Makes a huge difference , if each board expands 1mm you have 30mm of expansion , laid the other way less than 10mm.

 

[aveatry]

We were asked which direction we wanted and astheaticalky we preferred it that way.

Yes I can see that, otherwise it would look really long and thin so putting it that way makes it look wider.

It doesn't make any difference. At both ends the wood is free to expand (doorway and end that steps down into tiled utility area) It only goes under the units so far and not against walls.

But its not free to expand, the photos show it touching the skirt. But its good news that it only gos under the units a short way so it will not then be touching the wall at the back of the units. You just need to take off the skirt at both ends and make sure there is a gap to the wall.

Again, correct underlay was used.

Again - it is supposed to be nailed or glued down let alone on top of lino and an underlay.

 

[DIY67]

Yes I can see that, otherwise it would look really long and thin so putting it that way makes it look wider.


But its not free to expand, the photos show it touching the skirt. But its good news that it only gos under the units a short way so it will not then be touching the wall at the back of the units. You just need to take off the skirt at both ends and make sure there is a gap to the wall.

Again - it is supposed to be nailed or glued down let alone on top of lino and an underlay.

Ok, some good news at last! Apart from the technical issues, It looks nice.

 

[aveatry]

It only goes under the units so far and not against walls.

And that might be why he ordered too much, or what appeared to be too much. He seems to of ordered enough to do the whole floor but then only went under the units a short way instead.