hypochondrial primitive has swell floor

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=287x8156

Oh my.

The hypochondrial primitive, who's had every disease and affliction known in the entire history of mankind, plus some that haven't been discovered yet:

mopinko  (1000+ posts)        Thu Dec-10-09 03:36 PM
NOMINATED FOR TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
Original message
 
just how much should a new floor swell and shrink?

i guess i need to put up some pics of this, but my shiny new maple floor, installed last year right about this time, has opened up quite a bit. over the summer it started swelling and cupping. now there a gaps of probably 1/16" about every third board.

i know a certain amount is to be expected. they did check the moisture content when they delivered, and it matched the existing floor. they let it sit for a few days, but...

i am avoiding contacting the guy who did the floor. i have way less than zero desire to revisit this. keeping the dogs off while the finish cures, all that. blech.

i think the finisher rushed the job, and maybe even shorted me a coat. he told me he was going to be working till 6 or 7, then it started snowing. he lived a pretty long crappy drive away. suddenly he was done at 3:30. i guess i should have bitched. i hate to bitch. i am rarely sorry that i did. but i still always hate to.

anyway- thoughts on the movement of wood floors?

Uh, the hypochondrial primitive loves to bitch.

Anyway, no primitive's shown up at this bonfire to offer counsel.

Any ideas about this, over here?

[miskie]

It sounds like the primitive bought a floor made from wood that hadn't fully cured, or (more likely) the primitive has a home with a humidity problem, and now that its winter and the air is drier, the wood is shrinking as it loses moisture.

[franksolich]

It sounds like the primitive bought a floor made from wood that hadn't fully cured, or (more likely) the primitive has a home with a humidity problem, and now that its winter and the air is drier, the wood is shrinking as it loses moisture.

The hypochondrial primitive lives in an affluent suburb of Chicago.

Would there be a humidity problem there?

I never paid attention to humidity in Chicago.

[miskie]

I would think because of Chicago's proximity to the Great Lakes there would be a fairly substantial average humidity during the summer, but I really don't know the answer for sure.