I JUST PAID AND INSTALLED SANTOS MAHOGANY FLOORS IN MY HOME . NOW JUST TWO MONTHS LATER THERE ARE TWO AREAS THAT HAVE BUCKLED AND A HOLLOW SOUND OVER ONE OF THE AREAS NEAR BY.
MY FLOOR INSTALLERS TOLD ME I DID SOMETHING TO THE HOUSE SINCE THE INSTALLATION . THEY CAME AND DID A MOISTURE READING WITH THE TOOL THEIR INSTALLER USED AND IT WAS NORMAL ..I HAVE CEMENT SLABS AND THEN CAME AGAIN AND PUNCHED HOLES INTO MY FOUNDATION AT THE SITE OF BUCKLING WITH A TOOL SIMILIAR TO A NAIL GUN UNTIL THEY GOT A READING IN THE RED ZONE . THEY DO NOT WANT TO FIX THE FLOORS BUT SAID IF THEY DO I SHOULD SIGN OFF ON MY WARRENTY . I TOLD THEM ANYONE COULD DRILL INTO A FOUNDATION AND GET THAT READING AND THIS IS RIDICULOUS . THEY ALSO SAID I POWERWASHED THE HOUSE BEFORE PAINTING AND THAT WAS PART OF THE PROBLEM . I TOLD THEM THIS IS ALL NONSENSE . ANY WAY ...ANY COMMMENT OUT THERE

Sounds like a solid Bellawood, that they suckered you into thinking, you can actually glue a solid to concrete, without taking strict prep and precautions.

What type of moisture barrier was installed/applied to the concrete, before the glue was applied?

Your running the A/C non-stop, right? Do you have a hygrometer to read the humidity inside your home?

If the humidity is above 50%, I see big troubles, if the wood was not acclimated to that high of humidity and moisture content. Do you shut the A/C off when you go out of town??

THE INSTALLLER DETERMINED MY SLAB WAS DRY AND DID NOT TREAT IT WITH ANY PRODUCTS. THE WOOD WAS IN MY HOUSE FOR SEVERAL DAYS IN THE KITCHEN BEFORE IT WAS INSTALLED. THE AIR CONDITIONING IS ALWAYS RUNNING AND WHEN I LEAVE THE HOUSE FOR THE SUMMER I LEAVE IT ON 80 . THE TWO AREAS THAT HAVE PYRAMIDED I BELIEVE ARE AN INSTALLER ERROR .

THE WOOD I CHOOSE IS LAUZORN ..SPELLING WHICH I WAS TOLD IS A TOP QUALITY MANUFACTURED PRODUCT . I WAS ALSO TOLD MY SLAB WAS FINE AND DID NOT NEED A COATING OF ANYTHING .

Was this solid wood or multi-ply engineered? Solid hardwood over concrete runs a very high risk of cupping and should have not been used. If you used solid wood..........there's your problem. Also, you live in Florida which is very, very, humid.

No quality crew who knew what they were doing would glue down solid wood to concrete, especially in Florida. You seem to have shady installers. Blaming powerwashing?? on floors coming up is ridiculous.

Even if you didn't use a moisture barrior over concrete before installation, most quality engineered flooring product with the proper adhesives (no water based products) run a low risk of cupping or having problems over time.

THE FLOORS ARE THE PRE ENGINEERED FLOORS ...WITH THE FINISH FACTORY DONE AND SEVERAL LAYERS OF WHAT LOOKS LIKE PLYWOOD .
THATS WHAT I WAS TOLD IS USED IN FLA . TODAY I RECIEVED A FAX FROM THE FLOOR COMPANY SAYING THERE MUST HAVE BEEN AND ACCIDENT IN MY HOME OR A SUDDEN LEAK AND ITS POSSIBLE INSURANCE WILL COVER IT .....NOW THEY ARE ASKING ME TO COMMIT INSURANCE FRAUD AND IMPLYING THE HOUSE IS LEAKING . THE FLOORS WERE ALOT OF MONEY ....

carole,

Is the rest of your floor in good shape that they installed? If there are a few small isolated places with problems, you could have some plumbing issues or water damage that's causing it to buckle there.

hollow spots may have been cuased by areas that were not totally flat when they glued the floor down. Concrete slabs are not always perfectly level, and even engineered flooring can creep and come up from the floor if there are too many dips in the floor that were not filled or leveled before they glued it down.

I SHUT THE WATER OFF THE MAIN VALVE TO THE HOUSE AND CHECKED THE WATER METER AND IT STOPPED . THERE ARE NO PLUMBING ISSUES IN MY HOME . THE SLAB WAS TESTED BY THE FLOOR COMPANY AND IT WAS DEEMED PERFECTLY FINE WITH OUT A ADDITIONAL COATING TO BE GLUED DOWN . THE HOLLOW SOUND IM SURE IS ANOTHER INSTALLER ERROR SINCE HE PULLED UP TILE FROM THAT AREA AND USED FLOAT TO EVEN OUT THE TILED AREAS BEFORE INSTALL. UNTIL THEY USED SOME TYPE OF POWER PRONG TOOL TO DRILL INTO MY SLAB IT STILL READS NO MOISTURE AT THE SURFACE . THE FLOOR COMPANY IS STALLING ME AND USING TACTICS SUCH AS YOUR PAINTER DID SOMETHING WRONG ..OR SOMETHING CHANGED IN YOUR HOUSE. IMPLYING THERE HAS BEEN AND ACCIDENT HERE OR A LEAK AND I SHOULD CONTACT MY INS. COMPANY IS OUTRAGEOUS BEHAVIOR . FLA STATE LAW MAKES CONTRACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR WORK FOR ONE YEAR . I NOW HAVE HIRED AN INSPECTOR TO COME TO HOME MONDAY TO DETERMINE THE SLAB MOISTURE LEVEL AND DISCLAIM THEIR ALLEGATIONS . THEY DID NOT USE A CALCIUM CLORIDE TEST OR A LITMUS TEST OF THE SLAB BY DRILLING IN BEFORE INSTALL ..THE FLOORS WERE 16 THOUSAND DOLLARS AND ONLY HERE FOR TWO MONTHS . ALSO I LIVE IN FLA AND WE HAVE BEEN IN THE WORST DROUGHT IN THE HISTORY OF FLA THE LAST TWO MONTHS ..THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPLY ..SO FAR I DONT SEE ANY OTHER AREAS WITH PROBLEMS ..THIS IS PROBABLY A GLUE PROBLEM OR AND EXPANSION JOINT PROBLEM ...WE LL FIND OUT

Sounds like a high humidity concern to me. Engineered wood with thick wear layers does swell and can buckle. Humidity levels must be consistent and maintained. Acclimating a couple of days, may not have been long enough, for the flooring to gain the moisture it has now gained, before it was installed. Acclimation is not a time thing(couple of days) it is a wood moisture content thing.

THE WOOD WAS HERE TWO DAYS BEFORE THEY STARTED THE JOB ..I ALWAYS RUN THE AIR AT 75 .. I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY ARE NOT FIXING THIS JOB AND ONCE AGAIN ..BLAME THE HOMEOWNER S HOUSE . THE HOUSE IS THE SAME AS THEY DAY THEY WALKED IN IT ..I HAVE ALL NEW EXTERIOR DOORS AND WINDOWS INSTALLED BEFORE THE FLOORS . ANYWAY IF A SLAB TREATMENT OR WHATEVER WAS NEEDED THAT WAS THEIR REPONSIBLITY . IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME NOW THIS WILL TURN INTO A LAWSUIT AND I WILL POST WHAT MY CIVIL ENGINEER AND ATTY FINDS OUT WHILE WE GO AFTER THEM . I HAVE AN INSPECTOR COMING MONDAY SO I M ALREADY SPENDING MORE MONEY . NOT GOOD ...BAD COMPANY ..

carole,

How many sq ft did you have installed? 16,000 is a lot of money.

I INSTALLED AROUND 1300 OR 1400 SQUARE FEET OF THE WOOD . I HAD QUOTES FROM THREE COMPANYS . THE LAURZON WOOD WAS MORE EXP I WAS TOLD BECAUSE OF THE QUALITY ...

Carole,

Was it Lauzon Next Step flooring?

THE WOOD IS LAUZON SANTOS MAHOGANY WITH MICRO BEVEL 7/16 X 3 1/4 1300 SQUARE FEET . THE FLOOR COMPANY HAS JUST FAXED ME AND STATED AND OUTSIDE FORCE ON MY HOME IS THE CAUSE AND THEY ARE NOT TAKING RESPONSIBLITY . THEY SUGGESTED ONCE AGAIN I CALL MY INS. COMPANY . I JUST FAXED THEM BACK SAYING I DON T DO INS. FRAUD BUT THANKS FOR SUGGESTING IT ...

Carole,

Did they put some type of moisture barrior down before they glued the floor? At about 12/sq ft installed, I would expect they should have done a proper job. Santos can be 5-7 square foor just for the material, so they got more than enough $ to compensate for labor, glue, & supplies.

Unless you have a major catastrophe with a broken water main or something else of that nature, there shouldn't be anything on your part that would cause the flooring to buckle and give after only 2 months.