I had appro. 1,000 sq ft of prefinished Brazilian Cherry (3/4" solid hardwood/ 3" width) installed last month and cracks have started to develop since installation was complete in the middle of many boards. The cracks do not go through the entire plank, just seem to be on the top through the aluminum oxide finish to some of the wood. The floor is over a full basement, humidity is kept in the 40s with a constent temperature in the house around 74 degrees.

The flooring contractor comes back to replace these boards and the pace where my contractor purchased the wood has been honoring the warranty. Both have said there is nothing I am doing (or not doing) to cause these cracks to show up periodically.

Any suggestions on the cause of these cracks? Would you recommend that I find a wood inspector to help determine the problem? It seems logical to me that cracks would continue until I can find the cause of the problem and correct it. Any helpful guidance would be appreciated.

I'm no expert, but I thought is was not recommended to use any kind of solid 3/4 wood in any type of lower level basement.

Did you glue or nail it down?

Sorry for any confusion. The floor was installed above grade on nailed on plywood. I was not below grade in the basement.

Can you post some pictures Kathy?

What was the moisture content of the wood at installation? How many boards is many boards?

I will post some pictures when I get home from work for you to see an example of the crack.

Do not know the moisture content of the wood when it was installed. the cracks started appearing in 2 boards within a couple days of the install, then within a week 3 more boards and then a few days later 2 more boards. When a different board developed a crack down the middle of it (Total of 8 boards). I decided to post this question to the forum to see if anyone has ever seen this happen before, because I could not find a post with similar issues.

Here are a couple pictures of the same crack:


and

I helped install a cherry wood floor with an aluminum oxide finnish that the customer had got a good deal on because it had been sitting around a long time. Had the same issues during the install as well as it chipped on the edge of the boards easily. Ended up with a lot of waste and pulling boards after being stapled.

Suspect the boards had been through various temperature and moisture changes for many years and the finnish ended up cracking with the pressure of the pnuematic stapler.

Keith

Interesting. I do not know how long the wood was sitting and I will check. I really did not get a "deal" on this wood so will check to see if they will tell me how long it was sitting.

What did you do with the floor you installed that had the same problem?

Not sure if there were any issues after the install as I just assisted with that install.

I dont have the experience that many other installers on this site have, but though that I sould share what happenned during that install as it may be related and maybe they could comment on it.

Keith

Thanks Keith.

tada124, I found out the wood moisture content was 6-7% at time of installation.

The installer let me know that he thinks he knows what is happeing and is requesting a factory rep/inspector confirm it. Not sure why he hasn't shared what he thinks is going on with me, but suspect I will found out some time this week.

The insaller confirmed that the wood is not that old and believes he knows what is going on. He has asked for a factory rep/inspector to confirm it (not sure what he thinks at this point). Installer has formally requested a rep/inspector in writing. Has anyone had experience with what options are typically provided to a homeowner that has issues with the wood? There are additional cracks developing and I was not sure if I could request a new floor.

Any thoughts?

I have seen that before. I am aware of a brand of flooring that has exhibited this same problem on exotic prefinished solids. I will PM you the brand name.

I have similar problems, 5" Prefinished Muskoka Classic Maple Solid Wood Floor. Developing cracks in about 8 boards. Installer not very helpful. Much debate when installed regarding proper installation. Product was nailed and spot glued on 3/4" plywood over 1" tongue and groove cedar. Installer did not use vapor barrier after allegedly speaking to distributor and Muskoka, and decided to use adhesive to prevent cupping. Now the floor is also cupping in addition to cracks. I am at a loss, installer seems to feel that he is not responsible. Is this just a problem with a 5" prefinished floor, that cannot be top-nailed or something else? I was upset that a vapor barrier was not used and an adhesive was used on solid hardwood against printed Muskoka instructions - although installer and distributor felt that these instructions may not work for a 5" floor. Was told that vapor barrier should be installed in crawl space. Please help.

It is OK to use a urethane glue along with blinding nailing on that 5" solid maple.

Was the wood brought in early to adjust? Do you not have a moisture barrier in place covering the soil in the crawl space? Were any moisture readings taken before the installation?