While doing some research on controlling moisture in a crawl space, I stumbled upon an HVAC forum dealing with the same subject. One of the guys asked, " How come you never see any old hardwood flooring cupping or buckling like you do nowdays even over crawl spaces with higher than ideal moisture content?"

That question really struck me... I used to manage a 64 unit building with no basement.. Just an 85 year old cement slab... All 64 units had hardwood floors.... I never recall any problems with cupping or anything else..never had to sand them.. nothing... the floors took tons of abuse and were practically maintenance free...

Compare that to all the complaints we see on this forum and other's like it.. including lawsuits etc.... especially with the so-called 'engineered floors and Click-Lock (or whatever it's called).

The original poster at the HVAC site seems to think that all the problems today are caused by p*ss poor installation (even by the Pro's). Any opinions on this?

Steve

So whats new Steve . I would guess 90 % of all problems are installation related or the end-user messed up. Don't matter what field you work in... most of the problems come from installation or maintenance.

Years ago houses did not have any climate control systems and there were not the extremes between the top and bottom we have now. Plus there were more craftsmen doing the work and knew what they were doing.

Another difference was the quality of the flooring itself. Most, if not all, was old growth. That translates into straighter grain and a harder, more stable wood, IMO. Houses in the "OLD DAYS were built higher off the ground so ground moisture was not as much of an issue. My Dad's first house, built in 1946, had a crawl space/mini basement/dirt floor arrangement. But it was always dry (due to decent grading around the house), well vented, and more than 3' from the ground. I've seen homes built in the 70's and 80's with crawl spaces less than 16" from the ground to the subfloor and were literally flooded because of poor grading and drainage. I don't think the "craftsmanship" was so much better than now. What you have though is a transition from an "appreciation" of the craftsman to what we have today, which is, "I want to pay the LEAST amount in labor cost." This attitude results in poor wages= inexperienced, immigrant labor. Go to ANY average new home subdivision and look at the work force. It looks WAY different than you saw in the 50's and 60's, when carpentry was respected and paid a living wage. The American consumer has demanded fast and cheap. And they have gotten what they asked for. Flooring from China being poorly installed with inexperienced labor from Latin America.