We had hickory hardwood flooring installed in July 2011. The floor was cupped when the installer walked out the door. We didn't say anything for about 1 week when we noticed about 40 or so cracks in the boards. He did not make it out until sometime in August and said he thought we should be a new floor and filed with the manufacturer. The company inspector came out and co denied claim but did hire an independent inspector. They made a determination in November that we would get a new floor. (I think the mfg and installer made a agreement of some kind) The installer did not let the wood acclimate to the house and did not take any moisture readings. From what I could get from the inspector (he could not tell us anything much) the wood moisture readings from our subfloor and crawl space were within specs. Our house was built 10 years ago and we do not have any moisture problems in the crawl. It is great that they have agreed to reinstall a new floor BUT the installer is wanting us to go with engineered wood. If the floor was properly acclimated and moisture readings taken, would we be safe on wanting another hardwood installed instead of engineered wood.
Since the company has not assumed responsibility that the wood was improperly mfg and the installer has not assumed responsibility (at least directly to us) we do not know what to do. PS The installer said he installed the leftover wood from our house in a room in his own home and the wood cupped!
Any help will be appreciated.

Bob

Most likely the wood gained some moisture when it was nailed to the subfloor. If not properly acclimated, and the subfloor has a higher moisture content than the flooring, the flooring will pick up moisture from the subfloor and this causes cupping.
This doesn't mean you have moisture problems, they just didn't do the job right. Before installing solid wood flooring you must check moisture levels in the underside of sub floor, top of sub floor, and the flooring. Flooring, especially hickory shouldn't be installed until it is within 2-3 % range of subfloor. it's also important to check underside of subfloor and make sure it's same or close to readings from top side. Also, make sure you have plastic covering ground in crawl space.
All critical factors when installing solid wood floors, but if done right you should be able to install solid hickory no problem.
There's a chance after everything stabilizes and the floor lays back down a bit that you could sand and finish and have a nice flat floor, that is if the cupping isn't too severe.Again, moisture levels must be stable or you'll still be unsafe.
If the installer just simply skipped the acclimation and moisture tests, I think I'd find a new floor guy, and you'll be very lucky if the manufacturer replaces your floor, as it really seems that improper acclimation was the culprit here.
good luck.

A cupped floor is bowed boards?

It's actually the opposite of bowing, ODO, where the edges curl up and the center is concave. Here are some images. It can be to varying degrees. I've seen it in charming old places, now that I know what it is, and it looks rather natural with the old patinas and environment. It just looks like an old floor. My parent's house has a bit of it and the floor looks fine overall. There's a place around here that has a beautiful new vintage style kitchen with newer solid oiled flooring that has some mild seasonal cupping going on. It's still a beautiful room with a beautiful floor. If I hadn't learned about cupping recently, I probably wouldn't have paid any attention to it. It just seemed like an old floor and added to the older feel of the kitchen.

In these cases with the new pristine furniture finish floors and modern surroundings, it just looks defective, of course, and is extreme. I think the high gloss accentuates it, too.

ONE OF TWO THINGS YOU HAVE A MOISTURE PROBLEM OR WOOD CAME OFF TRUCK AND WAS NOT ACULMATE TO CONDITIONS OF HOME . I BET THEY WERE IN AND OUT , good luck!!! WENTZWOOD SCOTTSDALE ARIZONA