Hi,
My 6" engineered hardwood floor has begun to bow upwards in a couple of rooms in our relatively new house. The floor was laid about 15 months ago with an acoustic underlay. The contractors remedied the same problem in a different room by using a special tool to cut a 1/2" gap all the way around the wall of room, which allowed the boards to expand outwards instead of upwards.

Can anyone tell me what that tool is called and where I might get one?

Regards - Joe

Toe kick saw.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=to ... h&aq=f&oq=

We use a "FEIN" supercut saw with a #135 blade. You can also use a "CRAIN" kick saw, which we sometimes use to cut floors out along kitchen cabinets etc. The FEIN saw is much safer and versatile, although very expensive, and not likely to be found in a rental outlet.

Yes, the Fein is much safer...agreed. See the video at the link...scroll to bottom of the page. Useful for all sorts of projects. May be worth picking one up.

Fein Multimaster Video