Guys, do you think with my cupped floors will come back if the moister at the concrete level is 17%? Or I will have to redo them. I have oak hardwood floors on the first floor with the PLYWOOD beneath. Right now it is rainy season. How long it will take till they will bounce back???

As usual many thanks...

How long do you plan on waiting for the drought? Then when the monsoons hit again, are you going to be in the same boat? Ar ar ar Hehehehe. I made a punny.

Well, I take you do not know. And by the way I do not have a leak, if you referred to it. English is a second language for me, I might understood you wrong. No laughing from me!

First off, 17% or 17-lbs.?

I do know, and you don't or you wouldn't be asking.

I'll ask again... How long do you plan on waiting for the drought? You have to have a drought for the floors to go back to equilized moisture content, right?

My opinion is your floor is doomed. Even if the boards go back down it will occur again. You can't fix anything because the plywood is already down and the floor is laid. Very sorry for your problems.

Thanks for the replies gentalmen. Floorguy, will you please elaborate or at least say in very simple words what do you mean. The "drought" word completely confuses me. I understand it as "lack of", "deficiency"...and whole thing you trying to communicate to me is not clear too me. Sorry. But before you reply again please read the following: "We had a leak problem that was not immediately diagnosed and dealt with, as a result water got under the subfloor and 300+ sq. feet of the floor got cupped. Contractors removed everything and let the concrete to dry for 7 days. They ordered the new wood and let it sit for 2 days. Now, the wood they used in the opening hall, where the original leak has started and where the concrete was the wettest, wasn't acclimatized at all. My guess the concrete hasn't been dried well enough, as water was sitting on the concrete for 4 weeks."
And, yes, it is 17%.

Also my floors are slightly cupping everywhere even in places where the water from the leak hasn't reached those areas. My "old" untouched floors are fine, no cupping, as the only part of the family room wood floor was repaired.

Jerry, are you still saying that it is better to replace boards and the plywood all together in this situation?

Where ever the floor is cupped, you have high moisture levels beneath it. The only way to dry that out is to remove the flooring and the subfloor, Let it dry out, which can take months. The plywood subflooring and new wood flooring must be acclimated and checked with a moisture meter. New milled plywood is milled at 18% MC and must acclimate a long time and varified with a moisture meter, before you install it.


The guys that did your repair are clueless about wood science, and how moisture effects wood. all wood.

Yes, I don't see either how it can throughly dry out at this point. That is alot of moisture to alleviate. Very sorry .

I have read all of this thread and the ones that accompany it and , please forgive me, but the responses seem goofy.

As far as plywood being normally at 18 percent, that is false.(unless we are talking about pressure treated) As far as drying out goes, that seems a little obtuse to me. If the concrete is wet, simply do something to hold down the moisture before going over it with plywood. There are dozens of available options out there. Somebody owes this lady a lot of labor and materials. I could care less what the moisture content/ emission rate of a slab is, I can put anything over it.

There does exist equipment specifically for drying wood floors and it works. Problem is, this moisture is coming from the slab. It needs to be replaced by someone who knows what they are doing.

EDITED By Administration:

Let's stay on track of the original discusssion and refrain from who may be right or wrong. Thanks

Jerry is correct, in my opinion. Water damaged? pull it out and replace.

Perry:

If you are going to persist in trying to put across the notion that plywood, sitting in the rack, is at 18 percent as a natural matter of course, you will need to come up with something better than that.

Here are some links of value, I think. They say all interior wood in heated structures (I guess that includes plywood subflooring) needs to be kiln-dried to no greater than 12%. Check it out.
http://www.hornerflooring.com/techguide ... ontent.pdf
http://www.europlywood.org/plywood.htm
This is an interesting one. It ays structural panels (plywood and OSB) are manufactured with a MC of 2 to 8 %.
http://www.internationalpaper.com/PDF/P ... bility.pdf

Perry, I believe that 18% figure pertains to SYP dimensional framing, not for laminated plywood. I could be wrong though.

No, I'm saying at time of milling, construction gauge pine is wetter then you think.

Once milled, it takes on the MC of the ambient conditions dictate.

Meaning, acclimate your plywood!!


" the notion that plywood, sitting in the rack, is at 18 percent as a natural matter of course"

Don't try and twist it then stick it back in my mouth, please. I said no such thing.