We just built a new house, unfinished hardwoods was installed in August 2008. Hardwoods was delivered one day, installed the next day. It's now November 2008 and we are ready to finish the floors. The floors are cupping and they have big gaps. The flooring company said this is normal. We hired a Certified Independent Inspection to look at the floors. He found Moisture readings high and nailing to be very inconsistent were the nails were 12" to 15" apart. The head joints are moving and there are big gaps. But, the Hardwood floor company said this is normal. Please help I would love to move into my new house.
Thanks

You need to give out more info than what you have so far. The nailing schedule is way too far apart. But, where is this moisture coming from 3-4 months later? If you have gaps then the floor had to be installed gapped if you are still getting high MC readings. What is gapped..... the butt ends or the side joints?

Sounds like end joints Jerry .. What were the readings on the wood and the sub floor .. Temp and RH of house should also have been in report .. he makes no mention of how far away from the end joints the nails were .. Is there a moisture barrier on the sub ? was the house locked up tight till now with no heat or air on ?

Was this floor installed and then covered to protect it, until the additional construction was finished.

It is normal for wood to shrink & swell, but it sounds like nothing was done to prevent extreme swelling and shrinking, before you received your investment.


Cupping with gaps... The flooring gained additional moisture after it was installed and swelled. This swelling compressed the edges of the boards, leaving a cupped appearance. If not corrected fast enough, the cupped appearance becomes permanent. Then as construction finished the HVAC system was made operational. and drying the interior of the enclosed structure. This allowed the wood to shrink, leaving the gaps you see.

New construction jobsites that are not climate controlled, along with all the wet trades like tile setting and wall painting completed at least 2 weeks prior to the wood being brought in and acclimated, much less installed the next day, all have the same problems you have.

Homes are built much tighter then in the past. No HVAC and closing the home up, will cause the humidity to build up inside the structure. I have recorded 88%rH inside a new construction home in the morning I arrived. I had to educate the builder and the homeowner, as to why I couldn't start that day. They couldn't wait. I ended up not doing the install, but I did get the failure inspection months later!!!!!