We have been told that this is normal...cupping and buckling as the mositure from all the chemicals, painting and sheetrock installation mositure. Said to get a dehumidifier, but ask if in 60 days it would go back down and no guarentees. We are told this is normal, but have not seen this before on new hardwoods. What does the expert say?

Additions:
1. The humidity or moisture content in the basement is 65 to 70%
2. I saw them putting down the hardwoods and did not see any vapor barrier put over the subflooring.
3. I do not think the floors are going to be normal again and I am not getting any gaurentees from the builder either.

No, it is not normal for an installation done to standards.

It is normal for those that have no idea what they are doing.

They installed the wood too dry. The moisture content was lower then reaching MC equilibrium. Once installed, it reach MCE, and swelled to where it should have been before it was ever installed.

I'm no expert, but reading what the pros around here have said, your post begs a number of questions:

(1) what was the moisture content of the subfloor when the wood was installed?

(2) what was the moisture conent of the hardwood when they put it down?

(3) how long was the wood "acclimatized" to the house before it was installed?

Your problem has probably occurred because the answer to one or more of those questions is not what it should be. Depending on the particular circumstances of your installation, you may have legal recourse--but the pros here will have more to say on that.

well I can tell you from here that if it's cupped the subfloor was too high for the wood to go down. To be honest with you read the installation instructions that came with the wood flooring it should be pretty clear.