Help Identifying Floor Damage

[jacobjohn90]

Hello Everyone! New to the forum trying to find out how our new engineered hardwood flooring got damaged, and to tell if it's due to manufacturing/installation errors.
Backstory: Moved into a brand new house this past March. Had a couple boxes on the hardwood flooring in the living room for a good 2 months, at-least. When we decided to move those boxes, we noticed some bubbling on about 8 panels. They are very sporadic and we had no idea what they were or where they came from. We contacted our builder and they contacted the manufacturing of the flooring to come and check them out. They inspected the flooring and decided it was water damage, which would void the warranty to have them replaced. We have no idea where the water would have came from. As stated previously, this area was only used to store moving boxes for about 2 months. It's in the middle of the floor-plan, away from exterior walls or plumbing. Any help here would be great!! I'll attach some pictures below:

Image below is very peculiar in how the warping is happening width wise, unless this is normal. This happened in two spots!

 

[Dan]

I'd be willing to bet, if you took a piece of blue painter's tape and applied to the area in the pictures, when peeled up it would bring finish with it.

 

[Floorist]

I'd be willing to bet, if you took a piece of blue painter's tape and applied to the area in the pictures, when peeled up it would bring finish with it.

Manufacturing defect?

 

[DarisMulkin]

Dan is the wood expert but the poster never said what is under the wood, wood or concrete floors I'm thinking moisture if concrete and the boxes got damp from vapor emissions. Or another scenario the boxes were wet when brought in be it from rain or set down in snow. But who am I, just a worn out old carpet installer.

 

[Floorist]

Dan is the wood expert but the poster never said what is under the wood, wood or concrete floors I'm thinking moisture if concrete and the boxes got damp from vapor emissions. Or another scenario the boxes were wet when brought in be it from rain or set down in snow. But who am I, just a worn out old carpet installer.

That is why I asked. I am not a wood guy.

 

[highup]

If it's not on a slab, I'm thinking the boxes may have been in the back of the installers truck and they were layed in place without drying the plastic wrapper.
.........or a cat peed on the boxes. Sniff test needed at this point.

 

[Dan]

Manufacturing defect?

NOT what I'm thinking. Of course, I can't really inspect the floor from here.

 

[Dan]

Dan is the wood expert but the poster never said what is under the wood, wood or concrete floors I'm thinking moisture if concrete and the boxes got damp from vapor emissions. Or another scenario the boxes were wet when brought in be it from rain or set down in snow. But who am I, just a worn out old carpet installer.

Condensation from cold boxes? Possible, maybe....probably not likely.

Moisture can affect a wood floor on a concrete slab? Absolutely.

Moisture can affect a wood floor on a wood subfloor? Everyday. Especially those that end in "Y".

This is where I'd like to ask jacobjohn90 about the subflooor. Concrete slab? Crawlspace? Over basement?

 

[jacobjohn90]

Thanks for all the replies! Boxes were dry during the move. Was a hot March this year! And yes, concrete slab!! Is that an issue? Haha, and no. No cats and a well trained dog that hasn’t peed inside the house since she was a puppy 7 years ago.

 

[jacobjohn90]

Also! I didn’t say this in my first post, but it wasn’t just boxes that was sitting in this area. There was also a wicker basket (filled with toys) in this area as well. When we moved both the boxes and the wicker basket, we noticed those spots underneath them. If it’s not a manufacture defect but was due to the concrete slab, does that mean we can’t leave anything on the floors for a prolonged period of time?

 

[jacobjohn90]

I'd be willing to bet, if you took a piece of blue painter's tape and applied to the area in the pictures, when peeled up it would bring finish with it.

What would this mean?

 

[Floorist]

If you ever left a cardboard box sitting on a concrete slab, over time the bottom of it rots off. Here you had the flooring between them.

 

[Dan]

Could mean a few things. The first I would suspect would be moisture from below. The boards could gain moisture to the point the bond of the stain and finish to the boards would be compromised.

It looks to me like that is what's happening. Would cost you the price of a roll of painter's tape to find out. If I was there I would actually do moisture tests with a meter first, then I'd document in pictures the tape test. If you do use painter's tape on the floor be prepared to have a bare wood spot that will actually look worse than it does now.

It is really easy for the installer to not get quite enough adhesive down~especially next to a wall~ or possibly not get quite 100 percent adhesive transfer to the back of the boards that is required to prevent moisture transmission from the slab to the wood flooring.

Have you contacted the flooring installation company in regards to the issue?

 

[Dan]

If you ever left a cardboard box sitting on a concrete slab, over time the bottom of it rots off. Here you had the flooring between them.

True, but in this case there should be a moisture barrier, aka adhesive, between the slab and the wood flooring.

 

[Floorist]

True, but in this case there should be a moisture barrier, aka adhesive, between the slab and the wood flooring.

But we don't know if there is.

 

[Floorist]

What do you think caused the damage?

 

[jacobjohn90]

The manufacturing company of the boards also installed them. They sent the VP to inspect the boards, and only saw the bubbles and said that its water damage and its out of their hands...which was really disappointing since its damage to a new house/boards that we didn't cause.

 

[jacobjohn90]

To determine if the installer didn't properly put enough adhesive, they would have to essentially pull the boards up and physically check them, right? Would it be fair to offer a deal with this company and say if there isn't any adhesive, they should replace the boards for free. But if there is enough adhesive, I'll just pony up and pay for the repair bill?

 

[Dan]

The only way to prove moisture is coming from below is destructive testing. Yes, that means removing boards from the floor. Could be there is actually enough adhesive, but the boards weren't fully pressed into the adhesive to ensure 100% transfer to the backside of the boards.

It sounds as if the manufacturer has already washed their hands of this issue. You may need an independent inspector to prove the reason for failure.

By the way, who is the manufacturer?

 

[jacobjohn90]

Interesting. This sure is getting complicated. The manufacturer is SimpleFloors