smartcore ultra issue / question

[dsttexas]

Lowe’s Smartcore Ultra “Lexington Oak” Luxury Vinyl Plank, Item #813595 Model #50SLVF601 is what I have installed. My problem is that a long 53' hallway will get a raised lifted area whenever we close down for a vacation and set temperature to 82-85 while gone, and expansion causes the lift. We've tried cutting back the two ends a bit under the molding to allow a little more room for such expansion, but problem persists.

Any suggestions?

Don

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

Is it installed over wood or concrete substrate?

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

In looking at the installation instructions, they state that for larger installations that the expansion gap should be expanded to 1/2" from the standard 1/4". While they don't explicitly state that for runs over 50' to go to this wider expansion gap, it's generally a normal practice with many similar products. That's not just 1/2" in the specific area, but around the entire perimeter of the installation.

For the products we handle, the "rule-of-thumb" is that for runs over 50', you add an additional 1/8" of expansion gap / 10 feet of run. So, for example, a 60' run would need a 3/8" expansion around the entire perimeter of the install, a 70' run would need a 1/2" expansion, and so on.

If they are stating to use a 1/2" for larger areas, that kind of tells me that this product moves a lot.

Essentially, you're going to have to make sure the entire perimeter of the install has at least 1/2" of gap or you'll most likely continue to have the problem.

Wish you success in resolving the issue!

 

[dsttexas]

Thank you!

They are on concrete slab, with a vertical floor molding and quarter round molding at the bottom all around, so should be enough room to cut back more and give relief. I'm assuming this is only needed at the end of the hallway at one end, and the other end is the right side of dining room wall, and the side edges will slide as needed and not prevent the boards from moving as I know those are very tight. One long side of 53' runs under molding against outside wall all the way, the other side is about 23' of hallway molding then the rest joins living and dining room areas, so some side edge movement may be restricted in LR and DR, but not along hallway(?). The large 3" to 5" bulge occurs as the hall flooring leaves the hallway and enters the LR / DR area suggesting possible edge restriction from those boards, and/or it's about the middle of the overall length and bulging because the first attempt at trimming back at just both ends was not enough. None of the adjoining boards in the LR / DR raise much at all and ramp down fairly quickly. I was thinking also that next time before leaving I might put some heavier objects where the bulge wants to occur, perhaps helping force the edge sliding to provide relief - but after doing more end trimming.

Sound logical?

 

[C.J.]

53’ hallway surely has multiple doorways, no? Any one, or multiple, doorways could be causing the binding if there isn’t sufficient expansion space underneath the jamb(s). How about direct sunlight. Seen that be the cause of a long hallway buckling before.

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

You can try and adjust where you think it's possibly occuring, but the reality is that once this stuff is all connected together, any edge that's bound can cause tension in the floor. That's why it has to be consistent all the way around the perimeter of the flooring. The tension will find the weakest part of the installation to buckle. Generally, that's where the shortest spans are. The more flooring that's locked together in a run will add rigidity and strength to the assembly. What I'm saying is, it doesn't have to be bound where you think it's bound near the problem. It could be bound anywhere, but the problem is showing up where the weakest part of the assembly is at because it's all connected.

Additionally, when you're leaving and the house is getting hot, it's not just the floor that's moving, the entire structure, including the concrete slab is moving and adjusting to the change in temperature. Concrete slabs can expand and contract up to 1" in a 20' span depending on the mix. This is why proper movement joints and control joints are needed in a concrete slab.

If you want a visual demonstration that might help explain how a small amount of binding can amply the problem at the weakest spot, try this...

Take a piece of paper and lay it on a flat surface, such as a table.

Put your hands, palm down on either side of the paper.

Now slowly start putting pressure on the paper by moving your hands - very gently - closer together.

You'll notice that the paper will lift off the surface of the table probably about 1/4" - 3/8" inch and you may not have even moved your hands 1/8" closer together. This shows you how ANYTHING binding that floor is magnified where the weakest point is.

I've attached a little video to demonstrate what I'm saying. Watch how little I move my hands together and the paper lifts much higher than the total movement of my hands.

Keep in mind what CJ said is also important. Direct sunlight on these types of floors can cause the floor to exceed 150 F. That's more than the floor can handle typically. That's why all of these types of floors require or strongly recommend window blinds, curtains, or UV / Tinting treatments. While it's a fairly rigid product, it's still vinyl which is susceptible to thermal expansion and contraction.

I believe that Smart Core has been discontinued now for about 18 months. At least from the information I was able to find, Lowe's stopped handling it and replaced it with a product under the Stainmaster brand in December of '22. Maybe they were having problems with this and that's what led to it being dropped. If you can't get the problem resolved, you might see about filing a claim. But they are probably going to blame it on installation / lack of expansion.

Hope, you have quick success in finding the tight spot and the problem gets resolved. Just be prepared that you might have to check spots where you aren't expecting the problem to be.

 

[dsttexas]

All very good information.

This hallway and problem is on the North side of the house, no sun at all. On its NE beginning at entrance to laundry room it joins a 90 degree bedroom hallway to the North and a 3' door on the South, it then proceeds as hallway along past an office/craft room wide 6' opening for a total of about 16', then enters large living room along North wall for rest of its 53' with one 3' outside door along the outside wall. The bulge occurs as it enters the living room, being expansion pushed from both ends I presume.

Another hallway on South side is 16' x 4' passing other opening to office/craft room, then about 19' more along the large living room to tile kitchen floor, total about 35' to force and handle in line expansion, and has had no issues. Blinds are all closed everywhere when we leave.

At this point I plan to have the ends of the long hallway trimmed back as much as possible under their moldings, and see if that long strip can edge slide enough along the living and dining room side grooves, and try some weight where it currently raises to help force the side groove movement. From the installation instructions it appears those side grooves are very tight.

All TBD!

Thanks again!

 

[C.J.]

I think SmartCore Ultra is a WPC product, as opposed to a SPC, so the change in humidity could also be playing a part in your troubles.