Bowing or warping of floor boards can occur for several reasons.
Warped wood floor causes.
The ones exposed to more air and heat near the outsides of the pile had dried in unexpected ways.
Any and all of these can put you at risk for wood floor cupping.
Cupping also known as wash boarding is the milder form of floor damage.
What causes warping wood can warp when it gets wet and swells then dries out and contracts.
Typically moisture is the culprit that causes wooden floors to warp.
As you can see moisture and wood don t go well together.
This is often the root cause of a warped wood floor.
In the wintertime people will suddenly notice their wood floors shrinking where they have gaps in between floorboards.
Picture a typical wooden floor plank.
Cupping is a result of the changes in moisture in the room.
If the warping is minor the floor should shrink back down to it s intended size and lie flat.
The basic answer is that wood warps because of uneven drying rates within the wood fibers.
Over the course of time this will lead to warping.
Water causes the wood to expand and shrink.
Wood floors usually become warped because of water damage although too much sunlight can also cause boards to warp.
Quick changes in humidity cause floorboards to warp.
Wood is hygroscopic in nature and thereby tends to absorb moisture from its surroundings causing problems in hardwood floors.
If water has seeped into the boards they may swell against one another which can cause the bow.
What causes warped wooden floors.
Sometimes all you need to do in order to restore the floor is to remove the source of water and let the floors dry out.
How to fix a warped wood floor moisture damage to wood floors.
The pipes that carry your hot water change in temperature as you run yourself a super deep bubble bath.
When the moisture increases the wood swells and then when it decreases the wood shrinks.
Moisture makes the wood expand causing it to either rise up along the edge or the center of the boards.
That can come in the form of water or humidity and can get especially bad during the transition in seasons when temperature changes bring about the moisture in the air.
What causes a wood floor to warp.
As my boards had sat there throughout the summer.
Many floor boards that are warped will need to be removed and replaced.
This doesn t usually happen to properly finished hardwood flooring because the boards are protected.
Usually it s due to humidity or moisture.