The View From the Other Side

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Wayne Lee Subfloor Moisture At 20

One task in my new job that does not in any way bring me joy is doing a job-site review of things gone wrong. The job-site things that have brought me out over and over so far are moisture related to RH from the crawl space, rainwater management and subfloors with high readings.

It is so hard to tell a flooring contractor that they did not do the needed inspection of the job before the flooring was installed or did not follow the guidelines that matter the most with flooring: moisture. If you recall an old post, the idea we used for installing flooring was "Get the house ready for wood and then get the wood ready for the house." So just what does that mean? Well, look at some photos from homes that needed to be looked at for flooring troubles.

I went into a job and it looked "dry," but when we tested the subfloor we found readings in the 20s:

Wayne Lee Subfloor Moisture At 20

So what was needed next was a look at the crawl space to see what was going on.

The next photo tells the reason, but I was told this: "It is not my job to fix the crawl space. I am a floor contractor, not a builder!" These two photos show a rock base with water standing and the open vents that allow the RH from outside:

Wayne Lee Crawl Space Moisture

Wayne Lee Crawl Space Moisture2

The floor will fail! When I did an estimate, each and every time I would go into the crawl space to find any reason that might make the job fail. How many of us use the job site checklist from the NWFA or have your own?

I know we are not the builder or have any control over the job other than the flooring, but if something on the job will cause us pain later, why not address it up front? I had one guy tell me that they install it, then let it cup, then come back in a few weeks and sand it flat. Now that is just wrong! What happens when it does drop in moisture? It will be crowned or have huge cracks in the side match. Rather than teach or inform the builder/owner what will be best for the flooring, they just produce a ugly floor and claim that this is what flooring does and it is all anyone can do.

So during my estimate, I would use the job site checklist and show the builder/owner the trouble areas, and together we would go over the actions we would need to take to prevent wood floor failure. Once we were given the go-ahead to fix any concerns, we would use the meters. I would put a meter in the crawl space, one would stay in the home and we would start to watch the troubles go away:

Wayne Lee Crawl Hygrometers

How to correct the problem of wet crawl spaces? Well, we would do a closed crawl space and have a dehumidifier installed to control the space. Look at this photo of a job that was fixed:

Wayne Lee Crawl Space Fixed

Wayne Lee Crawl Space Fixed2

Wayne Lee Crawl Space Fixed3

The home became healthy…what does that mean?

1. No more mold2. No high RH from outside3. The HVAC bill dropped 15-20%4. The flooring and subfloor were perfect for each other

and…

5. They got the house ready for wood and the wood ready for the house.

They did not bring the flooring into the house until the subfloor was done doing what it needed to do. The subfloor went down to 11% and the wood flooring was 8%, and that floor looks great and flat. The photos in this post are from two jobs, the long crawl space with the stones was new construction. The other with the crawl space fixed was a remodel.

In the new construction they did not fix the the crawl space-the builder said that it did not matter, so the first contractor said, "No thank you, have someone else do the job." You bet, they found someone else and the floor failed, and the first contractor got called to correct it, but he still refused to do the job. Why? The floor needed to be removed, not just sanded, and the homeowner wanted to take the builder to court. He did not in any way want to be in the mix with this mess. The remodel job worked and is still sweet.

Long blog cut short, as we all know: Some jobs are best to walk away from. When we do the job right, we remove the fear and worry that it will fail.

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