I have a feeling I am screwed. Here's what is going on. I have wood laminate floors in the entry area of my house, and a few weeks ago I noticed they were starting to bow up a little near the front door. I called the flooring company and they are supposed to have someone come out and take a look next week. But now I'm starting to think instead of a flooring problem, I have foundation issues. This morning it has been raining heavily, and when I stood on the area that is bowing up, a little bit of water came through. I've also noticed that my front door is harder to close lately. WTF should I do? Rip up the floors myself and take a look? There's water under my floors apparently and as far as I know the only way that could happen is there is a crack in my foundation. I'm pretty much S.O.L. aren't I? I hate this house!!
I got hardwood flooring installed in my house last year, and the installer had to check the moisture level in the concrete before he installed the floor. In my case, the moisture was too high, so they had to use a moisture barrier. Then they installed the wood floor on top of the moisture barrier. He said the floor would buckle and the wood would turn black without it.
Your foundation can shift quite a bit, especially if the moisture in the ground around it increases and decreases. this doesn't necessarily mean you have a cracked slab, though. Don't jump to any conclusions. You should get an inspector out there to find out what your situation is.
If your house is over grade, more than likely, you aren't getting water from the outside. However, you could be getting it from inside the foundation (i.e. plumbing pipes, which run inside the foundation). Can rain reach your front door area?
Yeah a little bit of water can gather at times near the front door area. There is an area in between my detached garage and the front of the house that has some shrubbery and soil etc, so it can get a little muddy when it rains. Any ideas on how water could get under my floors from that area? I'm almost positive its not a plumbing thing, because when I first started noticing the floors buckling it was after a big storm a few weeks ago. Also, I've noticed a dirt like smell when walking in the front door for about the last week or so, so I'm now sure there has been standing water under the floor for a while. Even though it hasn't rained for several hours, if I step on the floor in that area water will come through even now. God this sucks! I don't even know who to call....the flooring company, a foundation inspector?
I would do a water test. Spray some water on the front door threshold and see if any is leaking in through there. If so, just reseal the threshold
water is coming in from somewhere. oh wait. you figured that part out already. good part is unless you are seeing issues with cracks in drywall, gaps in baseboards, gaps around windows or doors then you probably don't have a foundation problem. yet. More likely a leak or drainage problem. If the door and doorjam are good then look at gutters and drainage. concrete isn't waterproof in and of itself. Think gutters, basins and drainlines to area. Get your house high and dry man.
Agree with Brock that if your foundation has a problem you might see signs of other damage like cracks in walls. The one thing I'm wondering is if its standard practice in Texas to put wood flooring directly ontop of cement foundation slabs without moisture barriers? My experience is that wood flooring needs to be placed on top of pressure treated sleepers over slabs and with moisture barriers. If they are laying the wood flooring onto the slab it wouldn't be surprising to me that you would have warping problems.
you can glue wood flooring (depending on the type) directly to the slab. Theres got to be a source of this water (I doubt its coming up from the slab). Is there water puddling outside? anything weired looking in the walls or basebourds?
you can but Sishir is right. Almost all high end houses I go to that are specc'd with wood flooring use 2x4 runners at an angle to the wall with plywood on top for this very reason. The house has to be designed with this in mind to not lose head space and to have the doors at the proper elevation. Usually I haven't seen them use pressure treated lumber for the 2x4's but it would make sense if the budget allowed.
Bumping this thread back because I was thinking about this problem. I'm not familiar with this but it doesn't surprise me as it would save a lot of money and time. I'm guessing that this wouldn't be actual wood but some sort of composite or even synthetic. In a climate like Houston's though it still would strike me as odd to not be at least using a moisture barrier. Almost all of my experience in residential building has been with high end construction and in a cold climate and in those cases you definately don't want wood flooring in contact with a foundation slab. Harrissment, did you ever find out what was happening with your floor?
lol. Poor Harrisment. Harrisment, do you have a camera? Take a pic and post it if you can. It's stressful when you think you have foundation problems man, so I feel for you, but don't lose your marbles now. 1) Find out what the flooring company says/finds. 2) This sounds like water being forced in from the outside or a plumbing leak within the foundation. I would almost be tempted to pull up the planks/tiles that are bowing, dry everything up, and then see if you figure out or maybe even watch and see where the water is coming from. But I'd go ahead and wait for the flooring people and see what they say. 3) If you decide to get a foundation inspection done, do not get a foundation repair company to do it. Get an independent structural engineer or engineering firm to do it - one that doesn't do repairs. Depending on what your home size is, foundation type, and how the house is laid out, expect to pay about $250-$500 for an inspection. Is this a new house?
Hey weren't you the dumb Asian kid that asked how many hamburgers a shark could eat? Gawd, you were a dumb kid!
