bowing floor

[Perry1417]

I purchased a home in Casa Grande, AZ in December of 2008. Just yesterday we noticed a bowing floor board in the dining room floor which is raised about 6 inches from the main floor. There is a large bump underneath causing the separation of the wood laminate on 2 floor boards. Since nothing came up during the inspection, I am wondering if something was missed as far as a problem with the foundation? The home is 20 years old. I wouldn’t think temperature change would be an issue since it is not humid in the area. What types of problems may I be facing?

[tomh]

Sounds like you have a laminate floor that has bowed upward in the middle on one or more boards. If this is installed as a floating floor (not glued or nailed), the problem may be no expansion gap at the floor edges. If this is a floor placed on a slab, the problem may be moisture and failure of the adhesive bond.

At this time of year, Arizona has more moisture and expansion of flooring is more likely to result in buckling. Moisture is the most likely root cause. More details on the flooring, attachment method and subfloor would help.

[Author]

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