If spilled water sits atop the flooring for too long or if moisture seeps into the wood from the subfloor.
How to fix swollen hardwood floor.
Get tips on cutting out the swollen part and replacing it with floor boards taken from a nearby closet or pantry.
Hardwood flooring may become damaged during the swelling or buckling process.
However the flooring almost always returns to its original state.
Moisture is the downfall of many hardwood floors.
When humidity is high the wood expands.
The mechanism that causes swelling can be understood by looking at the cellular structure and organization in wood.
Solid wood flooring takes in moisture when there is a high level of humidity in the air and then the flooring lets that moisture go when the humidity in the atmosphere reduces again.
This is a technique to fix popping floors on engineered wood.
Find out how to repair an area of your hardwood floor that is swollen from water damage.
To find out more about the cellular structure of wood see my article understand the science of water and wood floors cupping in solid wood floors.
If solid wood floors are fitted without an expansion gap problems which can sometimes be severe are likely to arise.
How to fix a buckled hardwood floor.