Buckling LVP

Our floor tends to buckle a little in the summer, though not as much as yours. It makes a lot of cracking noise when you walk on it. If the contractor is offering to pull it up and redo it for free, then I would let him, and have him add the 1/4 gap around perimeter. If not, then cutting it yourself might help, although it will be a pain.

Thanks so much for the reply! I’ll reach out to him again and see what he says

It's most likely cut too tight around the edges. Removing the base and cutting the gap should help. It's the house that expands and contracts around the floating floor. The structure of the house is wood. You can also have this issue if he pulled a classic builder move and set heavy appliances and cabinetry on top of the floor. This type of floor should be cut around cabinet, not have them sit on top to pin it in place. Areas where heavy appliances are to be installed should be area glued down while the rest of the floor is allowed to float.

Looking at the photo, you may need some extra material to fix it. That looks like it has sheered the tongue off the sides of the boards.

>... makes me think he did not leave the 1/4 inch minimum expansion gap around the perimeter.
>

Pull some baseboards and take a look. If he didn't leave a gap, I wonder if you can cut it in situ with a toe kick saw or something like that so you don't have to re-lay it (assuming the LVP hasn't been damaged by the buckling).

Thank you so much for the reply and luckily we have a few extra boxes of the planks. I have a feeling everything you said is spot on and exactly why Reddit is so helpful. Edit: What tool would you use to cut the expansion gap? I was thinking of using an oscillating tool with a flush cut blade.

Thank you for the reply and I will definitely take your advice. We have a few extra boxes of planks and can replace damaged ones if needed.

Red what is on the package so u know what is going on and figure out what he did wrong or what the problem is with the material. Best way

FYI... vinyl has a greater thermal expansion response than most wood products do.

Once it’s buckled it typically gets replaced as it’s not elastic enough to return to its original shape.

Another possibility is the length of the run. Brand dependent, but LVP has something like a recommended maximum run of 25’ and needs breaks or transitions if it’s any longer. At least that’s what the brand we buy warns against.

There's quarter round attached to the baseboard? WTF. This was installed totally wrong. It does need the expansion gap, it should be under the baseboards, and no quarter round should be needed. Installing mid summer on a hot day is the best plan, but with a proper expansion gap hidden under the baseboards, should never buckle. I've installed my own LVP planking and it hasn't buckled at all.

Moisture shouldn't affect LVP. Did he let the boxes acclimate for a few days before installing?

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>It's the house that expands and contracts around the floating floor. The structure of the house is wood.

This isn't actually the case. Wood only expands/contracts perpendicular to its grain. Your house is framed such that it's effectively stabilized from such movement.

Actually he's quite incorrect in one of his points, which is another example of something Reddit is good at- misinformation. Your house does not expand or contract around your floor. It's the floor that changes size due to temperature changes.

That said he's right that cutting in an expansion gap is a good solution, just not for the reason he gives.

It’s very common for renovation installs to add quarter round rather than remove and reinstall baseboard.

This is how you know you have a ghetto ass contractor.

Not at all. It’s an installer’s choice what services to offer and a customer’s to accept. I once installed 700 sq ft of LVP with upgrading the baseboards to modern style ones. Later the customer asked me if we could still add quarter round because they thought it looked more elegant. I didn’t have time to do it but to each their own.

Thank you. What would you use to cut the expansion gap?

The flooring was put down first, baseboard and then quarter round. So the baseboard and quarter round are on top of the LVP. I personally like how finished it looks with the quarter round. Glad to hear yours hasn’t buckled 🙂

The baseboard and the quarter round were installed after the flooring. I’ve heard of people doing what you are describing though.

He did let it acclimate for a few days and thanks for letting me know that moisture shouldn’t be the culprit of my buckling floor

I'm not sure, kind of a weird scenario. An oscillating tool would work but it'd be slow. A biscuit joiner might actually work well, although it's not meant for that purpose. Not sure how the blade or motor would stand up to that kind of usage.

Same problem here (Houston, TX) expensive crappy product, it seems. Flooring company has ignored our complaints. I’m stuck with an additional 6 very heavy boxes of it. Want to go send it through the companies plate glass storefront windows.

No problem, your best bet is to pop off one of the baseboards or the quarter round on the same line as the popped plank to expose it and it u can prove that He didn't leave an expansion gap he should fix it.

Those boxes are heavy and that would be super impressive. It is really frustrating to spend so much time and money and get no response.

We have the same flooring in our second floor with no issues at all, so I’m thinking it has more to do with how the contractor installed it on our main floor.

Shit renovations. It's so easy to pull the baseboard and replace.

So you like repainting walls when the touch ups don’t blend well? It’s all about personal and customer preference.

Never had to touch up for that. Run a utility knife on the top of the baseboards and take them off with a gentle pry. The LVP floating floor raises it up a 1/4 in or so, replace and run a bead of caulk it a baseboard color match. Done.

I’m betting you did one room in your own house like this. If you did more you’d know it’s a can of worms when you remove base. Sometimes is comes out clean, other times it’s like they made the base structural and you just created a ton of extra work for yourself due to the junk original builder’s work.

Front room, kitchchen, hallway, two bathrooms, 3 bedrooms after carpet replacement, and rec room on this house, and the entire thing on a previous. Plus helped a friend do their entire basement. But do go on making up reasons to feel better about cutting corners.

If you truly did all that then you would have at least a handful of trouble spots. No wall is perfectly straight. Often there’s deep areas of caulk at pull the paper off the drywall.

If you're pulling drywall paper you didn't cut fully. Of course the walls aren't straight, if you are prying and it's trying to.pull paper you just score it at the top of the baseboard.

I appreciate how much you don’t know. On larger gaps the caulk can run down below where you’ll never know until you start pulling. You should only score caulk and not the paper. Often, walls aren’t even finished all the way to the bottom. There are many good reason to add quarter round.

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Thank you!

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