FLOR Carpet Tiles Destroyed My Floor & Subfloor (Don’t Use Them Under These Conditions!!)

As I shared final Friday, the ground and subfloor in our residence fitness center are destroyed. I’ve been noticing a hump going by means of the middle of the ground within the room since final summer season, about 4 months after I put in the FLOR carpet tiles in our residence fitness center in February 2023.

I gained’t rehash all the particulars. You’ll be able to examine it right here. Lengthy story quick, I believed it was because of the drought final yr inflicting our perimeter basis to sink as the bottom dried up, which in flip, was leaving the piers within the heart of the ground to push the ground up. However even after the drought was over and the rains got here, it didn’t get higher. Then this yr, as the nice and cozy and humid climate got here with spring and summer season, the hump within the ground began getting even worse.

Once I lastly took the carpet tiles up, I noticed moisture beneath them, and the center hump within the ground seemed like this. I positioned that board throughout the hump so you possibly can actually see simply how dangerous it’s.

Since I initially thought the issue was with the inspiration, I stored the appointment with the inspiration man on Friday, though I used to be pretty sure it wasn’t a basis situation after discovering all the moisture beneath the carpet tiles.

And positive sufficient, I used to be proper. He got here, he did his inspection, and he rereported that our basis was completely effective and wanted no changes or repairs. He suspected, as I did, that the issue was the FLOR carpet tiles not permitting the ground to “breathe”, thus trapping condensation beneath because the cool air from inside the home met the new, humid air beneath the home. After trying beneath the home, he did assume that we would presumably have a plumbing leak in a pipe working beneath the house fitness center ground. He primarily based this on his statement that the dust beneath a joint within the PVC pipe seemed darker than the remainder of the dust, and he thought that might be due to moisture as a result of a leak. However he wasn’t positive, so he urged I name a plumber to test it out.

I used to be grateful to study that our basis was in good condition. In spite of everything, a defective basis can doubtlessly trigger points like cracking drywall, and even precise structural points. So at the least that information was optimistic. And as he urged, instantly after he left, I known as the plumber to make an appointment. So yesterday (Monday), two guys got here to do a strain check on our plumbing and so they discovered that we did, actually, have a leak. So the skinniest man suited up and crawled beneath our home, into our very cramped crawl house, to go looking out the leak.

Aspect observe: If I had been to construct a model new pier and beam home, I’d make sure that the crawl house was at the least two toes excessive, if no more. I really like having a pier and beam home, however on the identical time, I really feel so responsible each time somebody has to crawl into our cramped crawl house. The opposite man couldn’t match. Most males can’t match beneath our home. So if you happen to’re constructing a brand new pier and beam home, maintain that in thoughts! Anyway…

After about ten minutes of crawling round in our tiny crawl house, he discovered the leak. He confirmed me a video of it. There was a really tiny, very gradual drip in a joint beneath the kitchen sink. And to be clear, the kitchen is a number of rooms away from the house fitness center.

After he repaired the tiny drip beneath the kitchen sink, they did one other strain check, and every thing was effective. In order that’s the one leak we had. And each of them stated there’s no approach {that a} tiny, gradual drip beneath the kitchen sink might trigger that sort of harm in a ground a number of rooms away. In actual fact, the man who needed to crawl beneath there stated that our crawl house, though it’s very cramped, can be very “clear”. That was his phrase. So it’s not moist and muddy beneath there.

So again to the house fitness center, there’s no different harm within the room. There aren’t any window issues, no ceiling/roof issues, no leaks wherever else. In order that simply leaves one offender — the FLOR carpet tiles.

As a number of of you urged in my publish on Friday, the issue is that our home is outdated, it’s constructed on a pier and beam basis, and the crawl house is vented to the skin. I do know for a indisputable fact that the subfloor on this room (and in all components of our home that also have the unique hardwood flooring) is simply 1″ lumber, like if I went and acquired a bunch of 1″ x 10″ and 1″ x 8″ boards and used these as a subfloor. That’s precisely what they did again when this home is constructed. And it’s very that there isn’t a vapor barrier beneath the subfloor or between the subfloor and the hardwood flooring, though the areas by which I’ve taken up the unique hardwood flooring (i.e., the hallway) did have tar paper between the subfloor and hardwood flooring. I might think about that will be thought-about a subpar vapor barrier by right this moment’s requirements, and I might additionally think about that 75-year-old tar paper isn’t as efficient right this moment because it was the day it was put down model new.

So whereas these aren’t commonplace constructing practices right this moment, it was commonplace again then. And all of it held up completely discover for seventy-five years till I got here alongside and put FLOR carpet tiles down on the ground in that room. And since we stay in such a moist local weather, and our crawl house is vented to the outside, and we maintain our home very cool (as a result of Matt’s well being), placing these rubber-backed, non-breathable carpet tiles down on that ground created the right setting for condensation to get trapped and have nowhere to go. In order the subfloor and flooring soaked up that moisture during the last 17 months, it began bowing and bending across the ground joists.

Sadly, there’s just one repair. The flooring and the subfloor must get replaced. There’s no fixing that ground. It’s too badly broken to salvage. Since I eliminated the carpet tiles on Friday, the ground has dried out fully. There’s not any moisture in any respect trapped within the ground. Now that the ground can “breathe”, all of that moisture has evaporated. Nevertheless it’s not just like the subfloor or ground boards straightened out as they dried. They dried in that very same precise form they had been when the ground was filled with trapped moisture, and we nonetheless have a hill taking place the center of our ground.

I’m not going to lie. This makes me wish to cry. I haven’t cried but, and I’m actually attempting to maintain a very good angle about it, however I’ve my moments the place I come fairly shut. It’s simply so disappointing to spend a lot time on a room, solely to have such a catastrophic failure in just a bit over a yr after ending the room. However I’ll placed on my massive lady pants and face the problem. I’ll permit myself to have at the least one little cry over it, although.

This isn’t one thing that I’m going to leap into instantly. The excellent news is that there’s no hazard of structural failure. Even when the ground was filled with moisture, it was nonetheless structurally sound. There have been no spongy areas the place we had been involved we would fall by means of. And now that it has totally dried out, it appears as structurally sound as the ground in the remainder of the home. However the hill is a critical tripping hazard, and I’ve stumbled over it a number of instances already.

So for now, I’ll have a very good cry over it, wipe my tears, after which give attention to ending my studio and studio toilet. These are nonetheless my priorities. After these are finished, I’ll provide you with a plan for changing the subfloor and ground within the residence fitness center. I’m unsure what half I’ll do myself, if any, so I’ll simply must assess that once I’m prepared. I’ll do all of it myself (with assist, after all), or I may do the demo of the present ground and let the professionals put within the new subfloor and flooring. Or I may allow them to do all of it. We’ll see. This can be a disappointment, for positive. However I gained’t let it derail me fully.

In order that’s the story of our residence fitness center ground, and my expertise with FLOR carpet tiles. Our little residence fitness center seemed nice for about 4 months earlier than issues began going dangerous. I simply want I had realized what was making it final summer season. Maybe I might have taken the tiles up in time. Goodbye, my fairly little residence fitness center. It’ll in all probability be fairly some time earlier than you look fairly once more.

Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I transform and enhance the 1948 fixer higher that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do bodily work, so I do nearly all of the work on the home on my own. You’ll be able to study extra about me right here.