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 house fitness center are destroyed. I’ve been noticing a hump going by way of the middle of the ground within the room since final summer time, about 4 months after I put in the FLOR carpet tiles in our house fitness center in February 2023.

I gained’t rehash the entire particulars. You can read about it here. Lengthy story quick, I believed it was as a result of drought final 12 months 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 12 months, as the nice and cozy and humid climate got here with spring and summer time, the hump within the flooring began getting even worse.

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

Since I initially thought the issue was with the muse, I saved the appointment with the muse man on Friday, despite the fact that I used to be pretty sure it wasn’t a basis subject after discovering the entire moisture underneath 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 advantageous 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 recent, humid air underneath the home. After trying underneath the home, he did assume that we would probably have a plumbing leak in a pipe working underneath the house fitness center flooring. He primarily based this on his commentary that the dust underneath a joint within the PVC pipe seemed darker than the remainder of the dust, and he thought that might be due to moisture resulting from a leak. However he wasn’t positive, so he recommended I name a plumber to test it out.

I used to be grateful to be taught that our basis was in fine condition. In any case, a defective basis can doubtlessly trigger points like cracking drywall, and even precise structural points. So at the least that information was constructive. And as he recommended, instantly after he left, I referred to as the plumber to make an appointment. So yesterday (Monday), two guys got here to do a strain check on our plumbing they usually discovered that we did, actually, have a leak. So the skinniest man suited up and crawled underneath our home, into our very cramped crawl area, to look out the leak.

Facet word: If I have been to construct a model new pier and beam home, I’d make sure that the crawl area was at the least two ft 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 area. The opposite man couldn’t match. Most males can’t match underneath 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 area, he discovered the leak. He confirmed me a video of it. There was a really tiny, very sluggish drip in a joint underneath 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 underneath the kitchen sink, they did one other strain check, and all the pieces was advantageous. In order that’s the one leak we had. And each of them stated there’s no manner {that a} tiny, sluggish drip underneath the kitchen sink may trigger that form of harm in a flooring a number of rooms away. Actually, the man who needed to crawl underneath there stated that our crawl area, despite the fact that it’s very cramped, can be very “clear”. That was his phrase. So it’s not moist and muddy underneath there.

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

As a number of of you recommended in my submit on Friday, the issue is that our home is previous, it’s constructed on a pier and beam basis, and the crawl area is vented to the skin. I do know for a undeniable 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 underneath the subfloor or between the subfloor and the hardwood flooring, though the areas wherein I’ve taken up the unique hardwood flooring (i.e., the hallway) did have tar paper between the subfloor and hardwood flooring. I’d think about that will be thought of a subpar vapor barrier by at present’s requirements, and I’d additionally think about that 75-year-old tar paper isn’t as efficient at present because it was the day it was put down model new.

So whereas these aren’t commonplace constructing practices at present, 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 dwell in such a damp local weather, and our crawl area is vented to the outside, and we maintain our home very cool (resulting from Matt’s well being), placing these rubber-backed, non-breathable carpet tiles down on that flooring 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 flooring joists.

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

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 great perspective 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 12 months after ending the room. However I’ll placed on my massive woman pants and face the problem. I could enable myself to have at the least one little cry over it, although.

This isn’t one thing that I’m going to leap into immediately. 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 have been involved we would fall by way 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 severe tripping hazard, and I’ve stumbled over it a number of instances already.

So for now, I’ll have a great 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 give you a plan for changing the subfloor and flooring within the house fitness center. I’m undecided what half I’ll do myself, if any, so I’ll simply should assess that once I’m prepared. I could do all of it myself (with assist, after all), or I may do the demo of the present flooring and let the professionals put within the new subfloor and flooring. Or I may allow them to do all of it. We’ll see. It is a disappointment, for positive. However I gained’t let it derail me utterly.

In order that’s the story of our house fitness center flooring, and my expertise with FLOR carpet tiles. Our little house fitness center seemed nice for about 4 months earlier than issues began going unhealthy. I simply want I had realized what was responsible for it final summer time. Maybe I may have taken the tiles up in time. Goodbye, my fairly little house fitness center. It’ll most likely be fairly some time earlier than you look fairly once more.

FYI, once I began researching if my FLOR carpet tiles may probably be the reason for my flooring points, I got here throughout this video. Whereas it’s a distinct scenario, it confirmed that the tiles have been the issue, particularly after basis and plumbing points have been timed out. So I wish to cross this alongside to any of you contemplating vinyl flooring. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/aT7QSVzViytNnag9/?mibextid=W40cHY

Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I rework and beautify 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 can learn more about me here.