are uneven floors sometimes okay?

ballclub

I just moved into a high-rise condo last week. I have hardwood flooring, and underneath is concrete.

The floor has a slope to it near the kitchen area which looks like a 3/8" slope within a 3 foot area. It's really starting to bug me. I can take a small ball and it will roll away from the kitchen. There's also a soft spot in the floor that creaks where the slope starts smoothing out.

I'm curious if this is perfectly acceptable in construction projects like this (no joists underneath that are settling), or is it just plain shoddy flooring work?

If it's the latter, I definitely want to bring it up with the builder, although I assume they will really push back because it would probably require pulling up alot of flooring to fix the unevenness underneath.

Big Dave

Sounds like shoddy work to me. I would bring it up to the builder and see what he has to say. If the slope is that bad it should have been leveled out before installation of finish flooring.

Dave.

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redline

was the flooring recently replaced?

dougrus

Im not sure what the proper method is for installing hardwood on "gypgrete", which is what I would guess it is...Maybe Floorcraft, RDTile or one of the other flooring guys would know..Ill research and see what I find..."gypcrete" is common in condos and high rises...I know with tile installations they usually do anti-fracture membranes and such...maybe the gypcrete was not properly sealed/prepared before laying the floor... and it has cracked...Maybe it was not leveled well when they poured and floated the material. I dont know but I would think there would be SOME kind of membrane between the subfloor and the wood...

I just looked around...is the floor glued to the crete? How thick is the hardwood?

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mdshunk

Is this a completely new building, originally designed as a high-rise condo building, or is it an older building re-fitted into condos? That makes a huge difference. That slope might be due to some feature of the building for its original use that would have been cost preventative to correct when compared with the benefit.

ballclub

Thanks for the response. Yes, the floor is glued to the surface underneath. I think the hardwood is about a 1/4" thick. It's Shaw's Red Oak design.

ballclub

Hi, the building is completely new designed to be a high-rise condo. I have checked other units and exact same floorplans being built where the doors are still open, and I don't see the kind of slope my unit has.

Also, I asked a fellow resident, and he said he doesn't have a slope problem. So I guess I'm the unlucky one. If this indeed is a result of shoddy workmanship, then I need to form a case with the builder that other experts in the industry view this as a problem, and should be fixed.

dougrus

Ok...well that seems to be the correct method...and that 5/16th I think is about the proper thickness for hardwood over that type of material...
The problem is most likely that they simply didnt level the material properly...
I would definetly take it up with your builder...If it bothers you now, wait a few years and it will really bug you.

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Doug Russell

"What if the hokey pokey really IS what its all about."