Inspecting Hardwood Floors

As any home inspector will tell you, business is booming. Mortgage rates continue at their 30-year record low levels, while demand for housing remains at an all-time high. In fact, according to the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, the seasonally adjusted rate of home ownership at the end of the first quarter in 2005 reached its highest level in more than 25 years - 69.2%. This increase in home ownership translates into more business for anyone associated with the building and remodeling industry, including home inspectors.

Needless to say, more business means more profits, but it is important to note that the sharpest increase in these home ownership figures is occurring in high-income households. In many cases, these discriminating consumers are building bigger and better homes, and are filling them with high-end upgrade products such as super-efficient heating and cooling systems, noise-controlled surround-sound theater rooms, Jacuzzi bathtubs, and durable hard surface flooring like hardwood floors. To remain competitive, business-savvy home inspectors will need to familiarize themselves with these kinds of luxury items so that they can best serve their clientle.

One of the areas that requires specialized home inspection training is hardwood floors. There is no doubt that flooring represents the single largest horizontal surface area in any home, and that wood flooring is the fastest growing segment of the floor covering industry. This claim is supported by the Reco Market Intelligence Report that appeared in the May 30, 2005 issue of Floor Covering Weekly, a business newspaper representing the floor covering industry.

According to the report, hardwood is the industry's fastest growing floor covering product category, representing 27.4% of the market. In fact, Floor Covering Weekly made this same statement in its 2003 U.S. Floor Covering Sales Report (July 19/26, 2004), indicating that wood flooring has experienced sharp gains during the past 15 years, with a compound annual growth rate of 14% between 1992 and 2003. In 2003 alone, 843 million square feet of hardwood flooring was sold in the United States. On top of all the existing wood floors already installed decades or even hundred of years ago, this represents a lot of flooring, and a real opportunity for home inspectors to expand their services and their value to their customers.

With the wide variety of wood flooring products on the market, all of which react differently in different geographic areas and climates, detecting problems can be difficult. For example, a solid domestic red oak floor installed over a concrete slab using a moisture barrier in southern Florida will react quite differently than the same floor, installed under the same conditions, in northern Wisconsin. Likewise, that same solid domestic red oak floor installed over a concrete slab using a moisture barrier in Southern Florida will react quite differently than an engineered domestic red oak floor installed under the same conditions next door. Introduce a different species all together, like Brazilian cherry, wenge or bamboo, and expectations will be different yet again. So where does the home inspector even begin?

The first step in any wood flooring inspection should be to talk with your client at length to determine exactly what he or she is not happy about with the floor. Of course, if you are conducting a new home inspection, there may not be a specific complaint and you will be left to your own devices to find potential problems. The outcomes, however, will be the same. For example, perhaps you notice gaps that are appearing between the floor boards. While this may seem like a major problem to the homeowner, it could just be a case of misunderstood expectations. Wood is a product of nature and gaps are a normal condition that appear, and then disappear, with the changing of the seasons. When humidity levels are high, a wood floor will expand.

Conversely, when humidity levels are low, a wood floor will contract. In general, any gaps that are the thickness of a dime or less are considered normal; however, with wider boards, specifically those wider than 2- inches, the gaps could be even wider and still be considered normal. In addition, square edged floors will show more gaps than beveled floors, and light colored floors, like maple and ash, will show more gaps than dark colored floors, like mahogany and walnut. Again, as you can see, different variables dictate what is normal and what is not. In most cases, gaps can be minimized or even eliminated by using the home's HVAC system, as well as humidifiers and dehumidifiers, to control fluctuations in humidity levels.

A related wood flooring problem that will often show up is squeaky floors. This problem is most often noticeable when walking across the floor, and can manifest itself in a variety of ways - squeaks, creaks, or even popping. There could be a variety of reasons for the noise, and it will be your job to determine the cause. You will need to look at the subfloor system and its supports, verify the nailing schedule or type and amount of adhesive used by the installer, and determine if the floor has been exposed to excessive moisture or dryness. Chances are that if the noise is isolated to a specific area, the problem can be fixed easily.

If the floor can be accessed from below, such as in an unfinished basement, it may be possible to simply inject adhesive into the noisy area and screw down the floor from underneath using facenails, screws or plugs. If the noise is not isolated to a specific area, and occurs throughout the floor, the entire floor will most likely need to be pulled up and reinstalled, regardless of the cause.

While you are in the basement, you also might want to look for signs of moisture, which can be the cause of cupping in wood floors. Cupping occurs across the width of each individual board whereby the edges are raised and the middle of the board is lower than the edges, creating a "cup" appearance. This condition occurs when moisture is introduced to the wood, usually from below, as from a basement. It also can occur if a floor has been flooded or if rain has hit the floor through an open window or leaking door. Is the floor in a kitchen? Take a look at the dishwasher or refrigerator for possible leaks. Is the HVAC system up and running? Not having that running properly could have an impact as well.

Of course, it also is possible that the floor could cup if it was installed over a concrete slab that was not cured properly. Again, before you can make any recommendations, you will need to determine the cause, and make sure that the source of moisture is removed before any repair can be attempted.

Another common wood flooring appearance concern is that the wood changes color over time. This is actually a natural process called patina which causes the wood to experience subtle color changes throughout the years that add to its beauty and character. However, there are situations where color change is not normal, and you will need to be able to identify those. In some cases, the customer actually may be contributing to the color change, and you can help them to understand how to minimize the change.

An example includes periodically moving furniture and area rugs in a room to expose all areas of the floor to ultra violet light, which is what causes the floor to change color. In addition, it also is helpful to know that certain types of finishes, oil-based finishes in particular, will amber over time, which causes subtle color changes, and that certain species of wood, like cherry and many exotics, will change color more over time than other species, like oak or hickory. Again, knowing what to expect can help you better educate your customer, and provide a more valuable service.

The question then remains, how can you become knowledgeable about wood flooring to know what is acceptable under specific conditions, and what is not?

The simple answer, of course, is to receive specialized training on conducting wood flooring inspections to learn what to look for. One of the most comprehensive wood flooring inspection schools offered is through the National Wood Flooring Association Certified Professionals (NWFACP) training program. NWFACP Wood Flooring Inspector Schools are offered several times throughout the year, at various locations throughout the country.

The curriculum was developed to identify knowledge and competency in five key areas, including substrates; maintenance; identifying problems, causes and cures; installation, sand and finish methods; and report information gathering and writing. Knowledge in these areas is determined with a written exam that includes 360 multiple choice and true or false questions. Once a candidate has completed the written exam successfully, he or she is required to complete and submit five written inspection reports to the NWFACP Wood Flooring Inspector Review Panel. After these reports are reviewed and approved, full NWFACP Wood Flooring Inspector status is awarded.

Acquiring Certified Wood Flooring Inspector status with the National Wood Flooring Association Certified Professionals program will validate your wood flooring inspection knowledge and expertise, while enhancing the services you provide to your customers. It certainly won't hurt your bottom line either.

For more information about the Certified Wood Flooring Inspector program, visit www.nwfacp.org, or contact NWFACP at 866-418-5408 (toll-free) or 636-728-1922 (local and international)