Q:

buckling harwood floors

Tongue & groove, solid hardwood flooring by Bruce. Glued down to concrete slab as suggested by Home Depot. One large area of floor now buckling, with several other hollow sounding areas. How can this be repaired?

A:

In my experience, which is admittedly limited, you never want to glue hardwood to cement. Most hardwood manufacturers will tell you that you shouldn't put hardwood over a cement subfloor to begin with, but if you do you want to float it on a plywood subfloor or on plywood float strips. The problem is that the wood expands and contracts at a different rate from the cement, so when it does so through the season, you end up getting buckling and separation. Your best bet for a long-term fix is going to be to pull out the entire floor, salvaging as much as possible, and put in a plywood subfloor over the cement before nailing the hardwood to the plywood.
Having said all of that, I am not a contractor or professional floor installer, and I realize this could get very expensive very quickly. Unfortunately, IMHO, you're in a bad position thanks to faulty information from Home Depot, and your only good way out is the expensive way.

