Engineered Floor Stability

Q: I just finished installing a new lock-and-fold engineered hardwood. I had some problems with getting the concrete subfloor level in the bedroom and ended up pouring down some self-leveling compound. However, now that I have the hardwood installed I think there are still some problems with the subfloor. There are “dead” spots in the floor where it is not in contact with the subfloor and it flexes when you walk on it. What should I do about this? Should I take it back up and pour down some more leveling compound? Or should I get a humidifier and hope it levels itself out?
Thanks
David L.
A: In this case a humidifier will not level the floor out. Your best bet would be to remove the flooring, patch your dead spots, then reinstall the flooring. This will be a bit of a hassle, but let me explain why this is the route you want to go.
With floating floors, when they flex more than is expected it will begin to put serious wear on the locking mechanism of the floor. Floating floors are expected to flex a very minimal amount which the underlayment will compensate for. The amount of movement you are running into will eventually cause the locking mechanism to break, which will splinter portions of the floor along with allowing for even more movement in the floor.
In the end, you will want your floor to be flat. Take your time when you are doing the patch work and make sure you don’t run into this problem again.