nealtw

Is the sub floor nailed to concrete slab, no basement, no crawlspace?

pstew96

Yes, particle board is nailed to concrete and it had a slight bulge which transfered to the oak I beleive. I'm hoping that water from the surface is what found its way down into the subfloor and not a wicking from below.

nealtw

If you ever watch Holmes on Homes, he had one that had a wood floor over concrete that had failed twice. It had vapour barrier and all so they spent a bit of time trying to find water coming from where ever and ended up tileing.

pstew96

Thats what I fear I will have to do, but I'm going to wait and see what happens. The other thing is, I'm renting out the space and I hope it doesn't become an issue while I'm renting it.

nealtw

The biggest problem you have is you don't know the condition of the concrete below.

pstew96

Well with all the rain we just had, I probably will see what happens next, tile would have been so preferable which is probably what I will end up with.

joecaption

Partical board never ever should have been used as a subfloor. It will wick up moisture like a sponge, swell up and turn to oatmeal.
Your looking at removing everything down to the slab and starting over for flooring to have a chance, including tile.
Real hard wood over a slab is never a good idea. Engineered floor would have been a better choise if someone wanted real wood looking floors.

EZHangDoor

I agree, real wood is not a good idea below grade over concrete.

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pstew96

The slab that its on is not below grade, its a kind of situated on a rocky outcropping, in soil and rock but nothing dug in the dirt, its kinda propped up on maybe 1 to 2 layers of cinder block in front and becoming slab like going towards the back, probably to level it. I wonder, does partical board dry out?

joecaption

If it was removed and left outside it would dry out.
But it would be use less once it does.