Technical guide
Pisos Pro Medellín is a company dedicated to installing and repairing floors for homes and businesses in the Aburrá Valley and Eastern Antioquia. Before laying any moisture-sensitive floor we test the subfloor, because moisture is the cause of damage we run into most.
Across more than 15 years and 900+ jobs, we have pulled up swollen laminate, peeling vinyl and hardwood with fungus growing underneath. This guide explains why it happens in our climate and how to prevent it.
Medellín and the rest of the Aburrá Valley sit at roughly 1,500 m above sea level, with mild weather all year. There are two rainy seasons, approximately April to May and October to November, bringing heavy afternoon showers.
Eastern Antioquia, home to Rionegro, Llanogrande, La Ceja and Marinilla, lies above 2,000 m. It is cooler and cloudier, with frequent morning fog and less sunshine to dry out patios and walls.
Air humidity rises and falls every day, so hardwood and laminate shift slightly all year round. What truly ruins a floor is water arriving from below or from a leak.
Each source leaves a different trail, and mixing them up leads to fixing the wrong problem.
This is water vapor in the air, high during the rainy season and in closed-up rooms. It affects the whole space evenly and changes from week to week.
It rises from the concrete slab or the ground: ground-floor units, houses built on soil and slabs that are freshly poured or still in unfinished (obra gris) condition. It damages from below and gets worse in unventilated areas.
Liquid water coming from a pipe, a window seal, a balcony or the apartment upstairs. The damage is localized and usually appears suddenly.
If moisture is what has you torn between laminate and SPC, our laminate vs SPC vs vinyl comparison goes deeper.
| Material | Reaction to moisture | Precaution in Medellín and Eastern Antioquia |
|---|---|---|
| Laminate | The HDF swells at the seams and forms peaks; the damage is permanent | Polyethylene barrier over cement, and never in bathrooms |
| SPC and WPC | The core does not swell, but water can get trapped underneath and breed mold | Test the subfloor all the same; seal the perimeter in wet areas |
| Glue-down vinyl (LVT) | Vapor from the slab loosens the adhesive: bubbles and lifting tiles | Strict moisture testing and, if needed, a sealer before gluing |
| Solid hardwood | Absorbs and releases water; cups when wet and opens gaps as it dries | Acclimate, add a barrier and ventilate; treat ground floors first |
| Engineered hardwood | More stable thanks to its cross-layered build, though water still cups it | Same testing; a better choice than solid wood in cool Eastern Antioquia homes |
| Porcelain and ceramic tile | Water does not harm it, but a damp slab causes efflorescence and hollow tiles | Fully cured subfloor and the right adhesive |
| Carpet | Holds moisture in the backing and encourages mold and dust mites | Avoid on ground floors and in unventilated rooms |
| Microcement | Vapor from below causes stains and loss of adhesion | Dry slab and a barrier before the system goes on |
Flooring stored in a cold warehouse in Eastern Antioquia does not hold the same moisture as a sunny Laureles apartment. Acclimating means leaving the boxes closed in the final room, normally for 48 hours or whatever the manufacturer specifies, so the material balances with the air.
The expansion gap is the 8 to 10 mm space left along walls, columns and door frames. When humidity climbs, the floor grows into that gap instead of pushing against the wall and lifting.
That space stays hidden under the baseboard and is never filled with silicone or filler. For nailed or glued solid hardwood, the clearance is calculated from the wood species and plank width.
Plank edges rise and form a raised ridge. On laminate it points to water in the joints and almost always means replacing the affected planks.
The sides of each plank sit higher than the center. It is a classic sign of moisture rising from below in hardwood and laminate.
A stale odor that will not clear with fresh air suggests water trapped under the floor or behind the baseboard. It is worth checking before stains appear.
Black or greenish spots on baseboards, joints or the back of rugs. On a ground floor, the source is usually the subfloor.
This is efflorescence: salts carried out of the concrete by water. You see it when an old floor is lifted or in the grout lines of tile.
Mold needs moisture, organic material and poor airflow. Under carpet or a hardwood floor at ground level, all three come together easily.
The most common cases are ground-floor bedrooms with wall-to-wall carpet, closets against exterior walls and Eastern Antioquia country houses left shut for weeks. Once mold appears, the affected material has to come out, the slab must be dried and treated, and the cause removed before any new floor goes in.
During the site visit we check the subfloor with a moisture meter at several points. If readings come back high, we install a moisture barrier or correct the slab through floor and subfloor repair.
For spaces that will stay exposed, such as ground floors and Eastern Antioquia homes, an SPC floor or porcelain tile holds up better than laminate.
If this explanation helped, our Medellín flooring guides cover more practical topics.
Pisos Pro Medellín
Tv. 6 #45-115, El Poblado, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia
Monday to Saturday: 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Sunday: 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.