Ok, so here is my problem. I am going to do an end grain flooring using red wood 4x4 tiles 1 inch thick. The room is an old enclosed lanai that is a step down from the rest of the house. So I made joists and laid down plywood so the tiles would match the height of the rest of the house. Simple enough.
Problem is that the ¾ inch plywood I got from the local hardware store came wet. Like when they pulled off the tarp the whole stack was quite wet. Because I wanted to finish the job while my helper was available, and I supposed because I am not too bright, I took the plywood anyway. They were cupped a bit so I laid them out in the sun on the driveway with the bow facing up. They stayed there for a few hours while we measured and prepped then cut the boards and installed them. Since i knew there was the bow I screwed down one side and worked against the bow so the screws would pull the plywood flat. I had someone stand on the bowed areas while I drove the screws into the 2x6 joists.
Now, after talking to a flooring guy I am realizing that this may take a while longer to dry. It has been a week since I installed them and i bought a moisture detector which read almost 50% when poked in deep into the plywood. So now as the plywood dries I notice it still isn't that flat. Part of it I think is just imperfections in CDX plywood as I have small ridges but also it appears there may still be some bowing in the wood. Some nails pulled up a little so I added extra screws to be safe. So my question and dilemma is where to go from here. I can see that there are slight gaps forming at the seems where the plywood met which I am assuming is shrinkage? Since I have screws holding the plywood mostly flat, will it straighten as it dries or will it get worse? I have to cut about 1450 of the redwood tiles which will take me a while so I do have some time before i am even ready. The room also gets a good breeze so I am hoping it dries quicker rather than slower. Worst case scenario is someone tells me I have to rip out all the plywood and start over. I am hoping that just waiting a while will be good enough? This is in Hawaii where we do have a humidity level of anywhere from 50-85% depending on the time of day and weather.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
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