# S2EP13: Here's Why Most Flooring Installs FAIL

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-holistic-homes-podcast-6840479/s2ep13-here-s-why-most-flooring-installs-fail
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-holistic-homes-podcast-6840479/s2ep13-here-s-why-most-flooring-installs-fail.md
Podcast: [The Holistic Homes Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-holistic-homes-podcast-6840479)
Published: 2025-07-23T09:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://the-holistic-homes.captivate.fm
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/89ef2dfd-7a96-481f-b5ca-fdc7c20f738a.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-holistic-homes-podcast-6840479/episodes/s2ep13-here-s-why-most-flooring-installs-fail
Duration seconds: 2517

## Resource

Last week I was working with a client going through her second mold remediation when I caught a massive flooring issue that everyone else involved in the project had completely overlooked. As a licensed general contractor and holistic construction consultant and I see this same costly mistake over and over again. Everyone gets so focused on selecting the lowest VOC, non-toxic flooring materials (which I love!), but they completely ignore proper installation. I've seen flooring failures in multimillion-dollar homes with engineered and solid wood floors, so price point won't save you from this. In this case, my client Lisa was living in a six-year-old production build where the rain gutters weren't even connected to drains, there was no vapor barrier under the slab, and here's the kicker-during the first mold remediation, nobody touched the flooring. Turns out there was mold growing on the backside of every single plank because moisture was wicking up through the concrete slab. I'm sharing my 3 step Holistic Homes Healthy Flooring Strategy so you never have to live in fear of what's happening behind your floors. We're talking foundation knowledge, material matching, and installation intelligence, including the moisture test that made one contractor ask me "What's that?" (which is terrifying). You can have the most expensive, lowest-VOC flooring in the world, but if it's installed wrong, you could still end up with mold growth on the backside. In today's episode, we're chatting about: • The production builder disaster • My 3-step flooring framework • The calcium chloride test • Good, better, best flooring options

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## Transcript

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