Hardwood Floor Gapping In Winter

Whether your floors are newly installed or you ve had hardwood floors for years you can use humidifiers to reduce the likelihood of gaps.

Hardwood floor gapping in winter.

Not only are they an eyesore they can also collect dirt and dust. Failing to keep boards straight when working. Failing to install the first board perfectly straight in a hardwood flooring installation. Yes it can still have gaps.

Humidifiers can help some as can choosing the right wood flooring for the right situation but only to a certain extent. Almost every wood floor will show some separation between boards particularly in the winter months when homes are heated and the air is dry. Therefore from a wood standpoint to have the smallest winter gaps use quartersawn narrow boards from a stable species. Gapping in engineered hardwood can be due to many factors including but not limited to the material s manufacturing changes in humidity and the type and quality of the installation.

But in most areas winter also means cold weather snow and damage to wood floors. The best times to repair hardwood floors are april and october. Hardwood floor gaps cracks. They weren t there in the summer solid 3 4 hardwoods will expand and contract with seasonal changes in moisture.

Often it s a floor owner concerned with new hardwood floors separating or gapping. The winter months bring holiday cheer. If hairline gaps aren t acceptable even 1 inch quartersawn oak strip flooring may not work. It may take years for gaps to show up in your hardwood floors.

Solid hardwoods by far will expand and contract more than engineered products. But to answer a common question. If your client wants 7 inch hickory plank flooring with minimal winter gapping major changes to the house may be necessary. Gaps in hardwood floors can be a huge visual annoyance.

Hardwood takes on and loses moisture as the temperatures and the humidity rises and falls. It will get pushed out as the wood expands with moisture. Summertime high moisture levels. During winter months complaints usually start trickling in.

Engineered hardwood flooring is designed to minimize gaps due to expansion and contraction of the wood. The wood shrinks because it loses moisture and gaps. Moisture issues the other approach to winter gapping is to address the moisture issues. Hardwood gaps are generally caused by one of a few installation errors.

Gapping and associated noises usually occur when the flooring dries significantly from its. For larger gaps that don t close up call in a professional contractor who can repair floors properly. Adding filler is not a good idea. Expansion and contractions causes hardwood floor gaps.

Scratches from snow melting materials and flooring gaps are some of the biggest problems that people with hardwood floors have to worry about. Why do we have gaps. For normal gaps no repairs are needed.