Hardwood Floor Separating From Subfloor

Is this normal or was the installation defective.

Hardwood floor separating from subfloor.

It really behaves differently than hardwood flooring. Keep in mind that for mechanically fastened floors osb doesn t hold fasteners as well as plywood so you need to use a thicker material to get. Pergo laminate flooring boards have a fiberboard core and although it s more stable than wood pergo floors can develop some of the defects of hardwood floors including buckling and crowning. We can hear nails pop.

If there is any deflection in the subfloor when walked on it would be advisable to add an additional layer of 3 8 or 1 2 thick plywood underlayment glued and screwed down. What i have for a sub floor is 1 2 plywood then 15lb felt then 5 8 plywood. The three wood members. However plank separation can also occur with floating floors.

Bamboo is funny stuff at least from a flooring standpoint. How to fix separating hardwood floors. In some locations the space is wider than a credit card. I live in south east texas it gets hot here so a c runs a lot.

Usually manufactured in 4 by 8 foot sheets plywood panels and osb are acceptable subfloors for hardwood flooring as long as they are the proper thickness. If nothing else it may reduce the amount of moisture you need to add. Floating engineered wood floors can simply be installed directly on osb subfloor the hardwood flooring must be installed crossing the floor joists at a 90 degree angle. 0 5 inch gaps don t sound right even for bamboo.

I am wanting to install real hardwood flooring over my wood sub floor. Often it s a floor owner concerned with new hardwood floors separating or gapping. 1 suitable wood flooring. This separation is generally caused by seasonal shifting of the boards and you would be well advised to keep the indoor relative humidity levels to about 40 60.

Joist subfloor and finished hardwood have separated and the nails binding them now are moving in the loosened nail holes. They weren t there in the summer solid 3 4 hardwoods will expand and contract with seasonal changes in moisture. Floating floor plank separation. Almost every wood floor will show some separation between boards particularly in the winter months when homes are heated and the air is dry.

I have mainly discussed plank separation for solid wood and engineered floors that have been directly bonded to the sub floor. But if you have a leaky condo reducing ventilation can help. Dear martin summer time installation in hot. The floor was put down in august and started to separate in december.

With a floating floor the rules of expansion due to air moisture still apply.