Avoid Gaps Between Winter And Summer With Wood Floor

Customers begin to notice gaps between boards and the phone calls begin.

Avoid gaps between winter and summer with wood floor. Often it s a floor owner concerned with new hardwood floors separating or gapping. Scratches from snow melting materials and flooring gaps are some of the biggest problems that people with hardwood floors have to worry about. When winter hits customers will start to notice small gaps in their hardwood floor in a few places. Fix gaps between boards in a hardwood floor.

In the puget sound region where we live the average outside relative humidity ranges from 65 to 80 percent in the summer which is high compared to winter indoor air. During winter months complaints usually start trickling in. Hardwood floor gaps cracks. It may seem like the floor installation was done wrong but the truth is even the tightest floor can potentially gap in boise idaho.

Winter weather dries out wood flooring causing gaps possibly increasing squeaks and opening surface cracks. A gap that is acceptable to the wood flooring association is about a dime width. During the winter even the most carefully installed wood floors tend to dry out and shrink. Physics will be physics.

They weren t there in the summer solid 3 4 hardwoods will expand and contract with seasonal changes in moisture. To avoid seasonal gaps you can limit the variation in humidity in the house. The floor behaves that way because of wood s relationship with moisture in the air there s no accounting for how the customers behave although educating them about gaps. Pick the right wood.

Why do we have gaps. Large gaps in wood floors that do not close up during the summer months could be a result of excessive moisture check the crawl space below being located too close to a heating vent incorrect nail spacing or structural settlement issues. The winter months bring holiday cheer. In the hotter summer months your house is open the humidity level in the air is higher and the wood in your floor absorbs moisture and fully expands.

If you are someone who is planning on getting new hardwood floors here are some things to think about in regards to the wood itself to prevent it from gaping in the winter. Inform your clients of these facts and don t rely on humidifiers or other sources of moisture to prevent normal winter conditions. Especially when we keep the windows open higher humidity can cause wood floors to swell up and close all the gaps between boards. For normal gaps no repairs are needed.

Also the type of wood that. But in most areas winter also means cold weather snow and damage to wood floors. In the winter this can be achieved with a whole house humidifier that connects to the furnace. When it comes to shrinkage and the moisture drying out a slimmer more narrow board will shrink less than a wider board.