Gaps Betten Wood Flooring

With older tongue and groove hardwood or even wide plank floors gaps inevitably develop between the boards mostly because the wood shrinks over time as it dries out and loses moisture content.

Gaps betten wood flooring.

It s impossible to machine flooring with 100 percent accuracy in every board. Gaps due to material flaws the construction of engineered flooring helps minimize the effect of natural flaws in wood but it s still wood and wood has some flaws. As a result some boards won t fit together perfectly. The immediate goal is for you to bring your indoor humidity up to at least 35 40 right now.

Gaps in hardwood floorscan be a huge visual annoyance. Before you begin filling gaps in old wood floors with caulk make sure you have properly inserted the tube into a standard caulk gun. Now you are ready to actually correct the gaps in your hardwood floor. Hardwood takes on and loses moisture as the temperatures and the humidity rises and falls.

Even though the hardwood is no longer living and growing it contains cells that still take on and lose moisture with changes in relative humidity. Hardwood gaps are generally caused by one of a few installation errors. Another exacerbating condition is water damage. To keep floors looking their best it s important to know how to care for them properly.

Because wood is a natural product over time spaces may appear between the planks. Improperly acclimating the hardwoodsprior to installation. Gaps along seams are a common issue with prefinished and unfinished hardwood floors. The problem is magnified when the boards were not tightly laid in the first place.

Gapping occurs when wood floors lose their moisture content. These extremes on solid wood will cause the wood to reach an equilibrium moisture content of as high as 14 in the summer and as little as 5 in the dead of winter. Not only are they an eyesore they can also collect dirt and dust. Several factors can lead to its cause.

And this movement will easily cause the gaps you speak of and worse. By examining it from a layman s view. Expansion and contractions causes hardwood floorgaps. The example to the right shows a nickel sized gap.

As the humidity rises and falls it s common for gaps to form and appear in hardwood floors. It may take years for gaps to show up in your hardwood floors.