The wood shrinks because it loses moisture and gaps.
Why do i have gaps in my hardwood floor.
Engineered hardwood flooring is designed to minimize gaps due to expansion and contraction of the wood.
In cases where the gaps aren t repaired by increasing the humidity levels you will need to fill these cracks.
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.
Often it s a floor owner concerned with new hardwood floors separating or gapping.
It will get pushed out as the.
Failing to keep boards straight when working.
Hardwood floor gaps cracks.
Some finishes may also help reduce the risk of your hardwood floor drying.
Not only are they an eyesore they can also collect dirt and dust.
Repairing permanent floor cracks photo credit.
While humidity may affect your hardwood floor permanent cracking is also a possible issue.
In any case wait until spring before you do any filling and do it sparingly.
During winter months complaints usually start trickling in.
Adding filler is not a good idea.
The gaps that you have now are probably permanent.
The problem is magnified when the boards were not tightly laid in the first place.
Improperly acclimating the hardwoods prior to installation.
But to answer a common question.
10098557 don t delay fixing hardwood floor gaps.
Don t put any filler into prefinished floors it never looks good.
Another exacerbating condition is water damage.
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.
Don t even think about repairs until the spring the floors amy have corrected.
For normal gaps no repairs are needed.
Water logged wood will first swell then shrink as it dries out.
Why does my floor have gaps or some similar version of that like can you fill the cracks in my floor it s not fun to have your floors refinished and the boards are tight in the summer and then just a few months later when things start to get colder they start opening and being full of gaps.
Failing to install the first board perfectly straight in a hardwood flooring installation.
Do all this if you expect your solid wood floors to stay tight.
Hardwood gaps are generally caused by one of a few installation errors.
Gaps in hardwood floors can be a huge visual annoyance.
Jasper hardwood canadian silver maple collection in montebello gray sku.
If you do discover that your hardwood floor is beginning to gap in spots it s important that you take care of it sooner rather than later.
Why do we have gaps.
Almost every wood floor will show some separation between boards particularly in the winter months when homes are heated and the air is dry.