Hardwood Floor Expansion
Here s a brief primer on what s normal for a wood floor as well as how to avoid any true moisture damage.
Hardwood floor expansion. Don t worry about seasonal expansion and contraction in your hardwood flooring. For this reason it s important to allow your new wood flooring to be conditioned to the environment where it will live prior to installing it. In most cases the answer is nothing.
The cells in the hardwood will take on or absorb moisture when the relative humidity is high or when exposed to water. The term expansion gap when used in conjunction with wood flooring refers to the space left around the edges of a room when a floor is fitted. As mentioned in a previous post moisture and hardwood floors don t mix well.
Expansion takes place and the hardwood grows for lack of a clearer term across the grain or width of the plank see below not all will react this way. Wood is a completely natural product and as such when it heats up and cools down and when it takes in and lets out moisture it expands and contracts. In most cases the perimeter expansion gap is related to the thickness of the new flooring.
Put the first board up against the mason s line with the groove side facing away from the walls. As moisture increases in the hardwood flooring the boards will expand and as the moisture levels lessen the boards will contract. Wood naturally expands in moisture such as when air is warm and humid and contracts once the moisture is gone such as when air is cool and dry.
Speaking of moisture hardwood flooring or any wood product expands and contracts in response to changes in temperature and humidity. When you ve selected hardwood flooring for your home you ve purchased a living product. Expansion and contraction is to be expected in a natural product like hardwood flooring.
Use 1 2 inch spacers to assist in maintaining the 1 2 inch expansion gap between the first row of flooring planks and. It is understood that wood flooring will expand and contract in relation to the in door humidity and temperature levels. If the gaps close up in the summer and open in the winter it s not a defect unless the gaps are excessive.