Can You Leave Gaps In Wood Floors

Hardwood gaps are generally caused by one of a few installation errors.

Can you leave gaps in wood floors. Over time however the putty hardens chips and flakes. Gaps in hardwood floors can be a huge visual annoyance. Causes of gaps in hardwood floors. Several factors can lead to its cause.

By examining it from a layman s view. For normal gaps no repairs are needed. Not only are they an eyesore they can also collect dirt and dust. Why you should avoid putty fillers.

It will get pushed out as the wood expands with moisture. The best times to repair hardwood floors are april and october. You will not notice this. The indoor humidity can easily reach 80 for weeks if not months.

Gapping occurs when wood floors lose their moisture content. Wood fillers are also not meant for use with large gaps. 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. The amount of sanding dust you ll need will depend on the size of your project.

The example to the right shows a nickel sized gap. Failing to keep boards straight when working. For larger gaps that don t close up call in a professional contractor who can repair floors properly. You can use putty wood filler caulk or even long pieces of string or rope stained to match.

Failing to install the first board perfectly straight in a hardwood flooring installation. If done correctly these fillers made of putty or paste can fill in gaps to give your floors their original smooth finish. 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. Adding filler is not a good idea.

Water logged wood will first swell then shrink as it dries out. But at some point in the fall we turn the heat on and bake these floors to desert dryness. Start with a small amount so you can experiment with the process. I would suggest trying a floating vinyl plank because it doesn t react to changes in humidity as much as real wood does.

The boards will push against each other and move into the expansion gaps at the long edges. Another exacerbating condition is water damage. First of all keep in mind that not all gapping is considered a problem. These methods not only fix the gaps but can also prevent drafts from coming up through the floor.

Filling gaps with a sanding dust mixture works best with gaps that are less than 5 millimetres 0 20 in in width. Putty fillers were once a mainstay of hardwood floor repair. Improperly acclimating the hardwoods prior to installation. This leaves your floor looking even worse and requiring you to dig out the old putty and replace it.

The problem is magnified when the boards were not tightly laid in the first place.