Solid Wood Floor Expansion

Nevertheless we still found a damp proof membrane beneath the subfloor.

Solid wood floor expansion. For smaller areas such as 10 x 12 rooms leaving 3 8. The bigger the room the more boards necessary to cover the floor and the more boards necessary to cover the floor the greater the overall expansion. Don t glue a solid wood top to the rails in the base. Luckily getting ahead of the material and calculating wood shrinkage and expansion is fairly easy all you need to do is multiply three numbers together.

Measure the board s width. Here s how to find them. These spaces are to be expected and usually close up as the season changes and moisture returns to the air. When installing wood flooring you are required to leave an expansion gap of approximately 1 2 inch depending on the manufacturer around the edges of the room.

I left 3 4 expansion at the baseboard solid hardwood floors. When you ve selected hardwood flooring for your home you ve purchased a living product. To reduce the degree of change homeowners can add moisture to the air during the dry months ideally by installing a humidifier in the. To give solid wood pieces plenty of opportunity for wood expansion here s a list of things you should and shouldn t do.

Solid hardwoods by far will expand and contract more than engineered products. Normally a space of between 10 and 15mm it s not a huge amount of space but it s enough to help prevent problems with wood flooring when it expands and contracts. The hardwood floor in this article was installed on the upper level of the home with an air conditioned room beneath it reducing concern of moisture problems. How much will depend on the layout involved seasonal change in relative humidity species selection and type of hardwood cut.

Know that wider boards expand and contract more than narrower ones. Do use tabletop fasteners. Don t screw the top in place unless the screw holes have sufficient wiggle room to allow for wood expansion. 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.

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 and contraction can appear in a few different ways. If you are planning to install a hardwood floor over a newly poured. When laying hardwoods it s always a good idea to cover the subfloor with a damp proof membrane and it s absolutely critical with first floor installation.

The total expansion possible is a direct resultant of how many boards there are times the expansion of each board.