How To Fix Wood Floors That Are Separating

This is especially noticeable with site finished floors whose final appearance after the work has been done is near flawless.

How to fix wood floors that are separating.

Water logged wood will first swell then shrink as it dries out. Do your best to work neatly and efficiently but don t take too much time. We can hear nails pop. The floor was put down in august and started to separate in december.

In some locations the space is wider than a credit card. Almost every wood floor will show some separation between boards particularly in the winter months when homes are heated and the air is dry. Often it s a floor owner concerned with new hardwood floors separating or gapping. Dear martin summer time installation in hot.

Is this normal or was the installation defective. I have a new home with oak hardwood floors. They weren t there in the summer solid 3 4 hardwoods will expand and contract with seasonal changes in moisture. Instead it is put together almost like a puzzle with planks snugly fitted together.

Wood glue dries quickly and once it does it will be tough to get a second shot. Adhesive injection is sometimes used but the success of such a method is very much dependant on the reason for plank separation. Often floating engineered wood floors are installed over existing tile vinyl or another floor. Thankfully this is a situation that with the right preparation can be pretty much avoided.

The problem is magnified when the boards were not tightly laid in the first place. For more on how wood flooring responds to moisture read under the microscope for more from author craig dewitt read. Another exacerbating condition is water damage. Repair cracks in wood floors.

How to fix separating hardwood floors. Don t be afraid to use more glue than you think you need you don t want the planks separating again after a few short days. 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. With a directly bonded engineered or solid floor once plank separation has occurred it is rare that a repair to an adequate standard without removing the floor is possible.