How To Keep Flooring From Expanding And Ahrinking

Methods for dealing with expansion and shrinkage.

How to keep flooring from expanding and ahrinking.

Keep in mind many factors can affect the expansion and contraction of wood floors. Vinyl is susceptible to temperature changes in its ambient environment which will cause the vinyl flooring to expand and contract with normal hot and cold fluctuations. Narrow boards will shrink less than wide boards for a given change in moisture content mc. When building a carcass for a cabinet each of the four sides of the box should have the grain oriented in the same direction.

In the puget sound region where we live the average outside relative humidity ranges from 65 to 80 percent in the summer which is high compared to winter indoor air. To prevent serious problems with your engineered floor in later life expansion gaps should be left around the edge of the room wherever the floor meets a fixed object such as the walls or a doorway. As such all four sides should grow relatively equally mainly if all four come from the same piece of original stock. Flooring set in the home 6 weeks before installment to acclimate.

Maintaining a stable level. A 5 inch wide plank will shrink twice as much as a 2 inch strip. During dry cold weather laminate might shrink causing cracks to appear between each plank. When installing floating vinyl floors it is necessary to allow for this expansion by leaving a gap around the perimeter of the floor or anywhere it meets another floor or.

During warm humid weather laminate might expand to give the floor a crowned look. This will allow engineered planks to naturally expand and contract without causing disfigurement to the overall floor. So using engineered flooring may be an option for reducing winter time floor issues but check the manufacturer s recommendations and warranty. 6 months later or sooner the floor began to shrink.

While this seasonal movement is a normal characteristic of laminate flooring these effects can potentially be reduced by following a few guidelines. How much will depend on the layout involved seasonal change in relative humidity species selection and type of hardwood cut. Solid hardwoods by far will expand and contract more than engineered products.