Shrinking floors
Shrinking floors
(NC)—If you ask any hardwood flooring expert what the number one registered complaint they receive after a wood floor installation and they’ll tell you that it’s the unsightly gaps between boards that magically appear at the onset of winter.
The most common cause of gaps between the boards is Mother Nature. When the weather cools and the heating season begins, the relative level of humidity in our homes becomes too low causing boards to lose their moisture and shrink. Meanwhile, when the wet and humid days of summer return the boards expand once again. This regular seasonal expansion and contraction over time is the most common cause of gaps.
Gaps can also occur when boards become too humid prior to installation leaving them with internal moisture levels that are too high when installed. This problem may be caused by a very humid environment at the installation site (wet concrete, moist subfloor, fresh paint) or boards exposed to rain or extreme humid conditions upon delivery and storage. The result is the wood absorbs the moisture and expands before installation. Once installed and ambient conditions return to normal, the wood will lose its excess humidity and shrink, leaving a gap between each board.
“Over time, and if left unchecked humidity will cause gaps between floor boards of even the highest quality solid hardwood flooring,” explained Tom Gormley, President of Silhouette Hardwood Flooring. “Especially when consumers chose a stain color on lighter woods like Oak, Yellow Birch and Maple, even fine gaps will show unattractive lighter areas between some of the boards.”
Once considered a natural occurrence one had to accept when choosing wood flooring, Gormley explains there is now an innovation in gap protection available for consumers looking for the beauty and elegance of quality prefinished hardwood floors without the unattractive off-colour gaps that inevitably come with them.
Silhouette Hardwood Flooring, one of Canada’s leading premium wood flooring manufacturers, has created the new standard in hardwood flooring protection called “Contour Guard”. It’s a unique patented contour finishing process that envelopes each of its floorboards. With its exclusive gap protection, not only the top, but the sides and ends of each precision-milled board are stained. “By doing so, you’re covered as the process virtually eliminates any possible unattractive effects from gaps,” Gormley added.
For optimal protection of your hardwood flooring, and to avoid significant unwanted movement, he also recommends maintaining the relative humidity inside your home within a range from 37 to 55 per cent year-round. “If the RH is not controlled then the moisture content of the wood in your home may rise as high as 14% in our humid summers and as low as 3% in our dry winters causing extreme swelling and shrinking, just like a sponge that swells when wet and shrinks when dry”. More information on premium hardwood flooring protection is available at www.silhouetteflooring.com.
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