If you are starting to notice gaps appearing between the individual hardwood planks, don’t immediately worry and think there is something wrong. Around this time of year, wood floors can contract because of the low humidity.

According to the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA), this occurrence is considered normal and to be expected when wood flooring is exposed to seasonal variations. The NWFA also notes that floors made with wider planks can experience wider gaps.

These gaps can be minimized or eliminated by using an HVAC system (central air) in your space. An HVAC system allows you to maintain temperature and humidity based on the requirements of the floor you have installed. Humidifiers can also be helpful.

If you have your hardwood floors installed during a time of low humidity, sometimes it is necessary to leave intentional gaps to accommodate for seasons that have higher humidity. This way, when the hardwood planks expand, the space between the planks disappear and no damage is caused.

Gaps that do not disappear as the humidity changes means there could be a problem. Some common causes of this include flooring not installed tightly together, debris between the planks during installation, or an inadequate or inoperable HVAC systems resulting in incorrect humidity levels.

If you are uncertain about whether you have seasonal or abnormal gaps, please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of our hardwood consultants. We will help identify the reason for any gaps in your flooring and offer our expert opinion as to what remedies, if any, are needed.

A lot of the information found in this article is courtesy of the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) and can be found in their publication “Problems, Causes, and Cures – Technical Publication No. C200, Revised © 2018, 3rd Edition.

There are some wonderful products on the market that can offer a good seal for your hardwood floors. If this is not something that you have ever done, then we highly suggest finding one that will work for you.

Usually there is going to be more traffic on your floors during this time of year than most other months. Prepare for this traffic by treating the floors with a good protectant product. If you are not sure what to purchase, contact us and we would be happy to discuss with you some good options.

• Humidity plays a large role in the stability of moisture content in hardwood flooring. If you heat your home in the winter, there is a chance that your floorboards will shrink, creating spaces between one another. This is a result of lower relative humidity levels. Most of the time, once the weather gets warmer, the boards will return to normal. However, to avoid having this problem at all, you may want to consider installing a humidifier to use during the colder months.
• Another problem that may occur is called cupping. If the edges of your floorboards are higher than their center, this is a problem. Cupping typically happens when the bottom of your boards are wetter than the top. It is also caused by high relative humidity levels because the boards will expand and press together, creating deformities.
• Crowning, the opposite of cupping, is defined when the center of your floorboards is higher than the edges. This happens when your floor is exposed to humid conditions for a long period of time. It can also occur if flooring previously had a cupping issue and the edges were sanded down before the moisture content lowered to its normal level.
• One more uncommon and extreme sign of water damage is buckling. It is a big problem because this happens when your floor actually detaches and pulls up several inches from the subfloor in various places. As mentioned before, this is fairly uncommon. Buckling will typically only happen when flooring is exposed to excessive amounts of water for a long period of time – for example, after a flood. If you catch this problem early on, some simple repairs may be made. Otherwise, more extensive repairs must be made. Usually a few of your floorboards will have to be removed while the rest of your floor dries out, but occasionally complete floor replacement is necessary.

You can prevent most of these problems by monitoring your flooring’s moisture content with a wood moisture meter. However, if you discover signs of any of these problems in your own home, contact us and we can help you find a solution. In addition, we are one of the best hardwood floor installers around and, therefore, can help you avoid moisture damage issues right from the start. We will ensure that your flooring is properly acclimated, so you won’t have to fix problems in the future and you can enjoy the look of your beautiful hardwood floors for a very long time.