Wood floors gaps forming

[spederman]

We have a 2 year old house with hand scraped wood floors on the first floor. They have been perfect til this winter. Now I'm noticing gaps forming between the individual slats in different parts of the house. The gaps are probably the size of a business card or two depending on the spot. How much of this is normal from settling or contracting wood due to winter temps vs something wrong with foundation? And is there anyway to repair it?

[Unicorn Jeff]

Probably a little of both. Foundation takes a WHILE to fully settle and then the heat and cold doesn't help. Is it floated or glued?

[lowthreeohz]

My house was built in '85 and has pine floors throughout, i'm also noticing gaps that weren't there in the months during the summer. I'm guessing the cold/warm is causing the wood to contract and expand, but hopefully they will close up some when the weather warms up.

[juiceweezl]

My house was built in '85 and has pine floors throughout, i'm also noticing gaps that weren't there in the months during the summer. I'm guessing the cold/warm is causing the wood to contract and expand, but hopefully they will close up some when the weather warms up.

Heat/cold doesn't cause wood to contract expand -- moisture does. Wood will settle at around 19% moisture content and then vary based on conditions. If the cold is causing the wood to shrink, then it's due to moisture coming out of the wood (too dry). If it expands when it's warm, then that means there's more moisture present and the wood is absorbing it.

I'm not a floor guru, but my guess is the wood used is dried and then sealed, so it shouldn't really change much. If it's and engineered product versus solid wood, then it shouldn't change at all.

[black2002ls]

Are they glue down or nail down?

I am going to assume nail down. They may have been finished at the wrong temp (read: before HVAC system was started) this allows the floors to season a bit before finishing. Our floor company want the house at ~70 degrees IIRC before they will finish them.

Contact your builder and inquire about a workmanship guarantee from the flooring company. If you are still covered by that, they should inspect it for free. If they tell you that you aren't covered, ask for contact information. Call them and ask for the service department and see if they will come evaluate it at no cost

[dcs13]

The humidity is crazy low right now. That will cause your issues. I have s pot in my house that does it....