Any carpenters on here?!

Sizzler

I have solid wooden floors which are down about 8 mths. There are adjacent to the kitchen floor which is tiled. There was an ample gap left between the two when they were laid to allow growth in the wood but it was grown much more than expected :mad: End result is now that there is a bit of a bubble on the last two rows of wood where its buckled.

I have been told the heat of the summer has caused this but I want to get it sorted, anybody have any solutions on what can be done? Would it be possible to take a saw to the floor to perhaps take off another half inch to allow it rectify itself?? Any ideas welcome.

Hotwheels

heat of the summer

its unlikely the heat did this to it, moisture is the likely culprit, if its very bad the only solution is to remove the boards and re-lay that part if you have any spare flooring left over.

Running a saw along will not do it for you as the floor is under pressure and will jam the saw…not a good idea to do it anyway as one slip and you could do a fair bit of damage..You'll have to remove the boards and re-lay.

What type of floor is it? And how is it fixed, I presume its fixed to batons….

Its not nice when this happens, but can be fixed...Any pictures of it...I'd like to have a look...

Sizzler

Hotwheels wrote:

its unlikely the heat did this to it, moisture is the likely culprit, if its very bad the only solution is to remove the boards and re-lay that part if you have any spare flooring left over.

Running a saw along will not do it for you as the floor is under pressure and will jam the saw…not a good idea to do it anyway as one slip and you could do a fair bit of damage..You'll have to remove the boards and re-lay.

What type of floor is it? And how is it fixed, I presume its fixed to batons….

Its not nice when this happens, but can be fixed...Any pictures of it...I'd like to have a look...

No pics, but leave that with me. Its not THAT bad, but noticeable when walking on it and defo when the light catches it.
The floor is secret nailed to sheets of ply beneath.

I have a few boards left, certainly enough correct the problem but didnt think it possible to rip out selective boards??

Its solid oak flooring.

Hotwheels

If its the boards at the very end where they meet the tiles, its not a big job getting them out. Just time consuming...If its the Tongue thats facing you; you may be able to punch the staples thru with a nail punch....

Worst case Scenario I had to deal with was in the middle of a Maple floor, I had to rip out almost half of the floor to rectify it. The house had been left idle for sometime without any background heat….

UNIFLU

you could run a router across the end to teh tiles?

ircoha

Hotwheels wrote:

its unlikely the heat did this to it, moisture is the likely culprit, if its very bad the only solution is to remove the boards and re-lay that part if you have any spare flooring left over.

Running a saw along will not do it for you as the floor is under pressure and will jam the saw…not a good idea to do it anyway as one slip and you could do a fair bit of damage..You'll have to remove the boards and re-lay.

What type of floor is it? And how is it fixed, I presume its fixed to batons….

Its not nice when this happens, but can be fixed...Any pictures of it...I'd like to have a look...

Hotwheels is right, ita damp problem, which u will need to sort as well.

Is it possible that over zealous washing of the tiles has alloowed excess water to seep into the gap and swell the timber.

The router idea may work, depending on access to the edges.
Pls post a deck of pics and we will give it a shot from the armchair:)

AdrianR

The moisture content of wood floors changes all the time with the seasons, during the summer when your heat is turned off the boards gradually expand as the moisture content increases. Once you turn your heat back on in a few weeks they will start to gradually shrink again and your problem should dissappear (If as you said the problem isn't too bad). Wood doesn't tend to expand or contract lengthways (With the grain) nearly as much as in the width (across the grain). It doesn't necessaraly have to be a source of damp which caused this either, although a moisture barrier should have been placed under the floor if the floor was placed on concrete, is this the case?

Your best option would probably be to wait and see what happend over the winter, chances are the floor will return to normal. However the problem would probably return next summer. If you are prepared to try and sort out the problem, it would probably be better to wait until the floor has contracted over the winter and then increase the gap along the wall, if the gap comes out past the skirting then you can tack on some beading along the bottom of the shirting. If fact the easiest way of sorting this may be to take off the skirting along the offending wall and try and carefully cut off a narrow strip off the floor, a chizel would probably be your best bet, then put the skirting back on and add come beading if required.

Sonnenblumen

Hi Sizzler- there's no mistaking it, your problem is installation, and not seasonal. Sure moisture levels will vary according to season, but this is not the issue here. Yours related to poor preparation/poor fixing. The floor butting onto a tiled area should have been protected. Also laying solid oak on plywood sheeting is also strange.

Appears to be a problem as a result of someone taking a shortcut by ignoring moisture levels and also a quick fit.

Waiting will not remove the problem. Remove and replace will.

Sizzler

Sonnenblumen wrote:

Hi Sizzler- there's no mistaking it, your problem is installation, and not seasonal. Sure moisture levels will vary according to season, but this is not the issue here. Yours related to poor preparation/poor fixing. The floor butting onto a tiled area should have been protected. Also laying solid oak on plywood sheeting is also strange.

Appears to be a problem as a result of someone taking a shortcut by ignoring moisture levels and also a quick fit.

Waiting will not remove the problem. Remove and replace will.

Thanks for the replies folks. Bit of a novice in the DIY stakes (you would never know lol) but Id agree on the rush element, we literally got the wood delivered straight from a warehouse and it was laid 2 days later.What would solid wood usually be laid onto?

For the people who mentioned routers whats the story there? Forgive my ignorance?

So are you saying the only way to sort is rip up the offending boards or the whole lot ? :eek: The whole area that was laid was 50 sq yards! Although the room Im talking about is probably only about 15 sq yards but its all joined if you get me....

Sizzler

Bump