Small cracks between the planks
Q: I had my 30 year old oak floors redone. There were some areas were we had removed a fireplace mantle where the wood was put in new. They sanded and applied 3 coats of the Glista (scary after reading about it on your site, and to boot, they used no respirators!) I just noticed today that there are small cracks between the planks where the has now separated. Can this be repaired by reapplication? Will they have to redo the floor completely? The old coating sure didn’t show separation before so what’s up with it pulling apart now? Was it the flooring guys not knowing what they were doing?
A: I think you need to add some moisture to your home climate. That is why the repaired areas are shrinking.
Follow-up Q: Would that be true for the boards that weren’t replaced? We are in Hawaii, so I didn’t think about the moisture…
A: I may have misunderstood your comments. I hope not. I thought you were saying the entire floor was developing gaps. Am I correct to assume it is just the new wood which was used for repairs? If that is the case, the guys should have checked it’s moisture content before using it to be sure it was close to that of your existing floor. If it was above normal, 7-9% it would shrink as it starts to shed the excess moisture.
Second follow-up Q: Well, yes it is by where it was repaired, but then it is in places where the floor wasn’t repaired too… that’s why I thought it was weird. It’s just some places in the middle of the floor away from the repairs. It has been somewhat dry, so do I just wait for the expansion to fill the hole or do I need to reseal?
A: I would try to increase the humidity a bit but not apply more finish. That really won’t solve anything. Come to think of it, I need to get a humidifier myself. My hygrometer has been showing me readings of less that 30% RH, even down to 27%. Far too dry.
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