WoodFlooringGuy.com

Q: Problem- Floors have cracked, gapped, and some planks slightly cupped. Floor Description: 3/4″ Thick, 5″ wide new poplar floors, installed fall/2008. Finish: A water-based polyurethane finish was applied to unfinished boards after installation. There is a full size, unheated basement below the floors. Humidity readings we started taking in late winter of 2009 have [...]

Q: We purchased a foreclosed home and it had water damage on the hardwood floors. We have been here 5 years and within that time large slivers of wood have broken off leaving big gaps. We were told that nothing could really be done because of the heat expanding it, that it will continue to [...]

Q: We just recently bought a new house that has hardwoods throughout. In one of our rooms we noticed a split/crack in one of the boards. Can we replace that piece or repair it in some way? It seems like it could get worse, like someone could catch their socks on it. Any suggestions? A: [...]

Q: What will cause cracking in the wood board ends and the centre of the boards 6 months after installation? A: What species of wood is it? Some very hard exotics seem prone to splitting. Likewise, sometimes a piece of oak can have a crack in it but not be noticed during installation; it can [...]

Q: I recently had new hardwood floors installed. Now some of the boards are cracking. A: The boards probably had the cracks when installed, but now with environmental changes they are opening up. They may have to be removed and replaced.

I have recently installed hardwood flooring. I have noticed that, on some strips of wood there are scratches and in 2 strips of hardwood there is a crack about 3 inches long. Please advice as to how I could fix this. The hardwood used in this case is cherry kempas.

I was wondering if you could help me with a flooring filler/polyurethane issue. My floor was professionally refinished 1 year ago and was to have a ‘worn’ look to it. We left many gaps and wanted only to fill the gaping holes and to make the entire house seem uniform in its’ ‘old world’ floor appearance.

How do you fills gaps between boards in laminated floors?

We have pine plank floors in our century home and they all seem to have developed gaps up to 1/4′. What do you suggest to fill them in with, so all the misc. floor things (dust, etc.) don’t buildup?

I have hardwood installed throughout my home (maple 3 inch). Lately, I noticed some gaps between some boards. Maybe 1/8 inch or less. I have air exchanger installed. What could be the cause of these gaps? Our home is 1-1/2 years old.

I hear our new engineered hardwood floors are ‘checking’ everywhere. Though I’m not sure what checking is — please describe and is this normal?

I have a new crack along the line of one board in the kitchen (along the seem- between boards). It’s uneven and seems to be getting worse. What would cause this?

How can I repair wood putty from finished floors? I’ve had my wood floors finished. The wood putty used was the wrong color and is now visible and dry. I’d like to repair without damaging/scratching the rest of the floor.

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?

We had a laminate floor fitted 6 months ago, and some edges in the center are raising slightly. Also, there are slight divisions becoming apparent in some areas. Is this expected or should I complain to the fitters?

The contractor suggested we fill the gaps with fiberglass and re-sand after staining: is this practical? I’ve see you suggest a different kind of wood filler, but not fiberglass. Would fiberglass be a good solution? Another contractor suggested to use the same filler as I have today (probably just sawdust and glue), as he says the wood has already shrunk to the max, and it won’t come out… Can I trust him?

I have 2″ slat hardwood. Small gaps. I used 3 coats of B*** water based polyurethane 10 years ago. I would like to refinish the floor. I would like to use a thick high gloss like Marine varnish #13. Would the cracks and small gaps show again? If I put down enough coats, would the natural floor movement start the cracks between the slats again, or would it be a solid coat?

Recently I installed oak hardwood floors in my house. I used pneumatic nailer, but at the area close to walls I had to nail down manually, and I can see gaps between woods. How do I fix this problem?

We are in the process of buying our first house and we have a couple questions about the floor. The previous owner put in some bamboo engineered hardwood flooring, but he didn’t do a very good job with the details (meeting toilets, sinks, trim, etc.), so we are thinking about trying to fix it. We think it’s a floating floor, but we’re not sure if it’s glued or glueless at the seams. Do you think it would be possible to take up the floor and put it back down? We’re going to carpet one room that currently has the hardwood, so we hope to use the wood from there as the extra we’ll need to fix the other rooms.

Our house has dark Brazilian Mahogany hardwood floors. Unbeknownst to me, last year, at the time of purchase, the floors ranged anywhere from 4 1/2 inches wide to 4 2/8 inches wide. Where the boards don’t match up, some kind of gap filler was used. However, over the course of the last year, the filler has been falling out of the gaps, leaving unsightly gaps in the boards, sometimes as wide as 2/8 of an inch. This has occurred particularly in the higher traffic areas, but it is occurring all over the main floor of the house. In addition, where the filler has not fallen out it has cracked, leaving zig-zag looking patterns in the filler. I am at a loss. Is there a product that can fill the gaps that have lost their filler? Will it prevent this problem in the future? Is it something that I can do?