Wood joins problem

NorthernLights811 · 7 Apr 2020

I put on engineered click floor, but the installer seems to me that he hasn't done a great job.

He said that because he had to start from one side of the flat and go all the way, this resulted in what you can see in the pictures below: he had to fit the rest of the click floor "from the back side", that's why I ended up with these 2 pieces under my doorsteps in two rooms.

Before he left he put some wood putty and made it look even, but because of the springiness of the floor (floating floor because of acoustic underlay), this has started to break.

Any ideas on
a) whether this could have been avoided, i.e. it's just a bad job
b) how to rectify it

N.B. I've also attached a picture of a good join of the click floor for comparison.

foxhole · 7 Apr 2020

It’s call click flooring for obvious reasons , it clicks together, doesn’t matter which way you work .
You mentioned right through ? You have no threshold strips at doorways ?

NorthernLights811 · 7 Apr 2020

I know.. he said that the floor clocks normally from one side, and when you go to the other side this happens. I still don't buy it, but he's paid and left now.
I don't have door strips because the property has the same floor throughout.

foxhole · 8 Apr 2020

Not using threshold strips In doorways is a mistake, leaves no room for expansion.
Flooring clips together regardless of direction laid.

NorthernLights811 · 8 Apr 2020

foxhole said:
Not using threshold strips In doorways is a mistake, leaves no room for expansion.

I would assume the floor can expand at all sides since there's room under the skirting board.

foxhole · 8 Apr 2020

NorthernLights811 said:
I would assume the floor can expand at all sides since there's room under the skirting board.

No flooring requires an expansion gap every few meters depending on manufacturer guidance.
Laying in one may also prevent laying in correct direction in each room , usually towards a window.

NorthernLights811 · 24 May 2020

Bumping this as I didn't get a solution apart from installing door strips, which I'd like to stay away from.

How about wood filler?

oldbutnotdead · 24 May 2020

Depends what he's done at those joins- if he couldn't get enough angle on the the floor to click it in then the joint may not be properly engaged & will always be weak. Unless you have some pics of while he was doing it, only way to see what's happening is to lift the floor.
TBH those cracks aren't screaming at me

NorthernLights811 · 24 May 2020

oldbutnotdead said:
Depends what he's done at those joins- if he couldn't get enough angle on the the floor to click it in then the joint may not be properly engaged & will always be weak. Unless you have some pics of while he was doing it, only way to see what's happening is to lift the floor.

It's just a gap that's not even. The wider end of the gap is about 0.5cm. And it is indeed a weak spot as the floor is ever so slightly elevated, and you can see it bending when someone walks on top of it.

oldbutnotdead said:
TBH those cracks aren't screaming at me

No, you're right, they're not. But they're in two very central spots, one under my bedroom doorstep and one under my living room doorstep and they just look annoying, especially for a 3 month old job!

I don't know whether I want to be doing it up every 3-6 months... but I am just thinking of possible solutions.

Diver Fred · 24 May 2020

NorthernLights811 said:
Before he left he put some wood putty and made it look even, but because of the springiness of the floor (floating floor because of acoustic underlay), this has started to break.

So are you saying that the 'engineered click floor' has been laid direct onto the underlay? That will not help the durability of the joints - particularly where the adjoining sections are narrow.

Me thinks no matter what you do to alleviate the situation in that situation the best resolution is to have the floor up, lay something like 10mm ply on the acoustic underlay and then re-lay the engineered wood floor making sure that no edges of the ply are in line with the joins in the engineered wood floor.

NorthernLights811 · 24 May 2020

wgt52 said:
So are you saying that the 'engineered click floor' has been laid direct onto the underlay?

No sorry, between the acoustic underlay and floor there's 6mm thickness plywood to avoid that springiness. This was as per the manufacturer's guidelines.

Still, at both doorsteps, the floor looks somehow a tad elevated, as if it expanded a little bit that causes that elevation, that then is springier than the rest of the floor.

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Wood joins problem

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