I just stumbled across this site - wish I'd done so earlier!
We've been in a new build house for just over a year. A few months after we moved in we noticed a few gaps appearing in the wooden flooring. We thought it might just be minor seasonal variation but over time it's got worryingly much worse.
There are some pictures I've taken, with a link below.
http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/7419267
The gaps between the short edges are mostly by the front door. However, there are large gaps also between the long edges of the wooden panels across the whole width of the room. Some of these gaps are almost the size of the tongue, resulting in a significant loss of stability. In one 90cm section the total sum of the gaps is over 20mm!
I've managed to get a bit of background information from the developer. The floor is solid oak with a finished top. It's 18mm thick. I'm not sure of the origin or make. Tongue & groove. The subfloor is concrete. The flooring is laid onto wooden joists - there is insulation between each joist. I've not been told the spacing of the joists. Apparently the floor is 'pinned' every 30cm or so. There is a 10mm expansion gap at all edges.
The appearances to me, after some detailed internet searching, look like cumulative shrinkage or 'rafting'. Does this seem plausible?
The developer is saying that the gaps along the short edges near the front door (the largest is nearly 2cm!!) are caused by incorrect pinning and the wood sliding to the extremes offered by the expansion gaps. However, he is saying that the gaps opening up between the long edges are caused by similar movement and that "shrinkage is highly unlikely". I actually find this extremely hard to believe: the total expansion gap across the room is 20mm, and this amount of space has been taken up by the gaps in a 90cm section of the floor! The whole floor is about 4x4m. If there had been movement of this degree there would have to be some lifting to accommodate all the wood and gaps, and this is patently not the case. His sums do not add up.
He has offered to re-lay the floor, saying he has some wood stored in his garage, which he claims is heated. He claims it doesn't need to be stored in the house prior to installation, which I just do not believe looking at information that is readily available from manufacturers' websites.
Would welcome some advice - am I sane or should I really question what this guy is going on about?
We've been in a new build house for just over a year. A few months after we moved in we noticed a few gaps appearing in the wooden flooring. We thought it might just be minor seasonal variation but over time it's got worryingly much worse.
There are some pictures I've taken, with a link below.
http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/7419267
The gaps between the short edges are mostly by the front door. However, there are large gaps also between the long edges of the wooden panels across the whole width of the room. Some of these gaps are almost the size of the tongue, resulting in a significant loss of stability. In one 90cm section the total sum of the gaps is over 20mm!
I've managed to get a bit of background information from the developer. The floor is solid oak with a finished top. It's 18mm thick. I'm not sure of the origin or make. Tongue & groove. The subfloor is concrete. The flooring is laid onto wooden joists - there is insulation between each joist. I've not been told the spacing of the joists. Apparently the floor is 'pinned' every 30cm or so. There is a 10mm expansion gap at all edges.
The appearances to me, after some detailed internet searching, look like cumulative shrinkage or 'rafting'. Does this seem plausible?
The developer is saying that the gaps along the short edges near the front door (the largest is nearly 2cm!!) are caused by incorrect pinning and the wood sliding to the extremes offered by the expansion gaps. However, he is saying that the gaps opening up between the long edges are caused by similar movement and that "shrinkage is highly unlikely". I actually find this extremely hard to believe: the total expansion gap across the room is 20mm, and this amount of space has been taken up by the gaps in a 90cm section of the floor! The whole floor is about 4x4m. If there had been movement of this degree there would have to be some lifting to accommodate all the wood and gaps, and this is patently not the case. His sums do not add up.
He has offered to re-lay the floor, saying he has some wood stored in his garage, which he claims is heated. He claims it doesn't need to be stored in the house prior to installation, which I just do not believe looking at information that is readily available from manufacturers' websites.
Would welcome some advice - am I sane or should I really question what this guy is going on about?
