How can I fix the gaps between my 4-inch wide hardwood floor panels that have appeared recently?
Asked by Cléo Arnaud 
8 months ago
Last Updated: April 26, 2024
I had hardwood floors put in last year. They’re 4 inches wide. I’ve started to see some gaps between a few of the panels. Is there anything I can do about it now?
Real wood naturally expands and contracts, so it’s best to just leave it as it is.
How’s the humidity in your house? Mine tends to decrease when it’s dry and the gaps disappear when it’s humid.
Seasons may change in size depending on the humidity levels in your house. Just a normal occurrence.
It’s completely normal for the temperature to fluctuate indoors. Just let it go, no need to stress over it.
There’s not much you can really do about it. That’s just how wood flooring behaves, expanding and contracting with the seasons. Those gaps are really not a big deal. Just try to keep the humidity consistent year-round with conditioned air, and keep an eye on the gaps when the seasons shift. In the future, you might want to consider engineered hardwood for more stability throughout the year.
Are you managing the humidity levels in your home? Using a dehumidifier during the summer and a humidifier in the winter?
‘t worry, it’s normal. Just make sure to keep dust and dirt out of the cracks so it looks nice when it expands again. The wood is beautiful!
It’s all good, just natural contraction from the drier winter air.
Just be patient for the wood to expand during the summer.
My floor has been down for 12 years now, and the gaps were quite large. I decided to lift the skirting boards and insert wedges along the outer edge. These wedges helped close the gaps in the flooring, and I then reinstalled the trim while keeping the wedges in place.
Since these are floating floors, using wedges may cause more harm than good.
Be cautious with using wedges as the floors need to be able to expand and contract, they could end up causing damage.
If you didn’t let the floor acclimate, that could be the reason for the issues.
There’s nothing you can do about it. The flooring wasn’t properly sealed during installation, so no matter the weather, it won’t have caps. Since the floor is indoors with heat, the cold won’t impact it.
Those gaps will be seen as charming in 100 years!
It’s totally normal for wood to behave this way when it’s installed in a house with varying humidity levels. In the winter, it will shrink and in other seasons, it will expand. If it wasn’t properly acclimated before installation, it might end up with gaps that never go away. This isn’t because the pieces aren’t locking together properly, it’s more of a floating flooring problem 🙂
Thanks everyone for all your responses, much appreciated!
Appears to be laminate.
When you nail and glue it down, some movement is expected because wood is always in motion.
No worries, it’s totally normal.
You are experiencing this issue because the floors were installed when the humidity was higher, causing the boards to expand. With the current lower humidity levels due to heating, the boards are now shrinking. This is a natural process with wood products.
The wood is losing moisture and shrinking.
Consider purchasing a humidifier or increasing the heat on your furnace if you have one to maintain optimal moisture levels.