Big Mistake Please Help

speedin

2 threads on same issue merged
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Thank you


Well I made a big mistake....I have tried to search all over the internet with no luck. I have installed hardwood floors numerous times, and never have I made a mistake so bad as I did now.
I have 3/4 brazilian cherry floor. Its wide planks, either 4 or 5 inches wide.
When I purchased my house there were no floors. It was all torn out...down the the subfloor (I have a basement).
I purchased the flooring, and stacked up the boxes inside my living room to let the wood adjust to the temperature, humidity...ect....for two weeks.
During those two weeks the flooring was sitting in the boxes, I had my painter come in.. and he painted the whole inside of the house. After he was done painting I laid the floor down.
Here is where I went wrong.
I believe the wood absorbed some of the moisture in the air from the paint. I remember seeing all of my windows fogged up while he was painting. I didnt think much of it at the time. I didnt put plastic or a tarp over the boxes....
After he was done painting I installed the floor with staples. This was around october of last year. The floor went down great. It wasnt until a few months later that I noticed some problems.
I have huge gaps!!! The wood dried out, and shrank when winter came, leaving gaps all over my floor. I cant stand to see my beautiful floor with gaps in it. Most people would never see it, but I can. Some of these gaps are pretty big..way bigger then the thickness of a nickle.
I am not going to use wood filler, as it also looks like crap and will get squeezed out during the summer months..
What do I do?? I cant stand the sight of it!! What is the best way to tackle this? My father in law thinks there is nothing that can be done. He thinks that if I pry the floor up and cut the staples off..that I will break alot of boards. I have two extra boxes that were left over..Anybody have any suggestions?...it makes my skin crawl seeing all my floor look like this....I posted this general forum because it seems to get the most traffic...I also posted it in the flooring forum as well. Any help would be more then apreciated.

Jim F

The floor guys are probably going to want pictures.

speedin

??? I mean I could take some pictures...but numerous gaps in the floor that are twice the size of a nickle are pretty self explanitory..But I could provide them if necessary.

Jim F

Caveate: Probably. Pics can't hurt if doable.

mr_handy

Raising the humidity level in your entire house through your HVAC system can help considerably but be careful not to add so much humidity that it promotes mold growth. After rasing the humidiy it may take a month or more to see noticable results. This will won't fix all the gaps but should make a visible difference on many of them.

Hope this helps.

Indianapolis Handyman

tacomahardwood.

that big of gaps will be hard to fix , BUT , If you fill the gaps they won't be likely to squeeze out later because the wood is now dry , I believe the paint caused moisture , And you didn't notice ,or check the wood with a moisture meter after paint , I had the same problem once , but i checked the moisture after paint , AND YES the moisture was high , So i let it sit a while longer , I still had a problem ,
Here's a wild guess at what to do , '''''''' Take a rubber tile trawel and put Braz cherry filler into the gaps in a closet , Then clean and recoat the floor with what ever is compatible with the finish , The dumbo check is to put a tiny spot of polyurethane in an un noticeable spot , and check adheasion , If all goes well ,try the fill and recoat in a closet , you will have to use your head a little to get the floor clean after the fill ,tacomahardwoodfloors.com