wrote in message

I had 3/8" thick Bellawood installed today over concrete
slab (with a skim coat of a prep material). There are
many small gaps between boards side-by-side, plus a few
length-wise. Is this simply poor workmanship or is the
installer correct when he says that these gaps are needed
for future expansion?

Not needed for expansion. What do you consider "small" and "many"?

My thoughts without seeing it. Couple of possibilities...

1. The gaps are because boards vary in width (easy to determine). That is a
manufacturing problem but not necessarily a defect, depends on the specs.
The gaps would be at the end joint where a thinner board meets a wider one;
normally, those gaps decrease in width as they get farther from the end
oint.

2. You said it was on slab. How was it fastened? Normally, wood floors are
fastened to a subfloor or - on concrete - to panels nailed to the concrete.
The boards are fastened to the panels or subfloor with cleats (sometimes
staples) driven at a downward angle through the tongue. It is perfectly
normal for some of the flooring boards to be less than perfectly straight
but the force of the nailing should pull them tight; if it doesn't, the
installer should take other steps (clamps, etc.) to get them in straight. I
would say that gaps at end joints are definitely from sloppy work, maybe
those parallel to the boards too..

Was your floor mechanically fastened? If so, I would say the installer cut
corners. If not - if some sort of mastic was used - I'd say it wasn't
holding well.


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dadiOH
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