timycelyn wrote:

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
et...

"Tim S" wrote in message
news

Does wood expand when it gets hot ?

It seems to me that in my house wood expands when it's cold & wet and
shrinks when it's hot & dry.

There are two different effects here. Wood tends to swell when wet, but
it
will also expand due to temperature by a very similar amount to steel,
all other effects remaining constant. That might very well be offset by
the drying out shrinkage.

Then again, there's not much "wood" involve in laminate. So the question
is whether an MDF like substrate will expand when damp? That I don't
know.

I've been to a village hall where no expansion was allowed for the
laminate flooring. there was a huge hump in the middle of the floor and no
chairs or tables were stable in that part.

A son was asked to remove laminate flooring from a kitchen where it had
been laid with no gap. It wasn't a huge area but there were humps.

The reasons aren't worth arguing about, expansion gaps are essential if
the floor is to remain flat.

Mary

Tim


A question: I'm getting reasdy to lay a fair sized one (~ 12' x 12') in my
kitchen, and am wondering as to the best way of dealing with white goods.
Does one lay it underneath them (risk of expansion/contaction dragging them
back and forth, and maybe humping) or does one stop it short of them, in
which case how does one get a good edge with the required movement?


Remove the plinths, lay to the legs, trim the plinths and replace.

Cheers

Tim