Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Apr 18, 2012 10:07 pm Hi, We have just had 130mm Spotted Gum timber flooring installed over 18mm plywood (no sanding and polishing yet). Our installer left a few areas unfinished with a 10mm gap - around a granite fireplace hearth and around our staircase (he did a very bad job in cutting the timber to follow the bullnose) We tried to cover this gap on the stairs with a double layer of carpet but there is still quite a gap on the curves. Can anyone advise what we should do to finish these two areas? Should I install cork? or try to fill with putty or filler? or try to create a small 6mm beading in a curve to sit on top of the flooring next to stair to cover the gap? I also posted 2 pics of where the flooring finishes at our entrance butting up to sidelight windows. Again there is poor workmanship but the gap here is very small (3mm). How can I finish this? All suggestions and thoughts welcome! Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 3Apr 18, 2012 10:42 pm The gaps sound like expansion gaps perhaps ? We don't supply t&g solid flooring, so cannot say with authority. Cannot access your photos so am only guessing. There are a few timber laying guru's that regularly contribute on the forum though, so hang in there and they will answer you. With engineered flooring, a 10mm gap is normal and is covered by skirting or beading around walls and by C shaped trims against hearths, windows, doorways etc. By notching out the back of beading, you can successfully bend it, but it takes some skill ! Depending on the stair design, we would prefer to undercut the bullnose and run the boards under to hide the expansion that way. The two flooring contractors that stop by the forum will see your post and ad some hands on experience to this answer though ! Good Luck Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 4Apr 18, 2012 10:48 pm bloody awfull job. we had expansion joints (2mm Aluminium angle) in seveal areas, where floorboards met tile, concrete, and fireplace hearths. All were mm perfect, we didnt even putty etc. I would take the installer to small claims court for such a hack job Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 5Apr 18, 2012 11:04 pm HN Flooring Team The gaps sound like expansion gaps perhaps ? We don't supply t&g solid flooring, so cannot say with authority. Cannot access your photos so am only guessing. There are a few timber laying guru's that regularly contribute on the forum though, so hang in there and they will answer you. With engineered flooring, a 10mm gap is normal and is covered by skirting or beading around walls and by C shaped trims against hearths, windows, doorways etc. By notching out the back of beading, you can successfully bend it, but it takes some skill ! Depending on the stair design, we would prefer to undercut the bullnose and run the boards under to hide the expansion that way. The two flooring contractors that stop by the forum will see your post and ad some hands on experience to this answer though ! Good Luck Thanks for that. Do you have any pics or websites that would have that C shaped trim you mentioned? Our hearth is flush with the timber flooring so I wanted to try to keep the whole thing seamless. Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 6Apr 18, 2012 11:08 pm sceen7 bloody awfull job. we had expansion joints (2mm Aluminium angle) in seveal areas, where floorboards met tile, concrete, and fireplace hearths. All were mm perfect, we didnt even putty etc. I would take the installer to small claims court for such a hack job I agree with you. He offered to come back and fix it but I'm worried that he will botch the job even more. I'm seriously considering the small claims court. Do your aluminium pieces blend well with the floor? Do you have any pics you can post? Thanks Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 7Apr 18, 2012 11:09 pm CALL 1300GOHARVEY www.harveynormanflooring.com.au Carpet, Rugs, Timber, Bamboo, Laminate, Vinyl & Vinyl Tiles TIMBERMAX Real Australian Hardwood Flooring IN STORES NOW Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 8Apr 19, 2012 11:34 pm I have posted these now on a better site. Please disregard my first link http://members.optusnet.com.au/~msoma/gallery.html Any comments or help would be appreciated Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 9Apr 20, 2012 12:10 am That's pretty d0dgy. The gaps in the staircase can be fixed fairly easily with beading. No pictures of the job around the fireplace? Or maybe the last picture? Anyway, the last photo shows that it will be difficult to finish nicely. Can you take a photo a bit further away? Building with Jandson Homes - Eclipse 18. http://adgnetworks.blogspot.com/ Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 10Apr 21, 2012 11:10 am Skayne Do your aluminium pieces blend well with the floor? Do you have any pics you can post? Thanks I'll try and take some tonight Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 11Apr 21, 2012 8:38 pm Ok have taken a bunch of pics where our floor surfaces change. Our polished concrete was the 1st to be laid and the guys set in the angle there to start with. http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g436/sceen7/210412058.jpg http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g436/sceen7/210412045.jpg http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g436/sceen7/210412047.jpg Then my own chippy laid the timber floors and set in the angle for the bathrooms http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g436/sceen7/210412049.jpg Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ and around the fireplaces... we still havn't gotten around to finishing off the hearths so have put some tile off cut from the main bathroom in them for now. http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g436/sceen7/210412051.jpg Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 12Apr 21, 2012 10:39 pm adgn That's pretty d0dgy. The gaps in the staircase can be fixed fairly easily with beading. No pictures of the job around the fireplace? Or maybe the last picture? Anyway, the last photo shows that it will be difficult to finish nicely. Can you take a photo a bit further away? Thanks for the pics. Can they bend the beading to follow the curve of the step... or will I have to get a specially cut piece with a curve that will fit my step? I've added a couple more pics. http://members.optusnet.com.au/~msoma/ The next photo in the series is the entrance showing a cork strip where the door is and then the external view of the sidelight next to it. (my previous photo was the finish up against the sidelight internally) You can also see the 1st step in question in this photo from a zoomed out perspective. The next shot is one of the hearth. As you can see it is flush with the timber with a 10mm gap around it. Thought on what would look best to finish this? The last shot is a close up of the cork strip that is at our back stacker door. I know it can get sanded back but I have concerns about the look and also how durable this will be in the long-term. Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 13Apr 21, 2012 10:50 pm Thanks for those pics sceen7. Your reno is looking awesome. Those angles look very slick and I love the finish. I can't see a gap at all.. Do you know how they allow for expansion in the timber? They aren't called the L-pieces that I have heard about are they? I wonder how hard it is to get something like that installed now after the fact? Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 14Apr 25, 2012 1:25 pm Sorry to hear that. I've just recently removed and replaced the all carpet area with floating bamboo and the installer have used the C and T joint. Just to give you some idea. C joint to the skirtings and the "T" covers the gap between the bamboo floor and tiles. http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee464/er9728/Flooring/IMG_0959.jpg where it meets the wardrobe track. http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee464/er9728/Flooring/IMG_0961.jpg http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee464/er9728/Flooring/IMG_0970.jpg http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee464/er9728/Flooring/IMG_0968.jpg Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 15Apr 26, 2012 2:08 pm God I hate seeing that beading up against skirting etc. ! We used to try and remove skirting if possible and then refit it. screen7 , your guys have done a good job of lining up all the different floor levels. I hate seeing steps up or down to laundry/bathroom floors etc All it takes is a bit of planning to get it right. Skayne, believe it or not your layer has done the right thing by allowing a 10mm gap on the long side to allow for expansion because timber expands or contracts over the width of a piece of timber not lengthways. He does however need to come up with a way of hiding that gap. If he laid the floor then he should be the one to finish it off - beading, skirting, metal profile whatever. Stewie Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 16Apr 26, 2012 9:55 pm yeh i hate to see that too but that was the only option due to it is surrounded by skirtings adjoining the skirtings in the tiled area, it will lift the height of the skirtings all around. All the bedrooms had the skirtings removed though which I reckoned is a much better look. Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 17Apr 27, 2012 10:26 am It doesn't matter whether you lay tiles or solid/floating timber floors. You should remove all the skirtings first then fit them back. A bit of extra effort but well worth the trouble. Stewie Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 18Apr 29, 2012 10:03 am Stewie D God I hate seeing that beading up against skirting etc. ! We used to try and remove skirting if possible and then refit it. screen7 , your guys have done a good job of lining up all the different floor levels. I hate seeing steps up or down to laundry/bathroom floors etc All it takes is a bit of planning to get it right. Skayne, believe it or not your layer has done the right thing by allowing a 10mm gap on the long side to allow for expansion because timber expands or contracts over the width of a piece of timber not lengthways. He does however need to come up with a way of hiding that gap. If he laid the floor then he should be the one to finish it off - beading, skirting, metal profile whatever. Stewie So can timber floorboards be fitted completely butt up against hard surfaces lengthways? If you look at the entry pics and the sliding door, he left expansion gaps there which is filled with cork. The main issue with his job was the curved cut which was more like 20mm gap which wasn't able to be covered by double layer of carpet. Our sander has filled it with brown putty but I am not happy with this finish so I am trying to get a curved piece of Spotted gum cut to 6mm as a beading. Will post pics when it is done. Kio thanks for those pics. I'm not a fan of the beading up against skirting but in your case the colour match I could live with. Re: Filling expansion gaps in timber flooring - Please help! 19May 02, 2012 5:44 am Agree with Stewie that the gap on the long side is essential for expansion and the layer should return to finish the job. We were lucky that our builder allowed the floors to be laid before kitchen or skirtings so the gaps around the edges are all covered and after we moved in they came back and put trims in to cover the gaps at the doors. In the large open area they put an extra expansion joint with cork that runs from the fridge space under the island and across to the sliding door. If you look closely at the first photo you can see it. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Regards, Grumbles Building Standards; Getting It Right! Is this acceptable in a new house build. Floors where installed by builder. Already chips in board and skirting is not flush 0 192 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15924 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair But if it is a ground level open pit, then it is not a charged system. No surprises there. The pipes have obviously been altered and there would be a reason for this.… 3 31286 |