rooster99, you don't need 3 threads devoted to the same problem. Following up in the original thread would have been fine.

You seem to have unrealistic expectations about what owning an old wood floor in an old home is all about. It's not about having a plstic perfectly smooth no blemishes skating rink floor. Older homes had imperfect climate control systems and zero humidity control systems. THe wood expanded and contracted with the seasons. In the summer, the gaps between the floor boards would be non existant, and there was probably enough humidity to have edge crushing as another poster told you. In winter, when things dried out, the wood shrinks, and the boards gap. That's what wood does. It's what it's doing now in your home. ANd, it's what you should have expected as perfectly normal. Adding in humidity as another poster suggested will help with the gaps between the boards, but there is nothing you can do to eliminate them, until summer is back and the additional humidity swells the wood enough that they come together.

First of all, this is information that you should have researched and been aware of when undertaking an older home renovation. It's not an uncommon issue, and there is plenty of information available about it. Second, your contractors, if they are knowledgable and honest, should have informed you of this and set right your expectations before they began the job. THe fact that they are now suggesting fills and pouring on epoxy tells me that they are NOT knowledgable and were just as ignorant as you were. Not a good thing, and it begs the question about what else don't they know how to do properly. Or else they feel pressured by you to "fix" something that doesn't need fixing and by doing so will only create worse problems for you down the road.

THe only different practice that would have been ideal in your renovations would be to install a humdity control system with your HVAC system. Stabilizing the humidity is the only way you can get wood to stop the expansion/contraction cycle. Ideally, finishing the floors would have waited until after the damp summer season, and before the dry winter season, when humidity levels were right around optimum, and then the climate control and humdity control would be enacted to keep them at that optimum level. But, even if you had waited until fall to finish them, unless you installed a humdity control system, you'd still have gapping as the winter air continued to dry out and the wood continued to shrink.

If you want to minimize the gaps in the flooring, get that humdity control system installed pronto. Otherwise, the half assed fixes suggested by your "contractor" will only create more edge crush or flake out of the gaps when summer comes and the wood again swells.

And, I doubt seriously if your gapping issue is causing any "trip hazards" or other nonsense. A good vacuum will get the dust out of the gaps far better than a broom and a dustpan did for your forefathers who dealt with the same issues.

Hi live_wire_oak - thank you for your input to this and my other thread. It's much appreciated. To address a couple of your points :

1)If I made too many threads for your taste I apologize. To me there are 3 different subjects - what caused the problem, how to fix it, and what should have been done.

2)Yes, I am new to renos but I'm here to learn. You and one other poster here are the only ones who feel that gaps are to be expected. Other experienced people I've spoken to and corresponded with on other renovation forums do not feel that 1/4" gaps are either to be expected or will disappear in summer. You may be 100% correct but I don't feel my previous expectations or current surprise are unreasonable. Nor was trusting my contractor, who has done work for friends and family in the past, much in very high ticket homes.

3) At no point did I say the gaps caused a "trip hazard" or "other nonsense". The edges of the gaps are sharp, and people have picked up splinters already.

I appreciate your input and your taking the time to share your knowledge. I do not appreciate being lectured.

- R.

You may not appreciate being lectured by live wire oak, but he or she is just giving you the best advice possible under the circumstances.

I sympathize with your disatisfaction with your floors and with what must be your contractor's frustration as well, but you've kind of presented a classic case of what can happen with wood flooring during a renovation project in your region, or even with a new build on occasion.

Your expectations weren't unreasonable in that we all expect a gap free wood floor installation. However, as I had a floor for one customer gap like that, when no other had ever done that, leads me to believe that it can happen and the cause can be very hard to determine. I have been surprised in the past as to how a wood floor can behave when messed with in any significant way, so I can relate.

When and if you open the windowns in the summer, those gaps will reduce somewhat.