Bodged expansion gap, how to mitigate?

[Jolo]

We recently had a company in who installed a floating solid oak floor. They seemed great to begin with, a small local family firm, but they got worse as time went on, to a point where they clearly just wanted to finish and get out of here. I think they'd grossly underestimated the time required, and were rushing by the end. I now suspect they mostly do laminate, and that a real wood floor isn't that common a job for them, due to the time miscalculation, and also the edge trim was the wrong sort and installed badly (and that's being very generous!).

 

For the main part of the floor they did a nice enough job though, it's installed nice and straight and even. But we're now in the process of fixing some of the mistakes they made. I really don't want them back in here, as while they're not con-artists I just don't think they have the skill to do it right. At this stage I'm sure I can fix it better myself!

 

So, the advice I seek... Along just one wall they don't seem to have left enough space for expansion. For some of the length there's no expansion spring as there's simply no space, and some of the ones that are there look fully compressed. This wall isn't totally straight, which is why I think they've had issues with it. There's an acceptable expansion gap further along the wall where it curves outwards slightly to make the room 1 or 2cm wider. (And everywhere else there's a decent expansion gap too. It's just this one wall.)

 

So I assume this should be rectified, what are my options for fixing this myself?

 

For a start I'm thinking of removing the over-compressed springs and replacing them with ones designed for a smaller gap, as the ones they've used are for quite a big gap, maybe 20mm, but I can buy some as narrow as 6mm. I can also either remove the existing skirting board, or maybe just try to just cut the bottom half of it to provide some expansion space. (They'll eventually be covered with quarter-round anyway, so I'm not worried about them.)

 

Does that sound about right, or is there a better solution? (Also would anyone like to see the edging trim they installed, for a laugh?)

 

Thanks in advance!

 

(PS. Ignore the brown on the skirting boards -- that's floor oil, we were a bit slap-happy with the roller there!)

Edited yesterday at 10:35 by Jolo

[Mr Punter]

I have not seen the springs before.  Mostly I see temporary packers that are removed once the floor is down.  My preferred solution is to remove the skirtings, trim the bottom of door linings, fit floor, refit skirtings.

[Jolo]

10 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

I have not seen the springs before.  Mostly I see temporary packers that are removed once the floor is down.  My preferred solution is to remove the skirtings, trim the bottom of door linings, fit floor, refit skirtings.

 

If I'd known as much about floating floors a week ago as I do now, I would indeed have considered removing the skirting boards! 😄

 

They did use temporary packers while laying it (though clearly not enough along that one section!)

 

The springs are intended to stop the floor from separating as it expands and contracts.

[marshian]

13 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

I have not seen the springs before.  Mostly I see temporary packers that are removed once the floor is down.  My preferred solution is to remove the skirtings, trim the bottom of door linings, fit floor, refit skirtings.

 

Last floating oak floor I did was front hall, toilet, main hallway and dining room as one continuous floor -  I removed all the skirting boards and I had cork strips between floor and walls as expansion packers

 

When I had finished the floor I replaced all the skirting and that hid the cork strips

 

For the Lounge which I did a few years later I didn't do it as a floating floor and used hidden nails into the subfloor on every row - I left an expansion gap of 10mm round the edge which was covered by the skirting once replaced

 

Both floors have now been down several years and no difference between them in terms of movement

[LnP]

1 hour ago, Jolo said:

 

If I'd known as much about floating floors a week ago as I do now, I would indeed have considered removing the skirting boards! 😄

 

If you don't want to remove the skirting and don't like the look of quarter round, you can get thicker skirting which goes over the existing skirting and has a recess to sit over the old skirting.

[Jolo]

4 hours ago, LnP said:

If you don't want to remove the skirting and don't like the look of quarter round, you can get thicker skirting which goes over the existing skirting and has a recess to sit over the old skirting.

 

I quite like the look of quarter-round -- already bought some, in fact! (I did consider the cover-over skirting, but the expansion gaps are too wide for that, hence the quarter-round.)

 

My question isn't about how to cover the expansion gaps that are there, it's about how best to deal with the one that isn't there!

 

The top photo shows the plank touching the skirting board, with no gap. 

Edited yesterday at 19:45 by Jolo

[marshian]

37 minutes ago, Jolo said:

My question isn't about how to cover the expansion gaps that are there, it's about how best to deal with the one that isn't there!

 

The top photo shows the plank touching the skirting board, with no gap. 

 

I wouldn't worry about it - expansion and contraction is normally in the width rather than length - because my flooring finishes at a UPVC french door I have almost zero gap at that end (2mm and I filled that with silicone to stop it being a dirt magnet)

 

Work in progress picture from when I did it

 

 

 

[Jolo]

40 minutes ago, marshian said:

I wouldn't worry about it - expansion and contraction is normally in the width rather than length - because my flooring finishes at a UPVC french door I have almost zero gap at that end (2mm and I filled that with silicone to stop it being a dirt magnet)

 

Thanks for the reassurance!

 

But the section I'm concerned about is regarding the width of the plank -- I've highlighted it on this photo. The side of the plank is pretty much right up against the skirting board, maybe 1mm gap, if any. 

 

I think my only option is to try and cut off the skirting board. (Either that or trim the side of the plank.)

[marshian]

26 minutes ago, Jolo said:

 

Thanks for the reassurance!

 

But the section I'm concerned about is regarding the width of the plank -- I've highlighted it on this photo. The side of the plank is pretty much right up against the skirting board, maybe 1mm gap, if any. 

 

I think my only option is to try and cut off the skirting board. (Either that or trim the side of the plank.)

What's the gap on the other side? (opposite)

[JohnMo]

I would just go around the perimeter with a multi saw. If you need say a 10mm expansion gap make an 8mm wooden former to put against the skirting and use it to move around the room to ensure a straight cut through the floor boards. Once cut 8mm plus the cutter thickness, will give approximately 10mm. Change numbers to suit the required expansion gap. Then attach the quarter round trims, use a thin piece of card (cornflakes box) to space the trim away from the trim piece from the floor boards, to allow free movement.

[Jolo]

11 hours ago, marshian said:

What's the gap on the other side? (opposite)

 

Directly opposite the gap is very generous -- maybe 20 to 25mm, because there's a wood and plasterboard build-out. The plasterboard doesn't go right down to the concrete floor, but stops about 20mm above it, so the floor tension springs are against the framing.

 

Are you thinking that this gap might make up for the lack of a gap on the other side? (If I can get away without cutting, that would be wonderful!)

 

Most of the room has about 15mm gap, which is a bit big, but I've got quarter-round to cover that.

[Jolo]

2 hours ago, JohnMo said:

I would just go around the perimeter with a multi saw. If you need say a 10mm expansion gap make an 8mm wooden former to put against the skirting and use it to move around the room to ensure a straight cut through the floor boards. Once cut 8mm plus the cutter thickness, will give approximately 10mm. Change numbers to suit the required expansion gap. Then attach the quarter round trims, use a thin piece of card (cornflakes box) to space the trim away from the trim piece from the floor boards, to allow free movement.

 

I do have a multi saw which I love to use, as it happens  

 

That's definitely an option, although cutting the new floor is my 2nd choice, even though that might well be the easiest way to do it! It's probably because the floor is new, and the skirting boards are old, so they feel less valuable and fragile. (So that's more of a psychological issue than a DIY one!)

 

The cornflake box cardboard trick is a genius move, thank you for that! I'd been wondering how we'd get a small but consistent gap, that's the perfect solution.