Flooring - Butt joins on end grain issue

Hey guys,

I have had some flooring put down and the end result is that all (well 95%) of the end joins have been puttied. After "CONSULTING" with the flooring company they advised us that an acceptable gap between the boards is 1 to 1.5mm. Over 100sq/m we have counted ~70 joins that are 2mm and above.

The guy that laid the floor is arguing that 120mm boards tend to shrink on the ends as they are large and that they lay the boards the way they are, this is why we have skewed end grain butt joins.

My argument to him is, i paid for a timber floor and not a timber and filler floor. I would expect that the duty of care is to minimise the amount of putty used on any job, even if it is a floor.(ie cut the end square before you lay it)

Am i being to pedantic about this? Is there any rule of thumb for wider boards and how well they should join over an entire job?

I have to admit that the other components of the job are well done. The floor is nice and level across the house, the colour variation of the wood is nicely done and when finished it has come up well.

Any feedback appreciated. I can post pictures of the floor is people want to see what i'm on about

/Michael

Michael, don’t let the gaps bother you. It is impossible to have timber floor with not gaps. I am sure the workers have done the best they can. Just learn to live with it. Timber moves and sometimes the movement is unpredictable. I see 5mm gaps on timber floor all the time (my own house included)

G'day Micheal.

Are the boards end-matched or plain end?

All timber flooring has machining tolerances that have to be complied with.

usually .3mm for profile.

The ends are needed to be cut square. This is stated in AS 2796. However no tolerance is mentioned for end squareness. As such, a small amount of filler is needed to fill the voids. Also bear in mind that if the boards have spring in them, wide boards are harder to pull straight than narrower boards. This can also cause end joint gapping.

Now. if a filler is used that closly matches the colour of the floor, no problem. If the floor is red and a yellow filler has been used, then, yes...problem.

Also note that when a floor is being inspected for any visual faults, the floor must be viewed from a standing position in normal natural lighting. No down lights etc etc.

If you are not happy with the floor, call a flooring inspector, pay your $600 and take your chances.

Now, as a flooring inspector, I'd suggest you keep your $600 and enjoy your new floor.

Now if you are talking about cover width variation fron one board to the next. This is a different story. cover width should be from 119.7 to 120.3 for a 120mm board. But...And there is always a but. If the flooring was climatised to the dwelling, then cover width variation will happen and there is nothing you, me, the manufacturer, the installer or J.H. Christ himself can do about it.

Enjoy your new floor

Hi Trevor, (and Wongo)

Trevor, thanks for that very informative detailed post.

/M

chances are when they were laying the floor the rows got out of line and as further rows have been laid the end joints have not closed up 100%. thus causing the gap.

i can walk on to a job my workers are laying and tell if they are out of parallel by looking at the end joints.

the supplier of the timber should inspect it as it could be a miss milling but there liability will only be to re supplying incorrect milled boards it is the installers responsibility to only install boards that are "fit for purpose"