I've only seen this a couple times, but had someone bring it up again the other day. 1/2" engineered, approximately 8 yrs old, glued down on slab. Over time, end joints have opened up in areas as much as 1/4" between planks. He's wanting to file a claim with the manufacturer.I tried to explain that boards expand and contract more widthwise than lengthwise, then add in the additional stability of engineered over solid, and there's no way his boards shrunk that much....can't see how the hardwood manufacturer would be responsible.....sounds like an adhesive or install issue to me. Anyone else have any experience with this?

I've seen this twice. Both times was due to slab movement.

The first time was bad slab cracks, but the end joints showed a pattern that determined this, and verified this when planks were removed.

The second time was a result of inadequate soil compaction under the slab. The slab had excessive movement at the expansion joints. To make a long story short, a large builder in Las Vegas ( maybe largest in the country ) used fill dirt for a track of houses, and cut corners on the compaction. Since that time engineers have been involved, and have determined the compaction to be the problem. There was a class action against the builder. The builder is now sending checks to homeowners. And keeping guys like me busy This caused havoc on hardwood floor end joints.

Is there detectable pattern to the gapping your talking about ? I cant see how this could be installer, adh., or manuf. related

Engineered wood reacts just the opposite from a solid. If its going to move, it will be move more in the length. But I can't see where there is a claim here.

I have to agree with floorologist. Whenever I have encountered this
problem, ultimately the cause was determined to be movement underneath the hardwood. Whether nailed down on ply or glued to concrete. On a float type floor, irregular flatness of the subfloor can also be a cause of end joint separation.
There is no fallback to the installer or supplier in this case, since there would be no way to anticipate this "tectonic" activity of the slab.

For the end gaps to open up on an engineered, the wood was installed pretty wet.

BW mentions "over time", and 8 years later.

If the engineered was installed "pretty wet", it wouldnt take this time frame.


I'm assuming "over time" is like a "long while"