Hello,

I recently had 3/4" engineered oak floor installed on concrete. They left a gap around all of the walls except where the floor goes under the stone. The installer told me not to worry because it will expand on the other wall. The floor spans about 1600 sq ft, so I'm not as convinced.

We left a gap under the stone for the wood to go underneath. However, I noticed a few spots where the boards butt directly on the stone/grout.

It seems odd that they were so diligent to leave a gap everywhere else and failed in a few spots under the stone. The instructions from the manufacture states that a 1/2" gap is required on all vertical surfaces. I'm concerned that the floor might buckle and put extreme pressure on the stone wall.

How concerned should I be? What are my options?

Thanks!

I don't quite understand this statement....where is the flooring in relation to the gap?
We left a gap under the stone for the wood to go underneath. However, I noticed a few spots where the boards butt directly on the stone/grout.

The expansion gap parallel to the flooring is to allow extreme expansion of the outermost rows. If there is extreme expansion toward the middle of the room the flooring would buckle in the middle of the room. The installer's comment about the opposite side of the room handling the expansion is not correct....an expanding floor will take the path of least resistance but his comment is really pushing it.

To clarify, we kept the grout back on the bottom of the stone so that the wood could slide underneath and hide the joint. However, the wood floor installer set the wood all the back and it's touching the grout in a few spots, so there is no gap between the wood and the grout. It's a large space (1600 sq ft) so I'm concerned that the floor doesn't have room to expand and will put pressure on the grout (potentially cracking the stone wall) and buckle the floor.

Any suggestions on how to proceed? I haven't been able to find a tool that can cut the wood under the stone. So I'm guessing my options are:

1-Risk it. Have the flooring company sign something that states that they acknowledge they didn't leave all the way around the walls and will be responsible for any problems.

2-Cut the wood flush with the stone. This will look pretty bad since we will be able to see inside the gap in the grout that we left for the wood to sneak under.

3-Replace the board? I'm not sure if this is even possible since it's a floating floor and the tongues are glued.

4-Replace the entire project. This would be time consuming and costly.

I'm concerned if I don't deal with this now, it's going to cause a huge headache in the future.

Even if the installer signs a statement that they will accept responsibility down the road, in the event of a problem the installer could say the product is at fault and not the installation. Then, if you went to the manufacturer, they could say the installation is the problem and not the product.
I would try and have the installer fix the floor. I would not try any DIY fixes unless you are fully confident in your ability to do the work.
Not sure what your relationship is with the installer so best to decide if you want them to do the work, if they will, or find somebody else and send the bill to the original installer.
The preceding is worst case scenario type of stuff. The expansion gaps are there for the worst case scenario which hopefully will never happen. If you are able to maintain your house's relative humidity levels within acceptable ranges the year round and don't experience any flooding due to burst pipes, etc. then the floor will be fine the way it is.