I installed a glue-down prefinished oak floor in three rooms three years ago (over 1000 sq ft). It has developed terrible gaps that I have repeatedly tried to fill with trowel fill. Gaps range up to 1/8 inch and are very visible with 12 inch parquet squares. Each heating season, the fill materials starts to crack open again and some pieces fall out when vacuuming. The floor was glued to particle board over plywood subfloor. Joists are long and the floor has movement from walking weight. I think the parquet was not properly dry before installing. I am about to give up and start over. I have two questions I am hoping for advice on:

1. Is there any way to fill these gaps once and for all -- possibly refinish the floor after filling?

2. If I give up and install a floating bamboo floor over the parquet, will the bounce of the floor just give me the same problems again or are some floating floors going to hold up to this?

Thanks!

Hehe.


If you think that parquet is moving now, just wait till you cover it up! The particle boad is probably the culprit here. It expands and contracts in a pretty radical way.

If you decide to demo you, will likely trash the particle board in the process.

It sounds like you have moisture issues. Are you over a crawlspace?

No, there is no moisture problem other than being in Oregon where the humidity is very high combined with heating in the winter. The installation is on the second level of the house. If I admit I can't stop the shifting, is there any danger in putting a floating floor over the parquet? I installed a floating floors before and it seems to me it would be fine??

John,
I believe your problem is twofold. One, the p. board and subfloor deflect too much which will cause a loosening of the underlayment fasteners which in turn will allow excessive movement of your parquet flooring. More importantly, You probably have huge swings in indoor RH (relative humidity) Most parquets are constructed with quarter sawn slats which are very stable and they are manufactured to tight tolerances so I doubt they were too "wet" when installed UNLESS you failed to acclimate or they were improperly stored; then they could have absorbed excess moisture. I think if you have gone through a few seasons of expansion and contraction and the floors are still not stable, I doubt they will ever be UNLESS you control your interior humidity. THis may require adding humidity during the heating season and running a dehumidifier during summer and rainy seasons. You'll need a humidistat to monitor. Ideal RH levels are 45 tp 50%. If you can control your interior RH and verify that the parquet floors have stablized, you could then fill them with Woodwise full trowel filler or Timbermate (there's others) and refinish them by sanding. I don't like the idea of installing a new floor (floating) over a problem floor. First, determine the cause of the problem. I think excessive RH swings.