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Cracks in parquet floor?

drk

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Mar 15, 2005
Messages
1,102
We've got parquet floors throughout most of our house. In the last couple weeks, I've been noticing more cracks in a variety of areas. The worst area is the living room. We did have a couple new basement walls put up last Feb, and I have a ton of books up on the third floor that are probably fairly heavy. We bought bookcases back in the summer, which we installed back then too. Since Sept I've been slowly unpacking books and putting them on the shelves.
I'm trying to figure out if the house is settling somewhat and that's what's causing these cracks (it's been around for a while, but we only moved in last year), or could it be that the air's too dry? We've had the books and bookshelves up there for a long time before I started noticing the cracks. They also run east-west and north-south, and our floor joists run north-south. They don't seem to line up with the new walls that went in in the basement.
Any ideas? Any tips for how to fill in the cracks if they're still there when the winter ends?
 

soocool

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 10, 2009
Messages
2,827
Don't do anything yet. Wait until the summer and if the cracks are still there consult a hardwood floor specialist. From what I understand parquet floors are most susceptible to shrinkage during the winter due to the dry inside air. During the summer when it is more humid the cracks should disappear. If not, I would recommend a latex sealer that will expand and contract like the floor. If you try to seal the cracks now, once the summer arrives and humidity is up the floor could buckle or just push the sealer out.

We have a tropical hardwood flooring in our house that does not expand or contract much at all. Plus we have a whole house humidifier so we can keep the humidity levels constant.
 

drk

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Mar 15, 2005
Messages
1,102
Soocool - thanks for the reply. I'm still a little paranoid about the weight from the books making the house settle more being the cause, but maybe a part of it is just the dry weather. Maybe I was so tired last winter with my newborn that I didn't really notice it? I'll see what happens in the spring and look into getting it sealed again.
 
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