Maple hardwood floors: WARNED about gaps & buckling

Posted by on August 21, 2009, 11:04 pm

On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:02:36 -0700 (PDT), "Thomas G. Marshall"

>One of the contractors, whom I think is honest, is warning me again
>using Maple for my hardwood floors. He says that he's see no end of
>expansion in the summer and contraction in the winter issues.
>Basically, large gaps in winter. And if put in during the winter:
>significant buckling during the summer. "except if you use
>'engineered maple' which is a thin veneer which only allows
>refinishing once".
>I have no idea. Can anyone shed any light on this?
>THANKS!!!!!!!!

35 year old maple floors in my house - insignificant
axpansion/shrinkage issues. I get a squeak or two in the winter if it
gets too dry

Posted by Denis G. on August 21, 2009, 11:14 pm

> One of the contractors, whom I think is honest, is warning me again
> using Maple for my hardwood floors. =A0He says that he's see no end of
> expansion in the summer and contraction in the winter issues.
> Basically, large gaps in winter. =A0And if put in during the winter:
> significant buckling during the summer. =A0"except if you use
> 'engineered maple' which is a thin veneer which only allows
> refinishing once".
> I have no idea. =A0Can anyone shed any light on this?
> THANKS!!!!!!!!

This site compares various wood floor species for hardness and
stability:
http://www.highlandhardwoods.com/chart.html

Posted by ransley on August 22, 2009, 11:40 am

Several houses in my area have 50- 80 yr old maple in kitchens, these
houses are top quality, so it can be done.

Posted by Mike Paulsen on August 22, 2009, 1:17 pm

ransley wrote:

>> One of the contractors, whom I think is honest, is warning me again
>> using Maple for my hardwood floors. He says that he's see no end of
>> expansion in the summer and contraction in the winter issues.
>> Basically, large gaps in winter. And if put in during the winter:
>> significant buckling during the summer. "except if you use
>> 'engineered maple' which is a thin veneer which only allows
>> refinishing once".
>> I have no idea. Can anyone shed any light on this?
>> THANKS!!!!!!!!

>
> Several houses in my area have 50- 80 yr old maple in kitchens, these
> houses are top quality, so it can be done.

I wouldn't consider all maple lumber to be of equal quality or
character. The trees harvested 80 years ago had a much higher chance of
being old, slow growth tree. Today it's much more likely to be a fast
growing plantation or second growth tree.

Posted by Cwatters on August 22, 2009, 4:32 pm

> One of the contractors, whom I think is honest, is warning me again
> using Maple for my hardwood floors. He says that he's see no end of
> expansion in the summer and contraction in the winter issues.
> Basically, large gaps in winter. And if put in during the winter:
> significant buckling during the summer. "except if you use
> 'engineered maple' which is a thin veneer which only allows
> refinishing once".

If you use the right kind of engineered wood you can refinish it lots of
times.

For example here in the UK you can get 21mm thick engineered wood with T&G
joints. This can be resanded as many times as solid wood with T&G joints.
(eg it's the T&G joint that fails first).

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Maple hardwood floors: WARNED about gaps & buckling - Page 3