Utah’s Kalia Flooring Shares Tips to Reduce Wood Floor Gapping in Winter

Kalia Flooring and Design Center specializes in flooring in Northern Utah, including carpet, tile, laminate, and hardwood. With dry winter weather approaching in the state, solid hardwood flooring can contract, leaving gaps between boards. Since this can be alarming to people who have invested a lot of money into their hardwood floors, Kalia Flooring is sharing tips to put people’s minds at ease and help them deal constructively with gapping.

Kalia Flooring prides itself in installing beautiful hardwood floors and engineered hardwood floors for residents from Park City to Salt Lake City. With Utah’s dry winters, however, many customers with hardwood floors begin to notice gapping as soon as the holiday season sets in.

Gapping occurs due to differences in humidity. If a floor was installed in a time of higher humidity, the wood could expand due to moisture in the air. When cold, dry weather sets in, it will contract, exposing gaps between boards. People may notice a similar phenomenon with windows and doors that expand and “stick” during the summer months but contract during winter to expose gaps around their periphery.

The Kalia Flooring team recommends that people with solid wood floors monitor their in-home humidity, keeping it between 30 and 50 percent with temperatures between 60 and 80 degrees. These levels can be controlled through a humidifier or dehumidifier as needed.

If small gaps occur in spite of humidity regulation, Kalia officials recommend that these gaps be left alone as long as they don’t exceed the thickness of a dime. The gaps will likely close up during the next season when moisture levels even out.

If problems persist, Kalia’s wood floor installers can assess the flooring, as there may be other problems related to moisture from a crawl space below, sub-floor deficiencies, or structural house settling issues.

For customers who have ongoing problems with solid wood floor gapping, Scott Heath, Kalia Flooring Founder, said that engineered hardwood flooring might be a better option.

“Both types of flooring are beautiful, but engineered hardwood is much less influenced by moisture fluctuations,” said Heath. “This means that it can be installed anywhere in the home, including in the basement. It also means that the flooring will not show nearly as many signs of wear due to weather changes,” said Heath.

Heath said that engineered hardwood floors are also cheaper and more environmentally-friendly than solid hardwood flooring.

Kalia Flooring and Design Center specializes in custom flooring options, but the company’s expertise doesn’t stop there. They also install countertops, custom and semi-custom cabinetry, backsplashes, window coverings and more. Potential customers can see options for themselves in the company’s showroom in Murray, Utah.

For more information about caring for hardwood floors, installing engineered hardwood floors, or adding other upgrades to homes, visit www.KaliaFloors.com or call 801-263-9600.

About Kalia Floors

Kalia Flooring and Design Center offer carpet installation and sales throughout Park City to Salt Lake City, and the greater Northern Utah metro.