by speedwell »
Thu Aug 30, 2012 2:40 pm
Hardwood expands and swells more in the winter months. Even if central heating is on, the abient moisture content in the air is higher november to march.
If you lay hardwood now with 2mm gap it is only gonna swell. You could chance 5mm each side and put a little quadrant beading on.
The next appealling is to blind screw the last lengths of hardwood planks between the arch every 4". It will still swell a little but might just do the trick.
The best answer is to use engineered flooring, Thid is dimensionally stable with hardwood finish and is used in hot/cold rooms like conservatories for this very reason. But you still need a little gap around the edges.
speedwell.