Hi all, I have just moved into a new house and have noticed that the 18mm toungue and groove chipboard panels have been put down on the loftwith no expansion gapleft at the edge, is there any power tool that can be bought/hired that I can go along the side of the wall to insert this gap or will I have to lift them and cut 10mm off, or is it okay to leave as is, cheers in advance
'Course, it could be that the boards are expanded at the mo, and the gaps will reappear when it gets a bit warmer. Mr. HandyAndy - really
Think you'll find it's the humidity that determines how wood expands. Warmer = drier Drying wood contracts. Mr. HandyAndy - really
Rainforrest, pi55es down, sun comes out water evapourates into the air humidity very high wood expands. Las vegas, hot, not water in the air humidity zero, wood does not expand. Humidity is moisture in the air, not the temperature of the air. Why is humidity higher in england than las vegas? We are an island so when the sun comes out we get high humidity. In a desest no vapour in the air low or zero humidity.
no, there is gonna be an argument over wood expanding/contracting!!!!!!!!!!! To make my last post clearer.
The weather is "sticky" as your granny said in the summer, yep high humidity, vapour in the air, hotter not drier air!
Well i know p155 all about most things on here but i know how humidity affects floors, i do it every day ***. OK You can have a room at 28deg at different times of the year and it will react differently because of the humidity. Typically summer, 28deg high humidity, the moisture in the air is absorbed by the floor so it expands. As the winter starts you put your gas ch on for the first time of the year, it dries all the moisture out of the air then the floor, the floor contracts, both 28deg!!!!!!!!!
Just to go back to the original post it was flooring in a loft that was the potential problem, not as far as I know a very humid environment. It made me think that as everything expands when it gets warmer, what is the difference in expansion rates between the bricks and mortar the shell is made from and the wood the joists and floors are made from? A genuine question you should be able to get your teeth into Andy. Also you leave an expansion joint on laminate floors which presumably don't absorb moisture and I seem to recall that you leave them on vinyl floors as well. I think we need a good physics lecturer on the job.
The warmth dries the wood. The warmth draws the moisture out of the wood. A wooden door sticks because it has got wet. The sun dries it out, and presto, it don't stick no more. The decking boards 'plim' up tight in the winter months. It is cold and it is wet. In the summer there are big gaps between the decking boards. It is warm and it is dry(and if it gets wet, it bloody soon dries out). A thousand more examples are available, but if you need them, well.......... Mr. HandyAndy - really