A lot of guys are skipping the expansion gap around island cabinets

I've seen three jobs this month where the floating floor was tight to the island base. In my town, the humidity swing from winter to summer is huge. That wood needs room to move. I had a call back last year where a client's brand new engineered floor buckled right at the island after a wet spring. Anyone else run into this and have a good way to explain it to homeowners?

2 comments

2 Comments

aaronlee12d ago

Man, that's such a common and frustrating call back. It's like clockwork with big humidity swings. I usually tell people the floor is alive and needs to breathe, just like a door swells shut in summer. Skipping that gap is asking for trouble.

hill.jade12d ago

Yeah, the "floor is alive" thing is so true. I've seen it happen every single time we get a muggy week, just like you said @aaronlee. People never believe how much wood can move.