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Were considering some 5″ prefinished maple flooring from Husky in the new house were finishing.House has forced air heat/cool and lots of solar gain;basically for around here in WV apreety dry enviorment.Someone trying to sell them some other flooring has advised them to stay away from wide planks because of the expansion and the fact we live where the temp. changes alot(?).I dont consider 5″ that wide and am familiar with seasonal/humidity wood expansion.Has any one had any problems with 5″ wide floors or arguments pro or con?. Thanks.
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I have installed several floors (oak and maple) in
4",5",6",7" widths. I usually sand and finish also.
You should expect 3/16" gaps between some of the
boards in the winter when the humidity is low. I
like the looks of wider because 2 1/4" is too common-place. Lars Rousseau
*Five-inch planks are okay. Maple is okay. Five-inch maple? It'll be a nice looking floor right after the install, but it will move on you. I don't know anything about "Husky."
*I agree, maple moves more than other species. If you want a light colored wood, you could try ash. The grain's a lot like oak, but a lot lighter color.Are you talking about solid, as opposed to laminated (pergo type) flooring?
*Five inch boards are kinda pushing the ability of doing the hidden nail trick where you nail at the tongue and those nails are hidden by the next board. Once a board goes over 4 inches I like the security of face screwing where you put a wooden plug over the recessed screw. You do need to account for the way humidity in the summer and dryness in the winter will cause your boards to shrink and swell.
*If they really want to go with 5" Maple, a wood known to move more than others, buy it with a small beveled side so the contraction is not as noticeable in the winter, or install a humidifier onto the heating system to maintain relative humidity @ 50% year round. GW
*or call my friend Sidney at 970-260-1376. He is selling some kind of wide plank flooring that is extremely stable. I guess it is technically a laminate, but it isn't like any cheap laminate I've ever seen. I would say it has the best of both worlds. I despise laminates but would be more than happy with this stuff in my own house.
*i glued down a 10x10ft room with roberts adhecive using the husky pre-finished maple...floor is gypcrete with electric cables embedded...didnt glue the edges since i thought it might expand-contract anyway,,,so far it is working very well