rbaugher

We recently (last summer) had the floor in a bedroom of our 135 year-old home refinished. The other night we were awakende in the night by what sounded like a gunshot! In the morning I found several large cracks in flooring boards. What could have caused this? Will it likely continue? What can be done to stop/prevent it?

Jaz

Sure would be nice if everyone would say where the heck they're located because knowing the kind of weather you have helps to answer many questions.

I'll guess your house has dried out from lack of proper humidity since you're well into the heating season. The wood, both floor and house, has shrunk and it snapped all at once. There may not be enough expansion gap around the perimeter. Sometimes the floor buckles and is lifted up a foot or even higher. It happens with tile floor too. It's called tenting.

So, it can be a combination of not enough moisture and/or improper installation.

Jaz

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Troy, Michigan
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reubenbanks

It's normal for the interior of homes to become dry during heating seasons, for obvious reasons. Under this circumstance wood floors also dry out and shrink slightly. Properly made and properly installed wood floors should be expected to have hairline cracks between boards in dry months and will usually occur across the width of the board used, the size of the room and the severity and duration of low outside temperatures and the intensity of heating. The term hairline cracks can have various interpretation.