Pre-Panelized Flooring

Craig DeWitt Headshot

I was asked to look at some flooring that was claimed to be more stable than solid wood flooring. Only this flooring was solid wood flooring. The thing that made this flooring different and supposedly more stable was that it was made up of small strips of solid wood glued together into wide planks. The manufacturer claims that this flooring is more dimensionally stable. I am sorry, but once again, we can't change wood science just because it would help sell a product.

Panelization is a situation where flooring boards become bonded together after installation. Finish seeps into small gaps between the boards and glues them together. Then, rather than each board expanding and shrinking individually, several boards expand and shrink as a single wide board. Quite often groups of 3 or 4 boards stay bonded together, and the total shrinkage from each board shows up as an extra large gap every 3 or 4 boards. You no longer have 3-inch flooring, now you have 9- or 12-inch wide flooring.

This particular manufacturer has pre-panelized the flooring for you. I am a little surprised that the manufacturer doesn't seem to understand the product, or wood in general. Furniture makers, cabinet makers and even door makers who use glued-up planks know about and deal with the expected movement of wide glued-up panels. I have said that there are no bad products, just bad use of products. Maybe I should rephrase that to say there are no bad products, just bad advertising of products.

If you use some of this type of flooring product, you should deal with it as wide-plank flooring. If you inspect it, it will probably look like a panelized floor.

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