I have an older style floor - How can I keep my planks from gapping at the butt ends?

First and foremost - THANK YOU for being one of our early customers! We have improved - and will continue to improve our designs over time, but we still provide support for your floor!

Today, all Steller Floors are produced with butt-end millwork. However, if your floor does not have butt-end milling and the clips on either end of each plank - you might find your planks occasionally gapping in walking areas. There are several ways to prevent this from happening - each in order of complexity from simple to more complicated below:

1) While we do recommend expansion gaps on all side of your room, the most important place for them to be is along the long edges of boards. Planks expand and contract significantly widthwise - and significantly less lengthwise.

If you have extra space at the ends of the row, you can safely fill the gaps under the baseboards with a firm material like cork or composite rubber. This will prevent any "free space" in your flooring system from becoming visible.

This first solution is the most commonly applied solution to this issue and tends to clear up the issue instantly.

2) If you have removed all lateral space in the row and you still have gapping, your issue might be vertical movement into an imperfection in the subfloor. In the area where it is gapping, you could remove planks and shim areas where there are voids. If the planks can't move lengthiwse down the row or up and down into a void, gaps should not appear.

3) If you are still frustratec by the row, you can pursue one of two options:

     a) you can buscuit joint together the planks that are gapping

     b) you can reach out to us to order new planks with butt-end milling to match your current floor with a returning customer discount.

If you have any questions, always feel free to reach out to support at support@floorsbysteller.com