Overview: Hardwood Floor Installation & Refinishing
Wood floors in Canada ride a yearly cycle. The furnace dries the air all winter, the boards shrink, and thin gaps open between them. Humid summer air swells them shut again. That's normal movement, and a good crew will ask about your humidity before it talks about stain colour.
Health Canada advises keeping indoor humidity in a moderate middle range to keep mould away, neither bone dry nor damp. Wood floors happen to like that same range. A humidifier on the furnace in winter and a dehumidifier in a damp basement do more for the boards than any finish.
Over a concrete slab, engineered boards are the safer pick, and the slab gets a moisture test first. In a condo, read the building's rules before anyone orders wood, since some want a sound-control underlay and approval in advance. In Quebec, ask for the contractor's Régie du bâtiment licence number and look it up.
Our listings show what each flooring contractor says on its own website about installing, sanding and refinishing wood. Choose your province, then your city, to reach crews that work on wood floors in your area.
Frequently asked questions
Solid boards or engineered?
Engineered, for anything over concrete, which covers most basements and condo slabs. Its layered core moves less than solid wood through a year of dry furnace heat and humid summers. Solid boards suit a wood subfloor on the main floor and can be sanded many times over. Ask how thick the real wood top layer is, because that decides how many refinishes the floor has in it.
Why does the wood have to sit first?
Because boards that spent January in a cold warehouse or truck hold a different amount of moisture than your heated house. Fit them straight away and they'll shrink or swell in place, opening gaps or lifting edges. A careful crew leaves the wood in the room with the heat on as usual, then checks the boards and the subfloor with a moisture meter. Over a slab, the concrete gets tested too.
Are gaps between the boards every winter a problem?
Usually they're just the season. Heating dries the air, each board gives up moisture and shrinks a little, so hairline gaps show up in winter and close by summer. Wide gaps that stay open all year, or boards that cup, point to a real moisture problem underneath. A humidifier narrows the winter gaps. Skip the wood filler on seasonal gaps, since swelling boards will squeeze it back out.
Which season suits refinishing a wood floor?
Late spring and early fall are the easy months. You can open windows to clear the smell, and the air is neither furnace dry nor muggy. Winter jobs work too, but you'll be airing out a closed house, and cold rooms slow the finish. Health Canada's advice for any renovation with chemicals is to open windows or run exhaust fans during and after the work, and to keep children away.
When can furniture go back on the floor?
Ask the crew for two times: when you can walk on it in socks, and when the finish has fully cured. Socks usually come within a day. Curing takes longer, and a cool house in shoulder season stretches it further, so keep the heat at normal room temperature. Put felt pads on every chair and table leg. Wait until the finish has cured before rugs go down, or they can leave a shadow.
