The term expansion gap when used in conjunction with wood flooring refers to the space left around the edges of a room when a floor is fitted.
Extra sace in expansion gap floor.
This includes walls permanent cabinets pipes etc.
Even though wood flooring used is no longer living and breathing it still reacts to moisture changes in the environment.
Expansion gaps are spaces left around the perimeter of rooms against fixed objects such as columns thresholds hearths baseboard and other stationary items built or secured into the framing structure of the home.
Flooring spacers in use in addition to an expansion gap around the perimeter of the room larger rooms with a linear width of 10 meters or more should have small gaps sometimes referred to as credit card slots left in between flooring planks throughout the room.
In order to achieve a proper and successful installation you must leave an expansion gap between the installed planks and the wall.
An expansion gap is essential when it comes to laminate flooring installation.
The recommended expansion gap is a minimum of inch.
For the majority of household rooms an expansion gap of between 9 5mm and 12mm will suffice unless the room you are laminating is larger than most normal sized household rooms or the area where you live suffers from extreme hot and cold weather throughout the year even in these cases 12mm should be ok.