Unfinished hardwood installation gaps

Hi fellow DIYers,

Im doing hardwood floors for the first time. After a ton of research I bought a bunch of 3 1/4" unfinished white oak from lumber liquidators(2$sqft). I flattened, screwed the OSB down and put a vapor barrier. And I have a few questions...

I did a small room as a trial and ended up with a bunch of gaps between the wood planks, they are about 1/16" MAX. Im planning on filling the floor during the finishing process with sawdust/glue. In addition I was really looking to use the Monocoat system.

1. Will the gaps be visible after filling them with sawdust?
2. Is there a concern with the color of the fill not being the same? Im using white monocoat stain. I was thinking that the stain might not take as well on the filled parts. What do you guys think?

Thanks for your help!
Tom

 

Never heard of Monocoat, had to look it up.
Interior Projects
There not be any gaps to fill, and yes any filler used is going to show.
How are you taping the boards together so there tight?

 

Was your wood acclimated to the room at least for 72 hours before installation? Did you use staples or cleats for the installation along with the appropriate flooring hammer?

 

The wood was sat inside for 6 weeks, the gaps are from installation but I do have some old flooring downstairs that has some gaps too. I used a flooring hammer with Bostitch 2" staples. The boards were just a touch warped, some of them would straighten out and some didnt.

So when you guys installed your floor there was no gaps?

 

Boards that aren't straight are usually tossed. Sometimes it's beneficial to take a block of wood and a hammer to set them tight. They sell an oak paste that can be used for minor cracks and IMO would be a lot easier than mixing sawdust and glue.

 

I can't say "Never", but as a general rule all flooring is pulled tight and stapled/cleated and never have gaps. Mixing sawdust and glue will give you a filler that won't accept stain, either.

 

When I have had issues with gaps it was from the milling process and not from minor warps that can be pulled tight with a hammer. You find the gaps on two boards at the ends where one is just a hair thinner than the one adjacent to it. It usually is apparent when you set your first cleat and if not, immediately after you try to set the next row. Personally, I stop and remove the unmatched board and either find a similar width board or pull the oddball out of line. I have actually measured every board on a job and made piles of short widths and wide widths so I could adjust on the fly to a discrepancy.