Why leave space around nailed down floors? Nails will not allow it to expand!?

In order to expand it will have to stretch the subfloor and the subfloor has no room to grow. It is an integral part of the construction, fastened to the joists and trapped between wall framing.Why leave space around nailed down floors? Nails will not allow it to expand!?
Despite your hardwood flooring being nailed down, there is still a significant amount of expansion and contraction that will be realized over the entire floor area. Leave that 1/4'; gap or you'll regret it. Lay foam stripping in the gap if you want to minimize dirt build-up, then put on the molding to cover the gap.


There's a reason everyone does it...Why leave space around nailed down floors? Nails will not allow it to expand!?
Daniel is right. You absolutely need to leave at least a one quarter inch gap all the way around the perimeter of the floor because you will get expansion of the wood despite the fact that it is securely nailed down. You're going to cover the gap with base molding or half round molding anyway so you might as well do it right or you will just have to go back and fix it when the flooring starts to lift in spots.
you seem to have it all figured out fit it in tight and nail it down.be sure to let everyone know how it works out for ya
the wood will shrink and expand due to humidity, like a sponge. if you don,t leave a gap and the wood expands your floor will buckle