Hi Everybody,
I am considering putting in an oak floor, not engineered, with a tile or granite border around the perimeter of the room. I would like the tile and the wood to be at the same height with as unobtrusive a seam as possible. I have seen this done, but I am very curious. How do you allow for expansion of the wood if it it against the tile?
Thank you for any advice or suggestions you can provide.

PS - The install will be on an above grade slab with plywood subfloor, etc.

If the floor wants to move, it will push against the tile. One of two things will happen. It will either bust the tile loose if the tile isn't installed real solid OR, more than likely, it will move up. It does this by cupping at the sides; similar to when it gets wet. You could MAYBE get by with this by choosing a very stable species of wood and get it quartersawn. Start your wood floor install in the center of the room and lay in each direction. This will allow the floor to move in both directions instead of only one direction. And most importantly, maintain a constant temp and relative humidity. You may also consider installing the floor with some very slight expansion space in the field.

I already have the 3/4 t/g oak delivered. I thought about putting some kind of joining "T". someone also suggested putting in a cork border in between.

I've done this several times. The last one was engineered oak in a large rectangular family room with a 6" stone mosaic around the perimeter. As Gary said, I installed from the center in both directions and ran the ends long and cut them off with a straight edge and a good circular saw. I set the mosaic with Bostiks best (says so on the side of the bucket). and taped and grouted the tile except for the 3/16" next to the wood where I used matching silicone. Looks fantastic. Dont grout to the wood it will crack and fall out as the wood moves, you have to use a matching caulk or silicone. Good look

Thanks for the help so far. I have a few more questions and comments.

When you say you started in the center in both directions, do you mean that you have a "cross" pattern so that the wood is always perpendicular to the tile on all four walls? or do you mean all the wood is parallel, but you started laying it from the center of the room outwards?

You mentioned using engineered oak which is more stable. I'm using non-engineered. Would I still be ok using your suggestions?

I am also considering glueing down a "fancy" wood border and corners (expensive!) instead of tile. Would this have the same issues?

I'd like to mention that I'm considering all this not so much because I want the border, but because there are some irregularites in my slab that make it difficult to put down a subfloor on the perimeter. The slab has a 6" wide by 3/4" high "shelf" around the outside edges of the room. For details, see my other post:

http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwo ... php?t=1202

If you have any suggestions as to how I might put in a subfloor to overcome the original problem I would be happy to hear them.
Thanks again.
- Paul