You need shoe moulding where the baseboard meets the tile.

Your house is probably very dry. We had some issues with separation in our previous house. Not to the extent you show. It happened every year in the winter. We didn't have a humidifier.

You may want to measure your humidity and get a humidifier.

I was thinking about shoe moulding! Unfortunately I don’t think our builder will do thay for us, so I’ll add it to the list of things to eventually get to. I’m guessing we need a whole-house humidifer added to our HVAC because yes, the air is very dry. I run humidifiers in the bedrooms but that obviously isn’t sufficient.

@kudzu9 yes we agree the finish work is atrocious throughout most of the house. We requested many things be tended to prior to closing and we were told they met the builder’s standards (they claim to follow NAHB standards, but i think that’s very questionable…).

My house is 3 years old and nowhere in my house do I have separation like that! I have baseboards throughout with NO shoe molding and no gaps between floor and baseboards.

Are your floors engineered or not? If engineered, there is no excuse for that separation.

As for the rest, I have solid wood cabinets in my kitchen and some of my other cabinets. There is very, very slight separation on a few cabinets, but it's only noticeable if one looks closely.

Now having said that, our humidity is kept fairly constant throughout the year and I have the opposite problem you do, as I live in wet FL.

Interesting you say that about FL - I would expect some variation in humidity. Shoulder seasons more humid than summer and then winter more humid depending on open windows.

Here in NC, I got the humidity down to 39% but it didn't stay there for long and above 50% is only from open windows in shoulder seasons.

I just went and did some 3 year touch up - I was quite surprised as there was probably 10% of large crown corners that needed a dab of paint. I found it quite remarkable compared to our last house with similar construction. That house had a humidifier and our current one doesn't.

I guess part of my point is that humidifiers are not going to fix what you are seeing. Might help with the floor but hard to tell.

Please, please, start with a humidistat before you get a humidifier. Try to airseal what you can - a much cheaper way to handle humidity. Perhaps a blower door test.

When I said our humidity is kept constant throughout the year, I meant inside our house. Outside is a different story. :)

David brings up some really good points.

I live in a bath dry climate and our home is 10 years old. We have very little separation! Yours seems very extreme!

Stupid auto correct *very dry

@cpartist Our floors are white oak finished on site, not engineered. I'm very disappointed in the quality as this week we've noticed one plank has split down the middle (about a 6" crack) and lots of what (I think is?) splintering along edges of boards throughout the home. We have an independent inspector coming out at the end of this week for an "11 month inspection" so that we can submit claims to our builder.

We have similar, but not as bad, issues in our home. Humidity fluctuations in Texas. We’re looking at getting the indoor humidity regulated because I’m tired of fixing caulk and paint every year.

@Jennifer Svensson i just ordered a hygrometer today so that we can monitor our humidity levels ans rectify any issues there. But given how our floors are acting (warping in some locations, splintering, not level, etc.) I’m starting to think its more than just humidity at play here. Hopefully our inspector can give us some clues later this week. The amount of caulk I’ll need is starting to get ridiculous!

update: several hygrometers placed theiighout the home show humidity levels sitting around 33%. I believe that’s on the lower end of what is considered ”acceptable” for hardwood floors, but i dont know about trim/moulding. Anyone have insights?