Acclimation to the
installation environment for solid wood floors
should never be overlooked. While it's not
as important for engineered
products due to the stability in the way they
are constructed, solid products will expand and
contract considerably, given the right conditions
with wide changes in relative humidity levels.Far
too many times we hear and see jobs that gap
months after the
installation, or they swell and
buckle. By following some simple guidelines these
events should not occur. Unfortunately, many run
of the mill installers and builders for that
matter, don't know about proper jobsite
conditions. In some cases it's often...."get it
in and we'll worry about problems later."
Inevitably they learn their lesson with costly
repair bills and replacements, not to mention
disgruntled customers. Following are some basic
guidelines for a problem free installation: before
during, and after.
-
Solid wood
flooring should be delivered to the jobsite and
allowed to acclimate to the conditions in which
it will be installed or near occupancy levels.
Temperature and humidity should be monitored.
-
Delivery should be
after major projects have been completed and
thoroughly dry, such as dry wall and masonry
work. Doors and windows must be in. Testing of
wood subfloors should be performed and moisture
levels should not exceed 12-14%¹
-
Drainage- It is
vital the grading should be directed away from
the home to prevent unnecessary moisture
problems.
-
Basements and
crawl spaces need proper ventilation.
Polyethylene film of 6 mil in thickness must be
used as a proper vapor retarder in any crawl
spaces or where the soil line lies underneath.
An
Interesting Story. Effects of No Acclimation
|
From: Jay at J. D. Reynolds Home
Improvements
Westchester County NY |
Regardless of whether you prefer
manual flooring nailers or pneumatic,
cleats or staples, be sure to allow
your natural hardwood flooring to
acclimatize! This is not merely a
suggestion, this may very well be the
most important rule of the hardwood
floor installation process.
Its too easy to allow schedules to
dictate how and when we approach
various portions of individual
projects, but unlike priming one room
when there are four others still
awaiting a first coat of mud.....this
one cannot be rushed for the sake of
expediency.
Quick nightmare tale......a buddy of
mine was building his home at the same
time I was renovating my own. It
turned out that we were going to be
ready for flooring at approximately
the same time. He, a bit sooner than
I, but close enough that it made sense
to purchase our flooring (through
another friend) in a great enough
quantity that we'd benefit from an
even greater discount.
Against the advice of both myself and
our friend (the flooring distributor),
he had his installed virtually
immediately. I, on the other hand,
having waited ten years to attack my
house was in no rush to get the floors
installed. We had the flooring
delivered about mid August.....a time
of year I try and avoid installations
to begin with, due to the high
humidity levels in this
neck-of-the-woods. I allowed mine to
sit for nearly a month...mid
September, before bangin` em down.
We're now in the beginning portion of
the heating season.....his floors have
begun to shrink drastically....even
cupping and raising to a degree. Mine,
on the other hand have yet to show any
signs of shrinkage at all.
I'm not an "I told you so" kind of
guy.....but this is a lesson he won't
soon forget and one I hope some of you
may benefit from. |
|
Acclimation With Engineered Hardwoods- Always
follow individual manufacturer specifications that
are available on their respective websites or
contained within the cartons of flooring. Pulling
planks from cartons days or weeks prior to
installation can cause installation problems.
Why?
Moisture from the environment can actually swell
the material ever so slightly (depending on the
relative humidity) creating problems with fit of
some engineered hardwoods that are milled with
precision. Conversely, in extreme dry environments
shrinkage may occur. Click type floating floors
are very susceptible to these potential problems. |
