|
Acclimatize your hardwood
Hardwood flooring manufactures will provide specific instructions for acclimatizing their hardwood boards prior to installation. Always follow the manufacturers instructions!
If the hardwood flooring is not acclimatized to the room that it is going to be installed in, once installed it will acclimatize and that means that it will either expand or contract depending on the humidity level in the room. Problems will occur in a few short weeks after installation. Either gaps will develop between boards as the hardwood flooring boards contract in width or the boards will buckle as they try to expand with no where to go!
Humidity in your house
In a comfortable home with slight humidity variations through the seasons, wood flooring responds by expanding and contracting. These changes may be noticeable. During warm, humid weather, wood expands. During dry weather, wood contracts. This seasonal movement is a normal characteristic of wood flooring, and it never stops, regardless of the age of the wood. One of the best ways to ensure that wood flooring will give the performance homeowners expect is to install humidity controls and ensure that they are functioning before the flooring is installed.
Working with humidity controls
A homeowner who chooses hardwood flooring is making an investment in a floor that will last 40 years or more, and he or she should protect that investment by installing humidity controls--a tool that helps the floor maintain a beautiful, trouble-free appearance.
|
