Floor Separation Softwood Humidity

Often it s a floor owner concerned with new hardwood floors separating or gapping.

Floor separation softwood humidity.

Install flooring when it has the right moisture content. Almost every wood floor will show some separation between boards particularly in the winter months when homes are heated and the air is dry. When wood loses moisture it shrinks. The national wood floor association nwfa states that normal relative humidity levels should range between 30 50 to ensure successful long term performance of your wood flooring.

They weren t there in the summer solid 3 4 hardwoods will expand and contract with seasonal changes in moisture. With a wagner meters wood moisture meter your softwood floors may be just as long lasting as any hardwood floor might boast to be. A photo catalog of types of damage to different wood floor materials description of repair approaches for damaged wood floors buckled wood flooring due to leaks or high moisture cupped wood floorboards convex concave floor cupping gaps between floor boards or parquet flooring cause cure rotted wood flooring. Air with a low moisture content or low relative humidity rh causes wood to lose moisture.

Relative humidity can be measured with a humidity gauge which can be bought at hardware stores and ideally should fall between 30 and 50. As we just saw however this range can often be difficult to achieve in certain areas of the country during certain seasons. The floor behaves that way because of wood s relationship with moisture in the air there s no accounting for how the customers behave although educating them about gaps beforehand can help more on that later. Wood floor types damage diagnosis repair damaged wood floors.

Crawl space moisture and hardwood flooring crawl space moisture and hardwood flooringto understand the cause of wood floors cupping or buckling when you re sure there is no water damage due to a flood or leak you must understand the relationship between relative humidity your wood floor and your crawl space during the summer months in the northeast region wood subfloors and floor joists. High moisture level should not be a problem in this case. As sales manager for wagner meters ron has more than 35 years of experience with instrumentation and measurement systems in different industries. Even just a few days of humidity can cause wood flooring to cup which means that the edges on the wooden board are higher than its center.

To avoid cupping keep your indoor humidity levels between 40 60. Cupping can also happen when spilled water gets absorbed by your hardwood floors. However if humidity really is an issue at your home pay attention and take the time to check it carefully and get professional advice. This is especially noticeable with site finished floors whose final appearance after the work has been done is near flawless.

The wood shrinks because it loses moisture and gaps.