Hardwood Flooring And Humidity Levels

Once humidity levels rise again the hardwood floor will expand and most gaps will close up again.

Hardwood flooring and humidity levels.

High levels of humidity can cause hardwood flooring to expand significantly sometimes causing the affected boards to lose their structural integrity and crack. The humidity levels in your home are extremely important for maintaining your wood floors because moisture loss causes wood to shrink and moisture absorption causes wood to swell. The humidity levels in your home are extremely important for maintaining your wood floors because moisture loss causes wood to shrink and moisture absorption causes wood to swell. The illustration below will make it easy to understand.

Splits checks when the wood is faced with extreme conditions it can be stressed beyond its limitations. Here are some warning signs that suggest you may need some help with humidity. For some very exotic hardwoods you may need to maintain a humidity level no lower than 40 in order to preserve the shape of the wood but this is rare. Cupping is an appearance where the edges of.

Therefore the wood weakens making your hardwood floor more brittle and increasing the likelihood of damage or splintering. It s the same as for us. If you have hardwood floors engineered or natural there are a few things you need to know about hardwood and humidity levels to keep your floor in great shape. Depending on where you live winter may bring more than h olidays snowmen and ski days.

Keeping humidity levels in check will prevent potential damage to your floor. This chart highlights the ideal levels of moisture in wood at various temperatures and relative humidity rh levels. In this chart you can see a small highlighted section. With winter usually comes low humidity levels.

Cupping can also happen when spilled water gets absorbed by your hardwood floors. Here are images of hardwood floors that have been affected by some form of humidity. What i did not realize was the amazing effect temperature has on humidity and as a result hardwood flooring. To avoid cupping keep your indoor humidity levels between 40 60.

The recommended humidity range for wood floors is between 45 and 55 and some fluctuation within this range is acceptable. These are the safest conditions for most types of wood between 60 and 80 degrees fahrenheit and 30 to 50 rh. Hardwood floors should have indoor humidity levels of between 35 to 45. Hardwood floors humidity.

From portland oregon to portland maine one can experience high humidity in every state. To put it into perspective the humidity levels in florida frequently hover in the high 90 range while the humidity in las vegas can go as low as 18.