Floor Separation Softwood Humidity

To avoid cupping keep your indoor humidity levels between 40 60.
Floor separation softwood humidity. Wood floor types damage diagnosis repair damaged wood floors. They weren t there in the summer solid 3 4 hardwoods will expand and contract with seasonal changes in moisture. The wood shrinks because it loses moisture and gaps. Cupping can also happen when spilled water gets absorbed by your hardwood floors.
High levels of humidity can cause hardwood flooring to. 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. Often it s a floor owner concerned with new hardwood floors separating or gapping. With a wagner meters wood moisture meter your softwood floors may be just as long lasting as any hardwood floor might boast to be.
Air with a low moisture content or low relative humidity rh causes wood to lose moisture. 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. Almost every wood floor will show some separation between boards particularly in the winter months when homes are heated and the air is dry. However if humidity really is an issue at your home pay attention and take the time to check it carefully and get professional advice.
The interior temperature and relative humidity of a house determine the correct moisture content for a wood floor. 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. High moisture level should not be a problem in this case.
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. Those are the reasons why engineered wood flooring is a safe bet for any high humidity areas such as bathrooms or kitchens. This is especially noticeable with site finished floors whose final appearance after the work has been done is near flawless. 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.
When wood loses moisture it shrinks.