Natural, person, flexible, strong, and wear-lifestyles are words often used to explain hardwood floors. Add hygroscopic to that list. Hygroscopics describe materials that soak up and release moisture regarding their surrounding environmental situations.
As a hygroscopic fabric, hardwood flooring releases moisture during wintry weather months while humidity is low. The contrary is at some stage in the recent summertime – hardwood floors absorb moisture when humidity is excessive. The content material of water in timber while absorbing or freeing it when it comes to surrounding air-borne humidity is referred to as, you guessed it, “wooden moisture content material.” As the timber moisture content material stage decreases or increases, it can bring about the shrinkage or growth of the hardwood flooring.
This is a great time to add another word, “equilibrium,” to the mix. Equilibrium is where wooden moisture balances surrounding temperature and relative humidity (RH). For instance, hardwood flooring fully acclimated to 70°F and 35 percent RH equalizes 6. Nine percent timber moisture content material. The hardwood balances to nine when it’s fully adapted to 70°F and a better humidity degree of 50 percent RH.2 percent timber moisture content material. Charts are available displaying wood moisture content primarily based on temperature and RH.
The best, or most relaxed, variety for indoor environments is 35 to 50 percent RH. The Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association (MFMA), the authoritative source of tough maple flooring, requires its member manufacturers to use kiln-dried lumber with a 6 to nine percent wood moisture content material to fabricate their timber flooring. Therefore, the timber moisture content of MFMA wood flooring while milled is within spec, 6 to 9 percent, and suits within the equalized price for the optimum variety of relative humidity, 35 to 50 ratio.
Facilities in a massive part of the U.S. S. Can preserve the advocated variety of 35 to 50 percent average RH. If you live within the dry southwest or in a moist southern coast area, this will be greater of an undertaking. If you live in some cacti, your facility may also have a range closer to 20 to 35 percent average RH, with timber moisture content averaging 5 to 7 percent. If you have alligators for your neighborhood, your facility may have a selection closer to 50 to sixty-five percent average RH with wooden moisture content material averaging 10 to twelve percent. Different, but the same.
Here’s the unique element:
A contractor in North Judson, Indiana, probably puts in maple floors at 7 to nine percent wood moisture content. In Elko, Nevada, wherein feet are likely, a contractor installed a less than or equal to 7% wood moisture content material. Compare this to Gainesville, Florida, in which flooring is possibly established at a wooden moisture content material of more than nine percent.
Here’s the equal element:
Experienced athletic flooring contractors deploy flooring regarding predicted top wood moisture content in equilibrium with anticipated common peak humidity. The facility’s area was mechanical in figuring out peak humidity and associated timber moisture content. The flooring contractor has no management over the eventual range among the common top and common low humidity conditions and associated dimensional exchange. A 15 percent variety of average humidity is recommended for restricted seasonal shrinkage and growth for all packages. Remember, hardwood flooring is first-rate while exposed to strong surroundings, irrespective of where you live, paintings, and play.