Wood shrinks and expands in accordance.
Dry air hardwood floor.
When the moisture in the wood floors is sucked out due to the dry climate the boards can start to shrink and cup and leave your floors looking terrible.
Your hardwood floor during the dry season.
An effective step in reducing floor issues is to reduce ventilation and air infiltration as much as possible.
Cupped flooring looks bad but it s almost always reversible.
We have to find ways to successfully install wood floors in a dry climate.
This makes us relatively stable compared to other areas of the country that can range from.
While too much moisture can be detrimental to wood flooring the complete lack of moisture may be just as bad.
Hot air rises so using a heater may involve having to heat an entire room before it starts to dry out a floor.
Place it in the center of the room and leave it on for at least 24 hours.
Use a dehumidifier placed at the highest setting possible to dry the floors.
Engineered wood floors in dry climates.
During the winter when homes are heated and the air is dry wood flooring loses some of its moisture and contracts or shrinks as a result.
Using heat drying to dry a floor can be tricky.
Winter ventilation tends to dry flooring.
For example if the air in the room is quite dry as it can become during the winter or because of air conditioning in the summer and or there is moisture trapped under the floor from a spill or even residual condensation your floor will be at risk of cupping.
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.
How to treat a wood floor that is drying out.
Completely dry the wood.
Check for mold and rotting one of the biggest concerns with water damage and hardwood flooring is the potential for mold and rotting of the wood a problem that can t always be seen immediately.
Additionally using fans and dehumidifiers is often necessary to dry out the hardwood floor thoroughly after the wet vac has done its job.
As with any climate really making sure that your floors are acclimated to your indoor climate is the key to extending the life of your hardwood floors.
This can take a long time and is not the most efficient use of energy.
We do experience humidity but it happens during our hottest time of the year when hvac units are running nonstop pulling moisture from our air.
While the wood flooring appears dry water could have penetrated throughout the plank as you can t remove it with the wet vacuum.
Hardwood flooring dryness problems.
Summer ventilation tends to add moisture to flooring.
Outside air is not the friend of wood flooring.
Warm air holds more moisture than cold air so heating a wet surface will cause it to dry faster.
Customers begin to notice gaps between boards and the phone calls begin.