#MAPEITechTip: ‘Wood floor acclimation’—Fact or Fiction?

Just like humans, all living things have to acclimate to their surroundings, or in other words, allow sufficient time for our bodies to adjust to the ambient temperature and humidity.  If you have ever flown to either Arizona or Florida and stepped outside of the airport, you quickly get the importance of acclimation, either reaching for a bottle of water in Arizona or jumping into a car with AC in Florida....

Going from the forest to your floor…WHAT is and WHY is acclimation important prior to installation of a wood floor? Acclimation as it relates to wood flooring, is when the 'moisture content' (MC) of the wood equilibrates to the 'normal living conditions' of the building—the wood has the same MC as the environment.  The bottom line—acclimation is not predicated on a set length of time, it takes what it takes to acclimate the wood to the proper MC. The greater the differential between the kiln dried MC and the actual ‘normal living conditions’ the longer it will take to acclimate to the space.  For example, if a house in Florida has reached 12-13% EMC (Equilibrium Moisture Content) (US Department of Agriculture, Forest Products Laboratory; "Moisture Relations and Physical Properties of Wood"), bringing the wood flooring into the space at 6% MC, in order for it to equilibrate to 12-13% MC within the occupied space, it will need to take on moisture—depending on the species and type of wood this can take weeks or months. 
 

Add to this scenario, improperly working HVAC unit, windows left open, and untreated excessive Moisture Vapor Transmission (MVT) from the concrete—the acclimation process can take even longer and/or be interrupted delaying the installation process. Apart from crossing your fingers and hoping that the wood flooring has reached full equilibrium, how can you tell that you are good to go to install the wood with minimal risk of moisture related issues?  Perform MC testing of the wood flooring per manufacturers’ specific acclimation recommendations before installing—as hard as it may be to do…waiting is sometimes the best approach!