Acclimation Of Hardwoon Floors

Hardwood floors are still the hottest trend in flooring for San Jose homes. New home construction and existing home renovations are taking advantage of wood flooring as an economical and beautiful alternative instead of the traditional carpet or vinyl materials. Standard hardwood flooring installation involves allowing the wood product to acclimate to the indoor environment of the home where it will be installed.

Wood Acclimation

Wood is affected by the temperature, moisture and humidity in the air surrounding it. When the temperatures are cold, the wood shrinks. When the temperatures are hot, the wood expands. This contraction and expansion is caused by the moisture content inside the wood.

When hardwood floors San Jose are not properly acclimated to the current indoor temperature of a home before installation, the flooring can be negatively affected. If it is hot inside the house, the wood will expand and buckle, causing bumps along the uneven floor. Cold homes will cause the wood to shrink, as the boards pull away to leave large gaps. Sometimes, the cold air will also cause the wood to pull out from under the shoe molding along the walls of the home.

All Wood Flooring Needs Acclimation Despite Location

Although temperatures can remain constant for a long period of time, hardwood floors in San Jose still need to be acclimated to the home. Hardwood flooring dealers can have distribution centers and vendors located all across the country and have the flooring shipped to the homeowner's location. So while there are subtropical climates in San Jose almost year-round, the wood may be stored at a climate-controlled temperature in a more moderate location.

When the wood flooring needs to be acclimated to the indoor environment, home temperatures should be set at a steady 60 degrees to 80 degrees as the wood has to sit in the room for 2 to 4 days. With the cartoons open and the wood raised off the ground, the moisture content will adjust to the humidity and temperature of the home so it will not expand or contract during the installation process.

Wood flooring may need longer or shorter amounts of time to acclimate to the indoor environment. Engineered flooring usually requires the least amount of time while unfinished hardwood floors require the longest time. Manufacturers will state whether their wood requires acclimation and the amount of time the flooring needs to sit inside the room before the hardwood floors are installed in the San Jose home.