Acclimatize hardwood in Spring? Yes or No? What to put in flooring contract?

[Anonymous]

Is it better to buy hardwood directly and ship to your house and get a flooring company to install or just go with them for everything? Flooring company says they don't have to acclimatize in Spring and they will just come and install it after they place the order and the order arrives at their location. I read that the wood has to acclimatize if it is not kiln dried?

If you did hardwood flooring how did you go about it? Did they bring the hardwood and sit it in your house for a few days before install?

Also if you went with flooring company, what did you have stated in your contract? Anything I must make sure is included?

[Anonymous]

Solid hardwoods can shrink, expand, or warp as humidity and/or temperatures change. Being stable at one point in time means nothing when the environment changes later.

You can avoid this with engineered hardwood flooring, which is more consistently stable

[Anonymous]

I sell millions of dollars of wood a year, do not use that company. You always need to acclimate wood. Maybe a day, may be a month. Depends on species and EMC (equilibrium moisture content) you are trying to achieve.

You generally want interior flooring to have a moisture content of 6-9%.

For the simple fact of their moronic statement I would use them. And acclimating doesn’t hurt anything. I would rather acclimate for a few days than risk have to rip out and reinstall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I sell millions of dollars of wood a year, do not use that company. You always need to acclimate wood. Maybe a day, may be a month. Depends on species and EMC (equilibrium moisture content) you are trying to achieve.

You generally want interior flooring to have a moisture content of 6-9%.

For the simple fact of their moronic statement I would use them. And acclimating doesn’t hurt anything. I would rather acclimate for a few days than risk have to rip out and reinstall.

So here's what I don't understand: in the DC climate, EMC will be about 12% in the summer and 6% in the winter. That's why things move seasonally. Let's say I receive a shipment that's at 9% on a day when EMC is 6%. Why is it so important to let that wood sit for a while and acclimate, when it's not going to be at that point year-round? Also, wood doesn't change moisture content quickly, it takes months for things to move with the seasons. When drying wood the rule of thumb is one year per inch of thickness. How is a few days or even a week going to make a difference?

[Anonymous]

If you look at the chart here:

https://www.woodworkerssource.com/wood-moisture-content.html

You'll see that EMC can easily change by 50% or more in a single day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sell millions of dollars of wood a year, do not use that company. You always need to acclimate wood. Maybe a day, may be a month. Depends on species and EMC (equilibrium moisture content) you are trying to achieve.

You generally want interior flooring to have a moisture content of 6-9%.

For the simple fact of their moronic statement I would use them. And acclimating doesn’t hurt anything. I would rather acclimate for a few days than risk have to rip out and reinstall.

So here's what I don't understand: in the DC climate, EMC will be about 12% in the summer and 6% in the winter. That's why things move seasonally. Let's say I receive a shipment that's at 9% on a day when EMC is 6%. Why is it so important to let that wood sit for a while and acclimate, when it's not going to be at that point year-round? Also, wood doesn't change moisture content quickly, it takes months for things to move with the seasons. When drying wood the rule of thumb is one year per inch of thickness. How is a few days or even a week going to make a difference?

Because you are acclimating it to be on the same cycle with the environment. It is about eliminating rapid variable changes. It is a factor of relative humidity the humidity in level in your house isn’t the same as the humidity level outside. And the humidity level in your house isn’t the same as the warehouse where the material has been stored. You are acclimate to where it will live. You don’t have those rapid humidity swings in your house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sell millions of dollars of wood a year, do not use that company. You always need to acclimate wood. Maybe a day, may be a month. Depends on species and EMC (equilibrium moisture content) you are trying to achieve.

You generally want interior flooring to have a moisture content of 6-9%.

For the simple fact of their moronic statement I would use them. And acclimating doesn’t hurt anything. I would rather acclimate for a few days than risk have to rip out and reinstall.

So here's what I don't understand: in the DC climate, EMC will be about 12% in the summer and 6% in the winter. That's why things move seasonally. Let's say I receive a shipment that's at 9% on a day when EMC is 6%. Why is it so important to let that wood sit for a while and acclimate, when it's not going to be at that point year-round? Also, wood doesn't change moisture content quickly, it takes months for things to move with the seasons. When drying wood the rule of thumb is one year per inch of thickness. How is a few days or even a week going to make a difference?

Because you are acclimating it to be on the same cycle with the environment. It is about eliminating rapid variable changes. It is a factor of relative humidity the humidity in level in your house isn’t the same as the humidity level outside. And the humidity level in your house isn’t the same as the warehouse where the material has been stored. You are acclimate to where it will live. You don’t have those rapid humidity swings in your house.

I have a temperature/humidity tracker, and the humidity in my house has ranged between 44% and 62% in the past 24 hours. Temperature has been steady around 70F. That corresponds to a EMC of around 7.5% to over 11%. That's a 50% swing in one day.