Acclimatising your wooden floor should really be seen as part of the installation process. It is really important that you let your new floor acclimatise and adapt to its new surroundings.
Why should I acclimatise my wooden floor?
Wood is a natural product so will naturally adapt to its surroundings. By this, we mean that your wooden flooring with slightly expand and contract with changes in the atmosphere. If the air is humid, your floor will absorb some of this moisture and slightly expand. If the air is dry, the opposite will happen, and your floor will slightly shrink. These changes are minimal and completely natural, but can cause damage to your floor, once installed, if the floor is not acclimatised properly. By allowing your wooden floor to properly acclimatise, you are reducing the risk of it moving and becoming damaged once installed.
How do I acclimatise my wooden floor?
Both solid and engineered wooden floors need to be sufficiently acclimatised. Follow these simple steps:
• Make sure that your wooden flooring is delivered to your property in plenty of time to allow for it to adjust to the surroundings before you start the installation process.
• All types of solid hardwood flooring should be left to acclimatise for at least 7 days.
• All types of engineered hardwood flooring should be left to acclimatise for at least 72 hours.
• Leave the wooden flooring, in the unopened boxes, in the room where it will be installed.
• The existing floor in this room must be dry. Do not leave the boxes of your new wooden flooring on a wet or damp floor.
• Any new plaster on the walls should also be thoroughly dry before leaving your new floor to acclimatise in this room.
• Finally, leave your new wooden flooring for the recommended amount of time before you start the installation process.
Acclimatising your wooden floor is an essential part of installation, so is preparing your subfloor.
Have a look at the following article for more information on this: How to prepare my subfloor before installing hardwood flooring.
