Why do floor installers need quantitative humidity readings
Another industry that benefits from quantitative moisture measurement is the flooring industry. Wooden floor installers often require accurate measurement of the moisture content of the wood they are using and accurate evaluation of the relative humidity (RH) at the installation site conditions.
Why is quantitative moisture measurement so important? The main reason is that as a hygroscopic material, wood tends to absorb or release water until it reaches equilibrium with the environment. This is called the Balanced Moisture Content (EMC) of wood, which can vary between one job site and another, so floor installers need to check their wood and RH conditions at each job site.
If the wooden floor is installed too far from the EMC value of the current installation location, many faults may occur, including:
Discoloration. In some wooden floors, moisture can cause dark or fading spots to appear. This undermines the attractiveness of the floor and may be a precursor to other floor malfunctions.
Warping. As the wood begins to absorb moisture, it will begin to warp and pull away from under the floor. In most cases, the spacing is very small. However, in some rare and extreme cases, if there is an external source of moisture, the wood may be completely separated from the floor.
Coronation. When the center of a wooden floor has more water than the edges, the center will expand and form a small protrusion. This is called 'crowding'.
Cupping. When there is more water at the edge of the board than at the center, the edge may rise as the board expands. This may also cause the plates to compress each other, forming a wavy appearance.
Continuous water condensation. As the wooden floor releases too much water, it may condense on the surface of the wood.
For floor installers, any of these issues may cause a callback, which involves wasting a lot of time, labor, and resources to replace damaged wooden flooring.
Therefore, quantitative moisture measurement of the% MC of wooden flooring is important. Also remember to quantitatively measure RH conditions at the work site to help determine the EMC of wood.
Attention: Due to the fact that the wood flooring installation program can handle multiple types of wood, it is not enough to only equip it with a "wood hygrometer". Even at exactly the same moisture content, different types of wood will have different readings. Therefore, if the goal is to achieve quantitative moisture measurement, it is important to consider the correction of wood types. Some high-end wood hygrometers have built-in species correction functions, while other users need to manually adjust using species correction tables.
