Check moisture conditions for hardwood floor installations
When installing hardwood floors, using a wood moisture meter such as the TechScan needleless gauge, it is possible to check the moisture content (%MC) of the wood prior to installation. Pinless gauges are an especially good tool for checking %MC of hardwood floors because they can measure in these materials without leaving unsightly pinholes in them.
With a needleless meter, you simply press the scan plate onto the sample material, read and repeat the process until you get enough readings from different samples of hardwood floors to ensure that the %MC is installed correctly within the range.
Check the subfloor
In addition to simply checking the moisture content of the hardwood floor you are installing, it is also essential to check the moisture content of the sub-base where your hardwood floor is installed.
Why? Because, even if your top layer's %MC is good quality, building on a damp subfloor can still cause problems as excess moisture from one material seeps into the other.
For subfloors, the type of gauge you use will vary depending on the type of subfloor you have. For wood subfloors, both needle-free and needle-free hygrometers are useful. Pinless gauges are great for quickly assessing large subfloors, while needle gauges can help you pinpoint the depth of moisture pockets. In fact, many contractors use both types of gauges when inspecting lumber.
Adapting Sure Wood to the Environment
When preparing to install wood floors, it is important to ensure that the wood material you are working with is properly acclimated. Different regions of the United States have different ambient humidity levels, which in turn means that wood material will reach its equilibrium moisture content (EMC) at different %MC by region.
Even within the same area, different buildings may have different humidity conditions due to building owners operating their HVAC systems in different environments. Therefore, it is important to acclimate the wooden floors inside the building in the days leading up to installation.
To check if your wood floors have reached the EMC of their building condition, check the %MC of the wood with a moisture meter every day for several days. When the moisture reading no longer fluctuates from one day to the next, your wood has reached the EMC environment and is ready for installation.
While adapting to the wood, it is important to ensure that the HVAC system is running and using the settings that will be used for the day-to-day operations of the building once completed. This way, you can ensure that the wood is not exposed to significantly different climates after installation, as it absorbs or leaches moisture to achieve equilibrium with its surroundings, potentially causing expansion or contraction.
By using a hygrometer to check that the wood and subfloor material are properly conditioned before installing your hardwood floors, you can help ensure that you don't have to go through time-consuming and expensive callbacks.
