Hi Thank you for this forum

I have heard that wood flooring expands and swells up depending on moisture. How can we stop that from happening?

Thanks
Lauren

Even though the tree has been cut down wood flooring has the ability to absorb and release moisture through its cell structure. Any wood flooring should be brought into the home and allowed to acclimate to its new environment before it is installed. The normal relative humidity levels of a healthy home are between 40-55%. Allowing the wood to acclimate allows the wood flooring to absorb or release what moisture content it had and to adjust it self to its the present moisture levels.

If after the flooring is installed your homes (relative humidity) level changes say in the drier heating season for any great period of time you could see either the flooring contract (dry out) and shrink in size slightly or during the more humid spring and summer months swell up and see the edges cup upward. You want to try and keep the interiors homes RL at between 40-55% for Solid wood flooring and 30-65% for engineered flooring.

You can help maintain the RL in your home by using Humidifiers, Dehumidifiers and Air conditioners. Depending on how your flooring is acting. Having a inexpensive hygrometer on a shelve will monitor what the RL of a home is.

Some separation between planks is considered to be normal during the heating season as they will most likely close during the more humid seasons.

Thank you for your posting!
Jeff Hosking