Moisture & Wood Floors

Cupping, gaps, moisture testing and more are covered in these articles about the relationship between water and wood floors.

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How to Prevent Cupping and Worse in Summer Months

During the summer, even the most carefully installed wood floors tend to expand and sometimes cup or even buckle. These events occur because of wood's relationship with moisture in the air. Air...

How to Prevent Wood Floor Gaps in Winter

During the winter, even the most carefully installed wood floors tend to dry out and shrink. Customers begin to notice gaps between boards, and the phone calls begin. The floor behaves that way because of woods...

Understand the Science of Water and Wood Floors

We all know the majority of wood flooring complaints are moisture-related. Although the relationship between water and wood can seem mysterious and complex, wood actually responds to moisture changes...

Understand the Two Most Common Slab Moisture Tests

One of the topics that causes the most confusion in the wood flooring industry is moisture in concrete and the tests used to measure it. A common question is, "Do calcium chloride and RH concrete tests measure the same thing?" The quick answer...

Identify Microclimates for Successful Wood Floors

San Francisco is a city with microclimates and sub-microclimates—local atmospheric zones where the climate differs from the surrounding area. Due to the city's varied topography, weather...

Three Factors that Could Save Your Wood Floor Installation

I recently visited a home in the Southwest to conduct a site inspection on a wood flooring installation completed approximately three years ago. The homeowners complained that their wood floors had too much gapping. While some gaps...

Avoid These Mistakes When Moisture Testing Wood Floors

Every year, the vast majority of calls made to the National Wood Flooring Association's Technical Hotline are due to moisture-related problems such as warping, cupping, cracking and shrinking. It only makes sense...

The Cause of "Dry-Cupping" in Engineered Wood Floors

When you're talking about problems with wood floors, nothing gets more attention than moisture and its consequences, like cupping. But lack of moisture can be just as big a problem as too much moisture. This time of the year...

Know What a Moisture Barrier Can (And Cannot) Do

Can the installation of a moisture vapor protection membrane prevent all moisture issues with a hardwood floor? That is usually the second question I get; the first question is typically...

Heat Wave: Installing Wood Flooring Over Radiant Heating

Just mentioning "radiant heat" is enough to make some wood flooring contractors turn and run. They've heard the horror stories about jobs over radiant heat, or maybe they've been burned, so to speak, on their own...

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