Who cares about the mill?

Years ago, I had an experience that made me care more about the milling tolerances for products I install. The floor was a 5" hickory floor that the homeowner purchased online from some mill in another state. I rarely am asked by a customer or general contractor to install hardwood material that my company does not provide. In this case, I agreed to install the material and made a mistake of assuming the quality was good. This turned out to be a major mistake because on average one out of every three boards was milled 1/16-1/8" to wide or too narrow. This may seem trivial until you consider that forcing this material to become straight was virtually impossible. The floor may appear to be straight and well sealed early on, but after a few seasons of an improper fit the boards will win out over the fasteners and cause a loose floor. To the bargain hunters of flooring material, there is often a reason the price is too good to be true. A low price is a likely indicator of mis-milled product that was sold to reduce inventory for a mill, distributor, or retailer.

Acclimation....How Long?

If there has ever been one wood flooring question with a great deal of answers, it is: "How long should I acclimate the flooring?" I've heard everything from overnight to 2 weeks. The truth is that you want the flooring to be acclimated to the point where it will no longer lose or gain moisture while being acclimated within the area of installation. Sometimes wood flooring is within a moisture content that is compatible with the sub-floor as soon as it arrives at the jobsite. Other times, it may take 2-4 weeks for the wood to be at an acceptable moisture level. Two driving factors affecting these numbers are how well the HVAC system is working and what species of wood is to be installed.

A few things to keep in mind:
1) Wood flooring should NEVER be acclimated within the garage of your home.
2) Never install or acclimate your flooring at a temperature that is less than 5 degrees of where you keep the interior temperature of your home.
3) If your flooring is strip flooring, then the subfloor and wood flooring must have moisture levels that vary by no greater than 4%. This number should be less for wider flooring.

These suggestions are for solid hardwood flooring. Flooring materials such as engineered and laminate flooring do not apply to these rules. E-mail us with further questions.