Hardwood Floor Maintenance Guidelines

Hi Tim,

Another wood humidity question. I built a lovely rural/country home a number of years ago (circa 2001) and then sold it in 2002 to move back into the city (wife was not keen on the rural life).

When I sold the house, everything was fine (as you say, new homes have alot of residual humidity). In winter 2005, the current home owner contacted me and told me of gaps appearing in the floors. I sent someone by and they reported that the relative humidity in the house was about 20% (nice for breathing/living but below recommended +40% recommended for wood).

I recommended that they ensure that their humidistat be set correctly to push 40+% humidity into the house at all times but they complained that in extremely cold temperature, they get condensation on some windows, etc.. Well two years have passed and I now received a legal letter from that in that they want me to replace the wood floors claiming it to be a latent defect of the house. Irregardless of that, I am still trying to get them to understand that it is moisture related issues and they have to take action.

I have proposed that they fix their humidity level and wash the wood floors with a damp mop (once a week) to re-humidify the wood (contrary to your recommendation: http://www.askthebuilder.com/B114_Hardwood_Floor_Maintenance_Guidelines.sht ml). I think this would re-hydrate the wood (which is currently at 16% humiidity), allow it to expand, reduce the gaps, and then setting the air humidity at the right level would keep it there... what would be your thoughts or recommendations?

Mike,
This is a ridiculous situation if you have presented all of the facts. I am quite sure you can get data from the two Associations listed in this column that will be of great help in this struggle.

My wife and I just built our dream house (~mid '07) and are experiencing the same issues with large (>1/16") gaps appearing between the boards; we have solid oak flooring and are running a heat-pump to ~20F outside temp at which point it switches to gas back-up. I suspect our interior humidity was approaching 15% last week prior to installation of a humidifier - which our flooring contractor said wasn't necessary. The gaps have gotten large enough to be a real eye sore. How do I tell if this is a moisture problem? Was it created after the floors were laid or while the floors were laid (i.e. was it improper installation or improper maintenance of the house)? What are options for correcting the issue?

Joel,
I think you are the cause. You need to keep the humidity pretty constant. Wood is a hygroscopic material.

Everyone we talked to during construction, including multiple flooring contractors told us humidifiers were not needed in our area.

Based upon what we now understand, if I can regain a reasonably constant relative humidity, we should see the problem go away? What should we expect to hold for a humidity range in our house?

Last week after a few calls, I finally convinced our flooring contractor to come examine what we have. His words were "it is as bad as I've ever seen it." He indicated that we should wait until next fall to see if it self corrects. Assuming it doesn't, he's suggesting we have him sand, fill, sand, and re-finish the entire floor. Is this a resonable fix, if it doesn't self correct?

Joel,
Did you let the wood acclimate in the house for a week or more before installation?
Filling and sanding is acceptable. But ONLY after you stabilize the humidity.

Without looking at my notes, I believe the raw flooring was in the house for roughly 5 days prior to being laid. It probably took another 1.5 weeks to lay and sand the floor prior to finishing.
Our flooring sub said he tested the wood after he received it and before delivering it to our job-site. He said it tested a 6.7 on his moisture tester - he indicated normally a 7 is good.
Is one type of wood more inclided to swelling? We have a solid white oak floor in a select grade because we saw another floor just like it he did and were impressed.

hi,

I had a delivery to my home and they scratched up my 3" Engineered Amendoim flooring. I am trying to find out if i can just buff and re-surface vs. having the entire flooring replaced.

How can I tell if the damage is repairable vs. replaceable?

Dawn,
You may be in luck. I would call one or two wizards that may be in your town. Call the MOST expensive furniture showroom in your area. They have the phone numbers of these secret repairmen that come to your house with a magical wooden repair box that has an alcohol burner in it. If I tell you anymore, they will kill me. Once you see what they can do, you will also be sworn into the secret society.

I would like to install a new hardwood floor over the existing sub floor in my northern cottage. The issue is I close it down for the winter and am not there all the time to control the humidity during the summer. Am I looking at major problems if I proceed with the installation.

Thanks Bill

Hi. If I read your article correctly water is hardwood floors enemy. Does that include wood floors that have been varnished? There is an area between the sink and my dishwasher where I believe constant water drippings is harming the finish. When dishes are taken from the sink to the dishwasher, water tends to drip in the same spot. Is the constant water drips the cause of the finish wearing away? I think it is but my wife doesn't think so.

We just put a wood stove in our home. I would like a suggestion of the best way to preserve my beautiful wood floors. I bought a humidifier, thinking that it would help wood from drying out and cracking. Information on your web site makes me believe that adding moisture offsets the humidity level too much. How do I make that the humidity level is balanced?

Good information here. I have a question about prior moisture damage. I'm considering purchasing a home that was built in 1960. It has maple floors that are badly buckled. The owner claims there was no moisture barrier. Could other parts of the house have been damaged by this over time? I'm concerned about the walls, etc. Location - Costa Mesa, CA, 3 miles from the beach.

Thanks, Jason

Hi Tim,

You may remember me as I was your first commenter on this site (being sued over cracks in floor).

Despite the obvious problem with humidity in the owners home, they hired a "expert" to support their case of latent defect. I guess it would not be surprising to note that the "expert" dismissed the importance of home humidity during winter months, and of course pins the blame on installation conditions. It is almost as if he read your article in that he claimed the problem was due to excess humidity at time of installation speculatively based on:
1. assumed concrete in basement was done "after" wood floors was in the house.
2. humidity released by paint drying at time floor was installed;
3. failure to verify humidity of floors at time of installation;
4. inferior holding ability of staples versus nails;
5. recommended vapor barriers under all wooden floors (not a coding requirement).

Item 1 - 3 are false since the wood was conditioned and the house was at correct humidity level when floor was installed. I was hoping you could comment on item 4: Staples vs nails..are they equivalent or is one better. Also, item 5, in my opinion is false also. The expert speculates that excess humidity from the basement cause the wood to warp during installation and that a vapor barrier is required to protect against that. In a fully built home, humidity should be balanced across the whole home.

Anyhow, off to court in a few weeks (yup... 2 yrs later) and we will see how it goes.

Mike

I recently purchased engineered hickory hardwood for my kitchen floor. Is there any way to install the floor , that will prevent, liquids split on the floor from falling between the boards. If not how would you get spilled milk out from under the floor. Did I buy the wrong type of flooring material?
thanks for your advise.
Joy

I have a home that was built in the '40's with oak flooring. Most is covered by carpeting. I am wanting to pull the carpeting and enjoy the wood floors. I have done this in one of the room. The wood was in good shape. I cleaned the floor and rewaxed it, this room requires frequent rewaxing, not something I want to continue doing especially throughout the entire house! You mentioned "screening" can you tell me more about this for the DIY? My hope is there is an easier answer than sanding with the power sander. I am wanting to remove the wax and finish with poly. Any ideas for procedures and product recommendations?

I recently finished sanding my hardwood floors. We are currently washing down the walls to remove all the dust so we can stain and apply the polyurathane. Last night during a rain storm and high humidity, it looks as if someone sprayed water on the floor. In one corner of the room (close to the patio door), the floor was pretty damp. The walls and ceiling are completely dry. Could the wood soak up that much water from the humidity to where it looked and felt damp? I plugged in a dehumidifier last night and it took in water fairly quickly. Also, we are not living in the house right now so there arent any windows and doors open or air conditioning running. Would that make the situation worse?

Thanks!
DJ