How Does Humidity Affect Wood Flooring?
Wood flooring is one of the easiest types of flooring to maintain. Get a decent one laid down, and it will often be much longer-lasting than carpets or vinyl. While wood will work wonders, one of the biggest drawbacks of any wood floor type is moisture sensitivity.
Laminate flooring, solid wood, and even engineered flooring are all vulnerable to moisture. It isn't that a spill every once in a while will do anything, but a significant increase in humidity can severely affect wood floors.
When floors aren't cared for, a little buckling here and there can be common. Let's look at why humidity can cause issues, and some practical steps you can take when buying new wood flooring to keep humidity at bay.
What is the ideal humidity level for wood flooring?
Depending on your floor type, manufacturers will recommend that humidity is kept between 40-70%RH (Relative Humidity). Typical weather in this part of the world never sees too much fluctuation (we tend to dip lower in the colder months).
On the rare chance we get a more humid summer, floors will want to expand. It isn't common, but a humid summer can cause your floor to fall outside the manufacturer's guidelines, which can affect your warranty.
Visualising what is happening when rooms get humid
How does a floor end up with splitting and buckling? A good through-line to explaining the problem would be hanging up clothes after a wash. You put clothes on the clothes line and wait for them to dry. That moisture has to go somewhere. It's such a negligible amount that you don't notice it, as that moisture can easily get into the air.
Now imagine you want to hang your clothes up, but need to stuff them under your floorboards. You know the clothes will never dry because there's no space for moisture to escape. That's what happens with floors that have water trapped. Water needs to find the path of least resistance to escape through the floor.
What can happen flooring when humidity is too high?
High humidity can affect your floor because each board expands as it absorbs more moisture from the air. This results in wooden floorboards taking on part of that moisture and growing in size. All boards are expected to change size along with the weather (that's why it is so important to have expansion gaps), but when they cannot expand any further, it can push the wood flooring upwards, creating a bounce. This is called peaking or buckling.
However, all is not lost. There are many steps you can take to ensure hot and humid weather won't cause a flooring disaster in your home. It all starts the second your flooring is delivered.
If your Floor is not Fitted yet.
Acclimatise Your Flooring
Your floor needs to adapt to your home's humidity, which varies by room. Your living room will always be slightly different to the upstairs bathroom, your kitchen will be different to your bedroom, and so on. When any new wooden flooring is delivered, leave it in the room it'll be installed in for a few days. Manufacturers usually leave a rough time on the label for how long acclimatisation takes.
Read our guide to acclimatising laminate flooring for more information.
Leave Expansion Everywhere
As the seasons change, floors will subtly expand and contract. They always do so horizontally, so you need to leave space around the edge of your room, which your skirting can hide.
It isn't that big a gap. Typical expansion gaps are 10-12mm. Don't just leave them on the walls. Your wood floor should not touch anything around the perimeter. Just one obstacle can cause your Floor to rise if it cannot expand. In higher humidity, the risk of this can be increased. That's why it is common to find floors buckling near doors or large/heavy appliances.
You can read more about expansion gaps in our article - Wood Flooring Expansion Gaps.
Large Areas
The bigger an area, the more it will expand. Most manufacturers don't recommend installing floors past 7m in one direction. Some solid woods are limited to 5m. This includes between rooms. If you are planning a large install, talk to your floor fitter about hidden expansion gaps, floating saddles and increased expansion. It can help to ensure that the increased movement in a large installation is no problem.
After Installation
If your wood or laminate Floor has already been installed, you can assume that everything is going fine. If, for example, you're replacing skirting or threshold strips and notice that the flooring has no gap, there are a few joins that aren't flat, etc., you can get on top of it by doing the following:
Use a Dehumidifier
When a dehumidifier is set to automatic, it removes excess moisture from the air. This will greatly reduce the amount of moisture your wood flooring will absorb. Most automatic settings will maintain humidity at around 50% RH. If it's a room you hang washing in, and don't often have the window open in colder months, knock it down to 30%-40%.
Ensure Extractor Fans Are Working
Steam can add a lot of extra unwanted moisture to your home. If you have wood or laminate in a bathroom or toilet, ensure the extractor fans are working properly. This also applies to kitchens where appliances such as dryers, ovens, hob extractors, etc., are near wooden floors.
Check Your Ventilation
Find out which type of ventilation your home has and ensure it is working without obstruction. You will most commonly find trickle vents in windows. Ensure they are opened and not blocked. Another common type is ventilation in brick or blockwork. It is important to check that these are not blocked. If you cannot find any type of ventilation, keeping windows open as much as possible is a great way to lower humidity in a room.
Turn on the Heating
You may not want to do this during the summer, but ensure that all rooms are receiving at least a little heat when the temperature drops. This will help to dry out more humid air.
Need help with wooden floors?
Whether you're replacing problem flooring in a room, are changing floor types, or know humidity is an issue but want flooring that can handle it, feel free to contact our team of experts at Wood Floor Warehouse.