Natural Expansion of Wood Flooring

Hard wood flooring is one of the most sought-after materials for residential and commercial developments. Not only does oak look great, it's also very durable and is easy to maintain. If you've been thinking of adding oak wood flooring to your home or office, it’s important to understand how it reacts to changes in temperature and humidity. In this blog post, we’ll explore the natural expansion and contraction of hardwood flooring, including how moisture levels, humidity, and heat play a role in how the flooring will move over the course of its life.

Moisture Levels

Moisture is the biggest factor that affects the expansion and contraction of hardwood flooring. Hardwood flooring is hydroscopic, which means it will change dimensions depending on an increase or decrease of moisture within the product, which will slight change the sizes of the product at a given time. Wood is susceptible to moisture absorption, which leads to swelling. This means that hardwood flooring will expand, and contract based on the moisture levels in the air and in the subfloor.

Therefore, we always suggest when cleaning your real wood floor, you only use a slightly moist microfibre mop, rather than a backet of water with a traditional mop. Steam mops should not be used on real wood flooring. We would also recommend depending on your subfloor installing a suitable moisture barrier, to help prevent any condensation on your sub-floor rising into the back of your wood flooring.

Humidity

Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air, and it can greatly impact the expansion and contraction of hardwood flooring. High humidity levels can cause hardwood flooring to swell and expand, while low humidity levels can cause the flooring to contract and shrink.

To prevent excessive expansion and contraction due to humidity, it’s recommended to maintain a relative humidity in accordance to manufacturers guidelines. This can be achieved by using a humidifier / dehumidifier, and by monitoring the humidity levels regularly.

Heat

Heat is another factor that can affect the expansion and contraction of hardwood flooring. In a similar way to moisture and humidity, the large increase and decrease in temperatures will effect the amount of moisture within your flooring, with warmer temperatures potentially drying out your floor. This means that hardwood flooring can be affected by changes in temperature throughout the year, such as those that occur in the summer and winter.

To minimize the effects of temperature on hardwood flooring, it’s important to regulate the temperature in the home and avoid exposing the flooring to extreme temperatures.

In conclusion, the natural expansion and contraction of hardwood flooring is a natural occurrence that is caused by changes in moisture levels, humidity, and heat. By understanding these factors and taking steps to regulate them, you can help to minimise the effects of expansion and contraction on your hardwood flooring and maintain its beauty for years to come.

Wood Flooring Products:

Different wood flooring products are less likely to expand or contract under fluctuating environmental conditions. The two main types are solid wood flooring and engineered wood flooring. Solid wood flooring is more likely to expand and contract, and more care should be taken when installing solid wood, it should not be put into a conservatory for the above reasons.

Engineered hardwood flooring does naturally have my dimensional stability under different environmental conditions, making it less likely to buckle or warp. This is due to the nature of its manufacture, using sheets of plywood bonded at different angles to make up its core, this prevents as much movement in the boards compared to a solid wood board. This makes engineered hardwood a more versatile flooring product than solid wood and is suitable to put in different rooms such as conservatories as a result.

Timba’s Tip’s

• Always ensure that you acclimatise your flooring prior to installation. This allows the flooring to find its new equilibrium, making it less prone to the extremes of expansion and contraction. Please follow the manufacturer's instructions for the acclimatisation period.

• Always ensure that you have left the necessary expansion gaps around the perimeter of the room and under your door frames. This will decrease the likelihood of springing floorboards where they are catching a wall or door frame.

• Remember that you should use door thresholds to separate the flooring within different rooms, even if the same floor is being used in multiple areas. This will help to reduce the potential problems of expansion between multiple rooms if your floor is catching a wall or door frame in one particular area.

• Always check the humidity and sub floor moisture levels prior to installation. It is important to make sure that your new floor goes onto the perfect subfloor from the start, increasing the longevity of the floor.