Acclimatisation question

[AndersonC]

Bit of a mouthful that title!!

Amongst other things, I'm a bit confused regarding acclimatising solid oak 18mmx120mm.

I have 4 days and nights for the wood to acclimatise before blind nailing it.

Should I turn off the radiator in the room at first then turn it on after a couple of days to allow the wood to be gradually brought up to the room's radiator-heated temperature? (although some of the floor will be laid in front of an open fire which will be hotter)

Should I remove the plastic packaging to enable the wood to reach an equilibrium humidity level?

Any advice appreciated, many thanks.

 

[mattysupra]

I would always suggest a couple of weeks to acclimatise in the area the flooring is to be fitted. This is because you don't know how the wood has been stored before you brought it. Unless you have a wood moister meter you have no way of telling if the wood has acclimatized to its new home. I have been on many complaints where the flooring has shrunk like made after fitting. When we moister test the flooring on these complaints the flooring always reads next to perfect to its surroundings. This means it was fitted with to much moister in it. We can always trace the problem back to suppliers storing the wood in un-heated and not weather proof sheds. ( like a cattle shed) Don't get me wrong here tho. Your flooring may of been stored correct and be close to the correct moister level for your house. ( better to be safe than sorry)

As for your next question, well its not the heat that is the problem but the moister in the air. You should treat the room as if you live in it every day. You should have the room heated etc before you fit the flooring as well, (while acclimatizing ) To many people turn rads off and have wet works done before the flooring gets fitted. This makes the humidity of the room go up more than normal. Then people leave there wood to acclimatise in the area which is wetter than normal.

Read the acclimatising instructions on your wood to see if you should remove the packing. Different manufacturers recommend different things.

 

[AndersonC]

Again Matty, many thanks. You're a wealth of information.