Acclimating hardwood without air conditioning

10 years ago

We are installing R&Q oak over radiant heat panels. We don't have air conditioning (yet) and won't have it for at least a few weeks. Because the humidity was up in the 80% range, I rented large commercial dehumidifiers that brought the humidity down to about 40. The contractor is getting impatient and had the flooring delivered. I has been acclimating for 5 days. He wanted to start installing it tomorrow. I asked him to wait a few more days but I really don't know what to do. We will eventually have A/C, although we are not fond of it and won't use it all day everyday unless it's really hot. My question is whether we can even hope to install the flooring without A/C running. With the dehumidifiers, it's far dryer than I'd ever want for real life. What the best way to acclimate this floor and must installation wait until the air conditioning is in? Thanks.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

gregmills_gw
10 years ago
Didnt you post this exact same question last week?
ellessebee
Original Author
10 years ago
Yes - I apologize for the duplicate post. My browser got hung up and when I refreshed the page it reposted.
Related Professionals
Chula Vista Flooring Contractors · Elkridge Flooring Contractors · Ken Caryl Flooring Contractors · Murfreesboro Flooring Contractors · North Hollywood Flooring Contractors · Toledo Flooring Contractors · Waterbury Flooring Contractors · Waunakee Flooring Contractors · Woodbridge Flooring Contractors · Thibodaux Flooring Contractors · Hillsboro General Contractors · Jacinto City General Contractors · Montclair General Contractors · Prichard General Contractors · Roseburg General Contractors
gregmills_gw
10 years ago
Its all good. Did you get your floor installed?
grout_guru325
10 years ago
Since you're installing the hardwood over radiant heat panels, I would assume that the planks are engineered rather than the solid variety. This will save you a lot of headaches, as engineered wood doesn't have to acclimate for as long as solid hardwood needs to. In an ideal world, I would wait until you have A/C before installing the wood. I would also be extra cautious if your contractor is getting impatient. If he wanted to do the job correctly instead of quickly, he would not be hurrying to install it if it's not even acclimating to the temperature and humidity that will be the norm once the A/C is installed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Talks a little bit more about acclimation
ellessebee
Original Author
10 years ago
No, it's actually quarter sawn in the main living areas and rift & quartered in the bedrooms, not an engineered product. The planks are under 2-1/2". I insisted on this flooring because of the heating, despite my contractor's pleas to use a wider board that he could get for a better price and would go down faster and easier. I didn't want engineered wood because of the bevels. The hardwood been sitting in the house for about 10 days and the humidity has been maintained using dehumidifiers - first down to about 40% with large rented commercial machines and then as we moved them out and replaced them with smaller residential machines the RH has risen to as high as 60% on humid days. We just can't wait for the AC which will take another 10 days at least (because of a contractor snafu). We are all impatient and the building permit expires in a few weeks after which it will cost me another $6000 to renew. It was supposed to be a 6-month renovation project that is nearing its first anniversary. I have reconciled to the fact that 60% relative humidity is about where we would keep it with or without AC running and being energy conscious, we would not run the AC as much as others might so our floor might be a little wavy anyway. Rationalization, I know, and I'm sure I'll be posting about how to deal with that situation at which point I'll chalk it up to having a "rustic" floor. This project started as a dream house and turned into a nightmare. I'm trying to make the best of it. Thanks to everyone on the Garden Web for advice and help.