Wine, cigars and wood: three very expensive items in your home that require very specific environments to stay in tip-top shape. A grand piano, essentially a fine piece of wood work, will go out or tune or have a damaged exterior with the wrong humidity levels. If you want perfect performance of your woodwork, you …
About the Author: Bryan Hunsberger
Articles Written by Bryan Hunsberger
Fix the Dry: Getting the Right Humidifier
If you haven’t noticed, the issue of relevant humidity (RH) is a big deal when it comes to wood flooring. Remember my story about installing some Ipe in my house? You might read about it here before proceeding. This is the humidifier I was using at that infamous time when my floor shrank, and when I …
Winter is Near: Drier than the Sahara
Last week I wrote about how the relative humidity of indoor air is affected by temperature, and that it is feasible for RH levels to drop to as low as 7% during the winter. I had this thought, but if you have a home at 7% RH, would it be drier than the Sahara desert? …
35 and Raining
It’s 35 degrees outside and raining. That’s basically the most miserable weather scenario I can think of. Too warm to be snowing, too cold and miserable to be outside; cloudy, dark, and raining. Yuck. Hope your HVAC humidifier is running. Otherwise you’ll be dry as a bone inside. Now hold up a second there you …
Winter is Near: Bring on the Heat!
After six weeks of acclimation, a moisture reading of 6.5% after installation, I saw gaps in my new Sappy Ipe flooring – 12 hours after turning on the heat in my house. What on earth had happened? In the next post, I’ll talk more about how winter heating cycles create the driest conditions in homes …
Using the Right Moisture Meter
Anyone who has sold hardwood flooring for any period of time eventually asks this question: how do I choose the right moisture meter? With all the options available and the technical expertise needed to use one, it can be a confusing subject. But, we have great news: it doesn’t have to be confusing! First, it …