For those of you who have stepped in an older home with wood floors, you’ve probably heard a squeaky floor. It can be quaint and charming, it may even remind you of Grandma’s house. But for those living in the house hearing the squeaking all the time, it may be a nuisance and you really …
Category: Cleaning & Maintenance
Troubleshooting Your Humidifier
Maintaining your wood floors also means knowing a little about humidifier maintenance. 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 …
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. When floors squeak and creak it’s usually a result of movement caused by a low RH. Installation problems are also very prevalent when the RH is off in a home. Remember my story about installing …
Why Should I Buy A Humidifier?
In most areas of the U.S., it is just not possible to keep indoor relative humidity levels where they need to be for wood flooring without a whole home humidifier. If you’re seeing gaps and hearing squeaks in the colder months, it is probably because the RH levels in your home are not where they …
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 …
Why a whole home humidifier is important for homes with wood flooring
We want to pass on a video from Aprilaire that explains how wood flooring failures can be prevented through moisture control. We are approaching the dry season in many of the markets that we serve, and it is important that moisture control, especially as it relates to keeping homes at a consistent relative humidity level …
Your Floor Cleaning Guide
With proper care, wood floors can be beautiful, durable, and timeless. We always recommend following the manufacturer recommendations for cleaning and maintenance. We have also put together these general guidelines to keep your urethane-based finished hardwood floors in excellent condition for many years. To learn more about cleaning and maintenance, go to our full guide …
Dry Winter = Dry Floor
A dry winter (even if it snows a lot) will always cause a dry floor. Why does this happen? Wood is hygroscopic and seeks to be in equilibrium with the environment it is in. Practically, this means that wood flooring will absorb moisture when there is an excess of it in the air surrounding it. …