I have about 600 SF of prefinished 3/4 x 3-1/2 red oak flooring stocked upstairs waiting for installation. It has a stain + poly finish from the factory, both sides, both ends, both edges of every piece. The day it arrived I opened a few boxes and it meters at 5% MC. Subfloor is at 10% MC. After 3 weeks there has been absolutely no change in that 5% reading, none at all, even for pieces that are simply leaning against the wall with nothing around them. I’m prepared to wait a while longer, as I’d rather have a 2 percentage point difference at most. Anyone else had to wait this stuff out?
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Must be the dry winter weather in WA.
I've got an idea. Cover the subfloor with poly, and run one of those kid's sickroom humidifiers for a while and see if that helps the boards.
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>>Must be the dry winter weather in WA.
The material is sold by a Canadian company that's not far from here, but it's manufactured in China. I was a little surprised when saw that on the boxes. Inside the boxes, the material is wrapped in thin layers of foam sheeting, which would no doubt inhibit moisture changes quite well. I assume that raw logs were shipped to China where they were sawn, milled, dried, etc. and that the low MC is from that stage.
I suppose I could add humidity to the room, but I think there's already plenty there and what I'm seeing is that the finish really slows any changes in MC. The room is about 22 feet wide so even a 1% increase in the total width of the installed floor would be disastrous. This install may wait a long time.
<< it meters at 5% MC. Subfloor is at 10% MC. After 3 weeks there has been absolutely no change in that 5% reading>>>
Accuracy falls off quickly at the lo range, maybe you are closer to that recommended 4% difference than you think.
I had the same problem 3 years ago, no change in MC after the 3/4 prefinished flooring sat out for almost a month. Gave up and installed it and so far no problems.