I bought 400 sf of 3″ cherry strip flooring about three months ago and have had it stacked and stickered in the room into which it will be installed since then hoping to get the moisture to equilibriate. I figured I waited long enough but decided to get a moisture meter just to make sure. My underlayment (been in place for years) is at 16% and the flooring is only in the 8% to 10% range. How much longer will I have to wait or can I install it anyway without too much problem (assuming I allow for any potential future expansion)?
We live about a mile from the ocean so it is always very damp here (relative humidity inside the house often 75% or higher) and I have a 6 mil vapor barrier on the crawl space under the subfloor.
Any advice is appreciated.
Replies
Fred,
Flooring should be within 10 pts. of the subfloor (NWFA and NOFMA guidlines), so you should be good to go with installing now.
HOWEVER: Acclimation needs to be done under "Normal Living Conditions". Many people, contractors especially, acclimate flooring while the hvac is off which doesn't meet the definition of 'acclimation'.
Given the fact that you are in a humid enviroment and the flooring is reading 8% vs. 16% subfloor you must allow for expansion of the flooring by leaving as much expansion joint as possible around the perimeter of the room. Nothing less than 1/2" and 3/4" is better.
Use a vapor retarder beneath the flooring, given the close proximity to the ocean and the fact that the house sits on a crawl space, I would use 30# felt paper overlapped 2".
I would also wait a week or so between install and sand and finish, just in case the floor experiences a little cupping it can be sanded flat.