Hoping someone can advise me. I’m in central FL and have a laminate floor job coming up. I delivered the materials to the home three months ago. For some reason the owners didn’t want it installed right away, let’s wait a few months they said. No problem, says I. They contact me last week, you can go ahead and install it- call our neighbors across the street, they’ll let you in. No one’s been living there for the last three months apparently. I don’t think the AC has been running at all.
Should I be concerned that when they get back (don’t know when) and start running the AC that my install will have any problems? It’ll be going from hot and humid (as has been stored for months), to cool and dry (when they come back). There will be expansion joints but I’d imagine they’d apply more when the opposite is true.
Any advice, or am I worried about nothing…maybe I should turn the air on a couple days before? Thanks if anyone can help-
Mike
Replies
Turn on the a/c as soon as possible. Go in the house and open all the packages, spread the material around as much as possible. Just leaving the material in the boxes with the a/c running is not good enough cuz the air needs to circulate.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
While I agree that the a/c should be on asap, I would disagree with opening all the packages. Most mfrs now have 'breathable' plastic wrap, so the only thing that opening them would do would be ruining your changes at returning them.
More importantly would be to check the house moisture content with a moisture meter and be should it is within 4% points of the house. Also, stack the packages 'log cabin style' to get greater acclimation faster. A couple of fans/dehumidfiers would also help. Good luck!
I have installed quite a bit of laminate flooring here in Arizona where the whether changes often. I wouldn't be to afraid of the floor doing any mess-ups. Just make sure you leave about 1/4" gap between the walls and the flooring (this get's covered with base board, as you probably already know). It would be a good idea to run the AC a few days before the installation, but spreading all the flooring around isn't nessesary.
-Josiah
What happens when you complete the job and leave and turn the A/C off for the next 3 months?
http://grungefm.com
that's where the expansion joints come in
What I'm worried about is small gaps that might appear when the AC comes back on and the indoor humidity gets back to normal.
So far, everyone's for the AC. It really makes the most sense.
Thanks for the opinions. I'm going to turn it on.
You all know I'm really just trying to find an excuse not to work in a hot, stuffy house ;)