Do Wood Floors Shrink In Winter Or Summer

Excess humidity in the summer can cause the wood planks to.

Do wood floors shrink in winter or summer. For example in the northwest winters are humid and summers are dry so wood exposed to those conditions would swell in winter and shrink in summer. But at some point in the fall we turn the heat on and bake these floors to desert dryness. Customers begin to notice gaps between boards and the phone calls begin. Then the colder winter months rolls around you close your home up tight and crank up the heat.

Hardwood floors do not shrink consistently in all directions. This expansion and contraction can result in the flooring coming loose from the subfloor. Scratches from snow melting materials and flooring gaps are some of the biggest problems that people with hardwood floors have to worry about. This causes the wood to shrink.

The rule of swelling in summer and shrinking in winter might work where you live but it can be the opposite in other places. Especially when we keep the windows open higher humidity can cause wood floors to swell up and close all the gaps between boards. When you do this the humidity level in your home drops and the wood in your floor releases the moisture it s been holding and it begins to contract and shrink. In the summer you should be using a dehumidifier regularly.

But in most areas winter also means cold weather snow and damage to wood floors. Here are some tips on how to keep your floors in tip top shape this summer. The humidity level inside our homes plummets. The winter months bring holiday cheer.

Symptoms of wood floor winter humidity. Hardwood floors and humidity. That s when you start to see gaps forming. When humidity levels decrease the boards will shrink more from side to side than end to end.

These extremes on solid wood will cause the wood to reach an equilibrium moisture content of as high as 14 in the summer and as little as 5 in the dead of winter. If the indoor relative humidity is above 60 you should use an air conditioner to dry out the air. An un humidified house can easily reach a 25 level in the middle of winter. In the puget sound region where we live the average outside relative humidity ranges from 65 to 80 percent in the summer which is high compared to winter indoor air.

And with summer there are a few things you might need to know about how humidity can affect hardwood and laminate flooring. During the winter even the most carefully installed wood floors tend to dry out and shrink. That said a hickory wood floor will expand and shrink more than a red oak floor with humidity swings. Glued floors come loose or the nails pull loose.

Also sudden temperature or moisture humidity changes will affect expansion and contraction changes.