What Contractors Need to Know About Wood Flooring Acclimation

Temperature & Humidity: The Silent Killers of Wood Flooring Projects

Wood flooring can be temperamental. It shrinks, expands, warps, fades and cracks. Many installers avoid it for these reasons, but at Intertech, we love working with wood flooring – installing it, finishing and refinishing it, and basking in its natural, long-lasting beauty.

The secret to successful wood floor installation? Understanding wood flooring acclimation. Wood doesn’t work with you; you work with wood. It’s the boss, and respecting its relationship with temperature and humidity is non-negotiable.

Why Wood Flooring Needs Time to Adjust

Think of wood as a living, breathing material that constantly reacts to its environment. Even after it’s been milled and finished, wood continues to absorb and release moisture in response to the air around it. This ongoing relationship with moisture is what makes proper acclimation so critical.

When wood flooring arrives at a job site, it’s been living in a different environment – whether that’s a climate-controlled warehouse or a truck traveling across the United States or from abroad. We source from around the world to obtain certain woods. Your building has its own unique temperature and humidity levels. Before installation, the wood needs time to reach what’s called equilibrium moisture content, where it’s perfectly balanced with its new surroundings.

Skip this step, and you’re gambling with your project. We’ve seen beautiful installations buckle, gap, and cup because someone rushed the acclimation process. Those are expensive mistakes that impact not just the project’s bottom line but also the contractor’s and their client’s reputations.

“Proper acclimation is critical, but it can’t fix problems that start at the source. Sourcing wood from manufacturers with questionable standards, particularly for laminated hardwoods, can lead to failures that no amount of careful installation can prevent. Exotic doesn’t mean quality.”

– Bill Imhoff, CEO Intertech Flooring

Before the Wood Even Arrives: Setting the Stage

Here’s something that surprises many project managers – successful wood floor installation begins before the flooring even arrives at your site. In fact, we won’t deliver materials until several critical conditions are met.

All wet work must be finished and dry. That includes concrete pours, ceramic tile, epoxy applications, sealed concrete, and drywall work. Each of these introduces moisture into your building, and that moisture needs time to dissipate.

Your building needs to be fully enclosed and weather-tight, with all windows and doors installed. You can’t control the indoor environment if the outdoors keeps sneaking in.
The permanent HVAC system should be running for at least five to seven days before flooring materials arrive. This isn’t just about comfort; it’s about creating stable conditions that allow the wood to acclimate properly.

Target conditions are straightforward: maintain consistent temperature between 60°F and 80°F, with relative humidity between 30% and 50%. These aren’t arbitrary numbers. They represent the sweet spot where wood remains stable and installation problems are minimized.

Testing: The Non-Negotiable Step

Once conditions are right and materials have arrived, testing begins. A moisture meter becomes your essential tool for verifying moisture content. These devices come in two types: pin-type meters that measure electrical resistance by inserting pins into the wood, and pinless meters that use electromagnetic signals to scan surfaces without causing damage.

Testing the Subfloor

For wood subfloors, take multiple readings across the entire surface. The moisture content should be no higher than 12%. The wood flooring’s moisture content should be within 2% to 4% of the wood subfloor’s moisture content.

Concrete slabs require a different approach. Use an in-situ probe test (ASTM F-2170) to measure relative humidity within the slab itself. The concrete slab’s relative humidity should not exceed the flooring manufacturer’s recommendation, typically 75%.

Testing the Wood Flooring

Upon delivery, immediately use a moisture meter to get baseline readings on the wood flooring. For accurate results, test at least 40 boards for every 1,000 square feet.
Compare these readings with your subfloor measurements. The flooring’s moisture content should be within 2% of the subfloor’s moisture content before installation begins. Depending on the season and consistency of climate control, reaching this balance can take anywhere from 24 hours to seven days.

The Acclimation Process: Patience Pays Off

Remove the wood flooring from its packaging and cross-stack the boards with spacers between them. This allows air to circulate evenly around each board, helping them adjust to the room’s conditions.

How long does this take? That’s the wrong question. The right question is: when will the wood reach equilibrium with the subfloor and ambient conditions? This process is based on testing, not a preset timeline. Depending on the season and consistency of climate control, acclimation typically takes two to seven days.

Continue testing moisture content regularly until readings stabilize and match the subfloor. Only then is the wood ready for installation.

Texas Climate: Why Acclimation Is Even More Critical Here

Texas presents unique challenges for wood flooring acclimation. Our climate swings can be dramatic – scorching summers with intense air conditioning demands, followed by cooler winters with heating systems running full blast. The Rio Grande Valley brings subtropical humidity, while West Texas offers desert-dry conditions. Central Texas sits somewhere in between, with the added challenge of sudden weather changes.

These extremes mean wood flooring arriving in Texas during summer might be battling both outdoor heat and aggressive indoor air conditioning. In winter, heating systems can create desert-like indoor conditions even when it’s cold and damp outside. The wood needs time to adjust to these often-radical differences between outdoor conditions during transport and your building’s controlled environment.

Projects in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley require extra attention during humid months. Higher moisture levels in the air mean acclimation often takes longer as the wood releases excess moisture. Conversely, projects in air-conditioned office buildings during peak summer may need additional humidification to prevent the wood from drying out too quickly.

Don’t assume that because wood flooring was manufactured or stored in Texas, it’s already acclimated. Each building creates its own microclimate, and that specific environment is what matters for successful installation.

Pre-Installation Checklist: Don’t Start Until These Conditions Are Met

Before installation begins, verify every item on this list:

• The building is completely enclosed, with all exterior doors and windows installed
• All wet construction work is finished and thoroughly dried (concrete, drywall, paint, ceramic, epoxy)
• The permanent HVAC system has been running continuously for at least 5-7 days
• Temperature is stable between 60°F and 80°F throughout the installation area
• Relative humidity is stable between 30% and 50%
• Wood subfloor moisture content is 12% or lower
• Concrete slab relative humidity is within manufacturer specifications (typically 75% or lower)
• Wood flooring has been delivered and unpacked for acclimation
• Wood flooring moisture content is within 2% of the subfloor moisture content
• A minimum of 40 boards per 1,000 square feet have been tested with a moisture meter
• Cross-stacked boards with spacers are in place, allowing air circulation
• The acclimation period of 2-7 days (based on testing) has been completed
• Final moisture readings confirm equilibrium has been reached

If you can’t check every box, don’t start installation. The time spent waiting now prevents expensive repairs later.

Common Acclimation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Mistake 1: Delivering Materials Too Early

Some project managers want materials on-site as soon as possible, even before the building is ready. Wood sitting in an unsealed building or one without climate control can absorb moisture from wet construction or be damaged by temperature extremes.

Solution: Keep materials in climate-controlled storage until your building meets all pre-installation requirements.

Mistake 2: Leaving Wood in Packaging

Stacking boxed or wrapped wood flooring in a corner and calling it “acclimation” doesn’t work. Air can’t circulate around boards that are tightly packed.

Solution: Remove packaging and cross-stack boards with spacers between them so air reaches all surfaces.

Mistake 3: Trusting Time Instead of Testing

Assuming “three days should be enough” ignores the reality that acclimation depends on conditions, not calendars. Wood might reach equilibrium in 48 hours under ideal conditions or need a full week in challenging environments.

Solution: Test, don’t guess. Continue moisture testing until readings stabilize and match the subfloor.

Mistake 4: Testing Too Few Boards

Taking readings from just a handful of boards gives you incomplete data. Moisture content can vary significantly across a shipment.

Solution: Test at least 40 boards per 1,000 square feet for accurate baseline data.

Mistake 5: Ignoring HVAC Consistency

Running the HVAC system intermittently or adjusting it dramatically during acclimation creates moving targets. The wood can’t reach equilibrium if conditions keep changing.

Solution: Maintain consistent HVAC operation at the temperature and humidity levels you’ll use after installation is complete.

Mistake 6: Skipping Subfloor Testing

Focusing only on the wood flooring while ignoring subfloor moisture is like checking half the equation. If your subfloor is too wet, it doesn’t matter how well-acclimated your wood flooring is.

Solution: Always test both the subfloor and the flooring materials, and verify they’re within 2% of each other.

Mistake 7: Installing During Extreme Weather Events

Trying to install wood flooring during a week of heavy rain, extreme heat or dramatic cold fronts makes maintaining stable conditions nearly impossible.

Solution: Plan installation during stable weather periods when HVAC systems can maintain consistent indoor conditions.

After Installation: The Work Isn’t Over

Once your beautiful wood floor is installed, ongoing monitoring protects your investment. Keep a hygrometer in the space to track relative humidity continuously.

During humid Texas summers, use dehumidifiers or air conditioning to remove excess moisture. In drier months, humidifiers add moisture back into the air, preventing the wood from shrinking and creating gaps. The goal is consistency – avoid extreme fluctuations that cause cracking and warping.

Clean spills immediately. Place mats in high-traffic and high-moisture areas. Use dry or slightly damp cloths for cleaning; never wet-mop a wood floor.

Consider applying a protective sealant to create a moisture-resistant barrier on the wood surface. Talk with your manufacturer about their recommendations for application and reapplication schedules.

Regularly inspect for signs of moisture-related issues like cupping, crowning, buckling or gaps.

Advanced Monitoring for High-Stakes Projects

For high-end installations or projects in challenging environments, consider installing in-floor sensors that monitor temperature and relative humidity in real-time. These systems can send alerts directly to your smartphone if conditions drift outside the acceptable range, allowing you to address problems before they damage the floor.

The Intertech Difference

We’ve installed and refinished hundreds of wood floors across Texas, from basketball arenas to corporate offices. Our experience has taught us that shortcuts in acclimation create headaches down the road. The few extra days appropriately spent preparing and acclimating wood flooring save weeks of potential repairs and the frustration of failing installations.

When we say wood is the boss, we mean it. But with the right knowledge, proper testing and patient acclimation, wood flooring delivers timeless beauty that stands the test of time.

Looking for flooring experts who understand the science behind beautiful wood floors? Let our experience be your advantage.