How to Measure Wood Moisture Content in Flooring
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Time to read 4 min
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Time to read 4 min
Wood flooring can add a beautiful touch to any home and turn a commercial space into a masterpiece. Unlike some flooring materials though, wood is highly susceptible to the environment it is in. That can lead to excess moisture in wood that makes installation and longevity of the floor a potential problem.
While trees do perfectly fine out in the wild when they get wet, your wood flooring material doesn’t fare so well when the moisture content is off. Use this guide to learn more about why wood moisture content matters during a building or renovation project. You’ll also learn how to properly check that the wood you’re using is in the right range for installation.
Moisture content, in the simplest terms, is the amount of water that a piece of wood flooring material contains . For example, when a freshly sawn piece of wood is weighed, it may come in at 40-pounds. During the drying process, that piece of wood could easily lose 60% of its weight.
Of course, there is still moisture in any piece of wood that you intend to put down on the floor. In fact, even wood that is properly installed will vary in terms of moisture content with the weather, seasons and general indoor conditions. Since wood is porous, this is natural, and as long as the wood stays in a healthy moisture range, your wood planks and boards won’t look any worse because of these minor fluctuations.
The concept of wood moisture content might not seem important to you if you’re buying wood flooring material to install in your home or commercial space. After all, that wood has already been kiln-dried in most cases, right? Yes, but wood moisture content still matters.
If wood with the wrong moisture content is installed, your floors could warp, crack, cup or shrink over time. This can lead to a dramatic reduction in the life of your wooden floors. It can also be a costly mistake that could require replacing portions or all your wood floors way before their lifespan should be up.
Simply inspecting a piece of wood or touching it with your bare hand won’t tell you much about the moisture content of that particular plank or board. To know the moisture content of your wood flooring material, you’ll need a special tool called a moisture meter.
For wood flooring, you’ll want to look for a moisture meter made specifically for wood use. A concrete moisture meter won’t give a proper reading that you can trust. Here are the two main types of wood moisture meters used for hardwood floor installation jobs.
You’ve got your wood, your meter and you’re all ready to go, right? Here’s a quick guide to help you figure out whether your wood is ready for installation based on the relative humidity of your region:
• 18-25% humidity: 5% wood moisture content
• 25-32% humidity: 6% wood moisture content
• 32-39% humidity: 7% wood moisture content
• 39-46% humidity: 8% wood moisture content
• 46-55% humidity: 9% wood moisture content
Except in the case of exterior wood installations, where moisture content levels of up to 14% are generally safe, using wood with more than 9% moisture is not advisable. Reducing indoor humidity to around 50% is preferable.
This gives a more accurate reading if both sides are flat.
Ready to dig a little deeper and learn more about how moisture can affect wood flooring? Check out our blog post all about the ongoing battle between moisture and wood in commercial and residential spaces.
You can also reach out to our skilled, knowledgeable representatives to learn more about wood flooring. We can even help you better understand the process of getting your wood flooring material acclimated to a new environment to make installation as smooth as possible.