For you to enjoy the natural beauty of wood flooring for years to come, it’s the responsibility of a consumer like you to learn about the most common mistakes or pitfalls that you should avoid when having wood flooring installed in one or more of your rooms. Here are some of them:
1. Wet Concrete Slabs. Ensure appropriate moisture barriers as well as sufficient curing times at the time of installation. Letting your wood flooring be installed on wet concrete slabs is such a bad idea because the continuously released moisture from the wet slabs would destroy the alignment of wood floors. To be sure, make use of moisture barriers and adequately cure the concrete slabs so moisture would not be produced any longer.
2. Inappropriate ventilation and heating. The damage on wood floors caused by the improper movement of air inside the room can get worse than what you can imagine. To prevent this pitfall, run the humidity and heating control systems before the wood flooring is installed. Make sure that the relative humidity of the room is about 35 percent to 60 percent, because this range was the one used when manufacturing most wood flooring.
3. An environment that is too dry. As much as wet concrete slabs are harsh on wood flooring, too much dryness causes damage to wood flooring as well. Since this kind of flooring is one that’s natural, it really needs a relative humidity not less than 35%. To solve this, run your humidity control system to somewhere between 35% to 60%. Always regulate the in-space moisture of the humidifiers to be sure that they are fully functional, especially during the dry season. Even if you are not at home, make sure that the humidifiers still run 24/7.
4. Using wet mops and water during cleaning. During a dry weather, wetting the hardwood flooring should be definitely avoided. It’s because the dry wood would tend to absorb the moisture. This can lead to expansion, and later on, to shrinking. Ultimately, cracks on the planks can be seen, which can be dangerous especially if you have little kids at home. To avoid this common mistake, just use a mop with a recommended wood floor cleaner.
5. Not applying the manufacturer’s instructions and recommendations before and after installation. Manufacturers are always giving instructions regarding the acclimation of wood flooring. However, there are customers who ignore or forget these instructions, leading to waste of money. Another common mistake is walking on the newly-installed wood floors without considering the amount of time needed for it to be ready-to-use. Some wood floors require 48 hours before you step on them, while others need more time, so better take serious note of that.
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