At this time of year, when the air outside is very cold, what most of us do is turn our heating on for longer periods of the day, which is understandable. What this combination does however, is dry the air within our homes; so in other words reduce the humidity (the moisture within the air).
The air is already dry because of the very cold weather outside, so when it gets dried even more inside our homes when it meets up with our heating system, it becomes even drier and it's this that we need to be aware of when we have an oak floor installed.
If the humidity is allowed or forced to drop lower than 35% then this can cause problems for our floor, because it can start to 'give off' or lose moisture itself, and when oak flooring loses or gains moisture, its dimensions will change, even after installation.
When oak flooring 'takes on' or gains moisture, it will expand and when it loses moisture it will shrink. There's no avoiding this fact, so what we prefer to do as a responsible oak flooring supplier is to make our customers aware of this potential challenge up-front with the information on our website.
This has nothing at all to do with the quality of our flooring but all to do with the fact that it's constructed of all natural materials (even our engineered oak flooring), which means that it's hygroscopic (moisture absorbent). Oak flooring is forever wanting to either lose or gain moisture, throughout its lifetime of use, so we must 'feed' it just the right amount for optimum performance.
But how do we 'measure' the humidity levels within our home you may ask? It's not like we can stick a finger up in the air and test it that way.
Well it's easy - you can measure and monitor your humidity (and temperature) with one of our cost-effective Thermo-Hygrometers, a simple little device that can literally save your floor... and save the money in your pocket too!
It's very small and unobtrusive but it'll constantly provide you with accurate readings that are clear to see, so that you're continuously aware of your living conditions, thus in control of what can happen to your oak floor.
We recommend maintaining the humidity within your home to between 40-60%, which incidentally is claimed to be the healthiest level for our own bodies to live within also. When you see the Thermo-Hygrometer reading dropping below 40%, you need to add moisture by way of a humidifier and when it exceeds 60% you need to reduce the moisture.
If you fail to maintain the necessary conditions for your oak floor to 'live' in, then your floor may fail you. If you continue to allow or force the humidity levels within your home to be too high or low, not only will your floor fail but so will your health.
None of the above is meant to alarm you but to be aware of these potential challenges is to be prepared for them, should they ever begin to happen. Two of our favourite sayings at Oak Floors Online are:
- When you fit an expensive oak floor, you want to do it once not twice
- Prevention is better than cure when it comes to any oak floor
