Oak Floors Online write about how the cold winter months can have a bad effect on wood flooring

With summer looking like it's well and truly over and the dark mornings and nights upon us, it's time for us to start talking again about what happens to oak flooring during the cold winter months.
I know we've harped on about this all year already but the way we look at it is that an oak floor that fails doesn't just harm the owner's pocket but also the reputation of the whole industry itself.
We all know that bad rumours spread much quicker than good ones, so when someone experiences challenges with their oak floor, there's only bad that can come of it.
It doesn't seem to matter who's fault it was for not looking after and maintaining the floor correctly, or not installing it properly, or even not manufacturing it properly... the only sure result is that it's going to cost money to put right and it's going to reduce the consumer confidence about having an oak floor installed, which damages the industry.
Anyway, let's emphasise this again...
Wood flooring will change dimensionally during the different seasons of the year and as humidity levels vary within those seasons.
It's the humidity that surrounds your flooring that'll determine how much it moves because if it's allowed to vary too much one way or the other, then your flooring will be forced to either 'lose' or 'take on' moisture.
We recommend keeping the Relative Humidity at between 35-60%, which is best for wood flooring and also the best level for our bodies too.
With the ever increasing popularity of engineered oak flooring , mostly because of the extra stability its construction and design provides after installation, this humidity challenge becomes even more important.
You see, an engineered oak floor board has a solid oak wear layer that's bonded to a plywood underside (ours are all plywood based but you can find bases that are made from softwood or MDF, which are simply not as good), so no matter how strong the bond is between the two, when that oak wear layer is forced to change with regards its moisture content... it will move and something will have to give.
That something will either be the bond between the oak and the plywood or the bond between the individual plies within the plywood itself.
This is not 'delamination' from production or product quality faults as some people will claim... it's purely down to the oak either losing or absorbing moisture and changing its dimensions through doing so.
During the cold winter months it's most likely to be the losing of moisture that's the problem because as the air outside gets colder, it becomes 'drier' and contains less moisture in the form of humidity.
When that air is then brought into our homes and warmed up, the amount of moisture drops further, thus reducing the humidity even further.
EVERYONE that owns an oak floor (or any wood floor for that matter) should invest in a Thermo-Hygrometer (preferably, one for every area of their home that has wood flooring) to enable them to constantly measure and monitor the temperature and humidity levels that surround their beautiful wood floors.
Then, when the humidity levels become too low, measures can be taken to increase it before any lasting damage to the flooring is done.
You don't have to buy a Thermo-Hygrometer from us, we don't really mind where you buy one from... just make sure you buy one!