Humidity in Denver? That’s probably the last thing on your mind when it comes to installing wood floors throughout your home and caring for them so they’ll last for years. 

Yet it’s true. Even here in the dry state of Colorado, summer brings in more humidity to your home than any other time of the year. 

When you run your furnace, it dries out your living environment. When you flip on your air conditioner, it adds moisture back into your home. And if you’ve ever been around where we get brief, afternoon showers, you know after it leaves and the temperatures rise once again, muggy is the only way to describe it. 

That doesn’t just impact you. It impacts your floors too. 

Wood is a living organism. It contracts when it’s dry. It expands when it’s moist. And if it receives too much moisture, it quickly rots away. 

When you install hardwood into your home, the best place to start is with the acclimation process. The time frame depends on your home, and whether you’re installing natural wood, engineered wood, or laminate. Anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks should do the trick. It’s also important to give your wood floor a chance to breathe after it’s installed, before you apply stain and sealants too. 

Studies show that the ideal atmosphere is somewhere around the 50 percent level for moisture content. If you let it drop below, the wood can dry out. And if it gets a lot more moisture, it can warp and change. This is why wood is not good for bathrooms where humidity levels can be much greater. 

Humidity can come in many forms. If your floor continually gets wet from condensation, moisture, or even puddles of water, it can seep into your wood floors causing them to expand over time. Without a place to go, you’ll find cupping or crowning between the planks. 

Cupping occurs in the middle of the board with both sides rising. Crowning creates the center of the board to rise higher than the edges. Both are caused by moisture impacting the wood from underneath. As the floor dries, it separates and causes the planks to have gaps. 

Thinking of installing hardwood in your home? Stop by today. We can help you select the right hardwood flooring for your home.