With summer temperatures in the 80’s and 90’s and humidity inside some homes 60% or higher, you’re likely to see some changes in your wood flooring. I recently chatted with David Hochberg on his radio show, Home Sweet Home Chicago, about the impact that high humidity can have on wood flooring.
As we discussed in detail in this blog post, Summer Months, Increased Humidity and Your Wood Floor, wood is hygroscopic. This means that wood both absorbs and expels moisture, depending upon the relative humidity of the room in which it’s in.
Wood flooring will absorb increasing amounts of moisture when the humidity in your home is 55% or above. When wood absorbs moisture it expands, just like a sponge. As the wood expands a couple of physical manifestations can occur. First, the gaps you might have seen between planks of your floor during the driest winter months may disappear. Second, and more problematically, you may see the planks of your floor begin to cup creating a wave-like pattern that makes many wonder, “Is there something wrong with my floor?”
Are you curious about why your flooring might be cupping? Watch this short video to learn more!