TRIMMER FLOORING LTD

Solid Wood Floors

Because wood is a natural product every floor installed is unique in colouring and texture and gives a beautiful, living finish that improves with age.
Manmade materials try to achieve a comparable result but never quite manage to capture the look and feel of the real thing.
To keep a wooden floor looking good is quite simple if you understand the characteristics and properties of wooden floors. By reading the information below it will help you to keep your floor looking good for years to come.

How temperature and humidity can affect wooden floors

All homes have a different indoor climate that is affected by the amount of moisture in the air (humidity), the temperature, the type of heating and the amount of ventilation. Some elements you can control and some are governed by outside conditions.

In a comfortable home with slight humidity changes throughout the year, expansion and contraction of the wooden floor is a normal reaction. These effects can be noticeable. During warm, humid weather wood expands. During dry weather (usually during the heating season), wood shrinks. This seasonal movement is a normal characteristic of wooden floors and it never stops, regardless of the age of the wooden floor.

If you notice gaps appearing between your boards in Winter then 9 times out of 10 there is nothing to worry about, these gaps will disappear again when the humidity gets higher.

If your floor is expanding in a normally dry season, then you might have a moisture problem (leak, large spillage of water or perhaps one of your pets had an 'accident').

If your floor is shrinking in a normally 'wet' season then the problem might have been caused by the moisture content in the flooring itself: higher than normally allowed (standard Oak normally between 8 - 12%) or the wood hasn't been stored in the room were it is installed to acclimatise to the normal house climate.

Some types of wood react more than others. Beech is known as a 'very nervous' wood. It can expand or shrink 7mm per meter width. By 'steaming' beech (giving the floor also it's characteristic reddish/pinkish colour) the reaction will be less.

Solid wooden floors react more than Wood-Engineered floors. The crossed backing of Wood-Engineered floors stabilises the reaction. This makes this type of flooring preferable in areas where there is more moisture (kitchens, bathrooms), were temperatures can change quickly (conservatories) or on underfloor heating.

Most important to keep your wooden floor (and in fact also yourself) healthy is to allow for a stable humidity in the house. When humidity is higher (Summer, Autumn) wooden floors expand. A simple way to prevent excessive reaction is to open a window(s) every day, even for 10 - 15 minutes, to allow the cumulated humidity to disappear. Alternatively, when you are away for a whole day: keep a small window upstairs open and keep all other internal doors open.

In Winter and early Spring, the heating season, try to keep the humidity between 45 - 60 %. This can be done by having plants in house, ceramic water containers on radiators etc. When the humidity in house gets very low (25 - 40%) you will notice this yourself (dry skin, lips and even sore throats). A simple 'trick' to increase the humidity rapidly is to place damp (NOT dripping wet) tea-towels on radiators.

Monitor the typical average air-humidity in your home by using an indoor minimum-maximum Hydrometer available from places such as ebay and maplins.

Protect your floor

• Use felt pads under furniture - especially the legs of chairs
• Follow the recommended maintenance procedures
• Wood and water don't mix - don't wet mop your floor
• Don't panic if you have some damage - there is always a way to restore / repair real wood (unless you've had a fire or flood!)