Hardwood flooring

[MiltonBound2006]

We will be moving into our new home in March 07 and will be putting in Hardwood on the main floor after closing. We have been researching flooring and have come up against conflicting advice....so here is my question...

Has anyone put in hardwood and had problems with the humidity levels and floor drying out / cracking? If so...did the flooring warranty cover the damage or did they blame you for humidity issues?

The reasoning behind this question is that we found the flooring we want (Jatoba Brazilian Cherry) however there is a cheaper version (around $5/sq ft) which apparently comes from China and a more expensive version (around $6.80 sq ft) that comes from Canada....and one sales person tried to tell us that the stuff that comes from China is not treated early enough and can dry out and crack. Although they come with 25 yr warranty....He said that they will blame the humidity in your house and will not cover it. I can not find any info on this sort of stuff on the internet.

Any help would be appreciated!

[mart242]

I'd say help the CDN industry by buying a product made here!

[gizmo]

your new house is likely going to be very damp for the first year anyway. ours was around 60-62% humidity when we moved in, even with a dehumidifier running almost constantly, the whole house fan a couple hours a day, the furnace fan on most of aug, and AC when it was nasty outside.. we are only down to 55% throughout the house. (cant wait for the first electric bill!)

we got a humidifyer for the furnace when we did the AC/Air Cleaner install just because it was a package. a couple people from Mattamy warned us not to use it in the first year since the house is damp anyway.

[Mark & Lynda]

Originally Posted by MiltonBound2006

We will be moving into our new home in March 07 and will be putting in Hardwood on the main floor after closing. We have been researching flooring and have come up against conflicting advice....so here is my question...

Has anyone put in hardwood and had problems with the humidity levels and floor drying out / cracking? If so...did the flooring warranty cover the damage or did they blame you for humidity issues?

The reasoning behind this question is that we found the flooring we want (Jatoba Brazilian Cherry) however there is a cheaper version (around $5/sq ft) which apparently comes from China and a more expensive version (around $6.80 sq ft) that comes from Canada....and one sales person tried to tell us that the stuff that comes from China is not treated early enough and can dry out and crack. Although they come with 25 yr warranty....He said that they will blame the humidity in your house and will not cover it. I can not find any info on this sort of stuff on the internet.

Any help would be appreciated!

I would not buy any hardwood or any solid wood furniture product for that matter, that is made in China.

The wood from China is not accustomed to Canadian climates, ie. the humid summers & dry winters, and there will be shrinkage that occurs maybe moreso than a product from NA. Shrinkage will occur in any hardwood product but I would not use hardwood from China to save a few $$ considering this will be on your floors for 25-30 years or more.

Humidity levels should be maintained around 45-50% with hardwood. I can tell you that I installed hardwood 6 years ago in my home and when it was installed all seams were tight. After a few years I noticed small gaps in some of the joints because the wood shrank and that was North American Ash.

I spoke with a furniture repair professional once when we were looking for a dining set and he told me that with furniture made in China the joints will eventually open up after a few dry winters.

[Ian and Amanda]

We just had Jatoba installed in our new house and it is beautiful! We had it delivered several days ahead to have it aclimatize to the new house. We purchased from Canadian Flooring (they have a website) and he assured us that since the wood was being installed in the summer that drying out would not be an issue since the wood was coming from a climate controlled warehouse. If you are having it installed in the winter you should have it delivered about a week ahead though. He also said that it didn't matter where the wood was grown in terms of it "adapting" to Canadian climates since all of our homes are kept at steady temperatures and humidity levels (so there is not "winter" and "summer" to fare per se), not to mention the wood is all treated to increase it's durability. If you have a humidifier on your furnace cracking or separating shouldn't be an issue. Be sure to get a wood that is ceramic baked and treated throughout and you shouldn't have a problem! My parents have had Jatoba for years and have had no cracking or shrinking issues.

You'll love it!