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Wood flooring will perform best when the interior environment is controlled to stay within a Relative Humidity range of 30-50% and a Temperature range 60-80° F. During the winter heating season, Relative Humidity levels plummet and extra care must be taken to maintain an adequate environment for your wood flooring to perform optimally, i.e. without failure.

Nearly every wood floor will have some seasonal separation between the individual boards – this is normal. However, excessive shrinkage from low RH levels can cause more serious, irreparable issues like cracking, cupping, delamination, and even buckling. This can be prevented by using a humidifier during the cold winter months.

The acclimation process for wood flooring is critical to the long-term success of the flooring system. Acclimation is not a specific time of exposure of wood flooring to the environment, but instead achieving moisture content equilibrium of the flooring to the environment in which it will be installed.

The wood flooring must acclimate inside the space under normal living conditions until the moisture content of the wood is in equilibrium with the environment. For proper acclimation, ensure the interior temperature is between 60-80 degrees Fahrenheit, and the relative humidity is between 30-50%.

Equilibrium is typically reached within a few days when these conditions are met. If the wood flooring acclimates under improper conditions, it is much more likely to cause performance or visual issues over time with changing annual conditions.

American Black Walnut is one of the softest hardwood species, as measured by the Janka Hardness Scale, the accepted industry standard for measuring a wood’s hardness and density. Walnut has a Janka Rating of 1010, which is approximately 22% softer than Red Oak, the industry’s benchmark. This may result in more dents from footwear, dropped or dragged items, or other forces of impact.

Extremely hot and humid summer weather is not ideal for hardwood flooring. So, consider this your friendly reminder to turn those air conditioners ON!

Keeping your AC units running throughout this intense heat and humidity is the best way to care for your wood floors! We recommend maintaining a temperature between 60- and 80-degrees Fahrenheit with a relative humidity between 30% and 50%.

Wood flooring performs best in the same conditions within which we are most comfortable.

Wood is a natural product. The wood floor you have purchased will contain numerous natural characteristics, as well as variation in graining and color tones, depending on the Grade of wood purchased. Even in Select grades, variations will occur from plank to plank. In Light Character grade, you will see knots and other natural characteristics, different color tones, and sapwood. In Character and Heavy Character grades, you can expect to see larger knots, cracks, and other natural features, along with unlimited variations and imperfections. No single sample, sample board, or full bundle of material can exhibit the full range of characteristics that an entire floor order will contain.