I ordered 2,300' of engineered flooring from BuildDirect back in September. All the boxes have been stored unopened in a bedroom in my house since then, so the environment should be identical to the rest of the house. I opened about 300' of it yesterday and roughly 75% of the planks are bowed. (vertically if you lay them flat on the floor). BuildDirect suggested re-acclimating the floors on the actual room of installation and perhaps they would settle and straighten. I'm not so sure.
Question 1: does it matter if they are bowed in that direction? I can still get them to fit together fine but will it cause problems later? Or will it all settle after I have it installed and glued together?
Question 2: is it common for this bowing to be the case?

Thanks

It's very common especially with exotic species in arid environments and dry winter ambient air rh. You can get it together but it may be a fight.
If the wood was wrapped in cellophane in or outside of the box then the wood cannot acclimate to rh, only temperature. The woods moisture content would remain the same as manufactured rh. Helps to have a decent moisture meter and thermhygrometer.
Whats your rh now?

Stephen is absolutely correct.

Many wood flooring problems are attributed to moisture, and taking the time to acclimate the floor is incredibly important. Knowing how long the flooring needs to acclimate is just as important. The only way to know if the flooring has acclimated to the environment is to use a wood moisture meter that provides accurate MC readings.

If you have the free Wood H2O App, a good thermo-hygrometer, and know the species of the wood you can calculate what the MC should be.

I've linked below a quick article that addresses this topic: http://www.wagnermeters.com/flooring/wood-flooring/timing-wood-floor-installation/

Wagner Meters can provide you the tools, and the customer service team can walk you through any of the scenarios you may be experiencing.

If you have any further questions we're here: 800-634-9961

Excellent article Ron. I have that moisture app on my phone and love it, use it all the time, thanks!
I would also state there are some manufacturers who say there is no need to acclimate, even some retailers who push their subs to achieve a high volume of flooring installs. So don't believe them, it's not just a time frame either.

Ron should advertise moisture meters, and digital hygrometers here. hint hint.

PS. He likes the re-usable 5.0 concrete sensor.

Man, thanks for all the great info. I'll go and find the instruments and apps mentioned and get back with.

Thanks