I've done a lot of reading on this site about measuring moisture content before installing hardwood floors, and probably already know the answer to this question but I'm going to ask anyway.

I'll be installing 3/4" unfinished red oak and bloodwood over 3/4" osb. The house is 18 years old, there is an unfinished basement under the room where it will be installed, and the bundles have been in the room since end of December 2007. I live in Minnesota so the forced air furnace has been on for months.

In view of the trouble many seem to have measuring moisture content (especially with hard woods like bloodwood) unless you purchase an expensive moisture meter, and since the wood has been acclimating for over six weeks in the room it will be installed in, do you think there's any risk in NOT measuring moisture and simply installing it? RH reading in the room is currently about 45%.

Thanks

Hmmm...

Expensive moisture meter vs. Expensive re-do

I wouldn't take the risk. If you have some time, buy one on Ebay then resell it back on Ebay when you are done. If you're in a hurry, buy one locally, or on Amazon, and then resell it.

You never know the moisture content of the wood when you brought it into the house, so you don't know how long to wait for it to acclimate.

Under the conditions you describe, I cannot see where any moisture would be coming from unless your unfinished basement is damp. Check the RH down there. Anything over 60% would be cause for concern. Another factor is this. You have acclimated for winter conditions @ 45% RH. What is your plan for the higher summertime RH? Do you use AC and will it be enough to keep the RH fairly even, between 45 and 50 %? BTW, there is always some risk when one chooses to install without checking the MC. How much depends on the job site conditions. In your case, there is some risk but it seems minimal.

Thanks for the input. RH in the basement is the same as upstairs, 45%. When it's humid in the summer we run the air conditioning regularly. The house was built with red oak throughout the kitchen and that floor has always been solid with no issues.