In regards to dryness in the winter, any suggestions on installing new, prefinished hardwood (maple) now. We are acclimating the boxes for three weeks(boxes opened and in the room adjacent to where it's being installed).
I have the humidifiers set for 50% and have my hygrometer measuring the rooms humidity (all equal at 50-55%).
We live in Colorado (dry) and wonder if we will have buckling problems come summer (though our summers can be somewhat dry too)?
Thanks!
--Jo

As long as you can maintain that r/h level the floor should be stable. you still need to check the wood moisture content and the subfloor.

After looking online, I found a moisture meter at Lowes (have in the store). Home Depot I would have to special order it.
The moisture level should be between 8-10, correct?
I think I remember seeing that on the videos I've watched and books I've read.

Make sure the moisture reading difference between the hardwood and your subfloor doesn't exceed 2%

So it doesn't matter what the number reads, just that there shouldn't be more than a 2% difference?

NO, you are trying to reach a year round average in the middle of winter. You really need to know what the expected seasonal changes will do to the m/c of the floor and if the r/h and temp will remain somewhat constant. If you have long dry winters and you acclimate to that dry state that will leave no room for the floor to expand once it regains some moisture during the humid months. At 70deg and 45 to50 percent r/h the floor should be reading anywhere from 6 to 8 if its lower then you need to either try to raise the moisture content in the wood to an acceptable level or build in some expansion because it will grow. There is some voodoo math that you can do to calculate the movement but its a little complicated.

The voodoo math is in here. LOL Not really, thats just when trying to figure out the MC and board width at time of manufacturing. This part works though.

Proper Installation By Calculating Coefficients of Change; page 5

http://www.installingwoodfloors.com/ins ... mation.pdf

In Colorado, I'd be shooting for 7%, give or take, with 6% in the Western part of the state.

It is fairly arid in Colorado, believe it or not.

Yes, it is a very arid state. And lately we haven't gotten much moisture (snow) at all.
The house is still at 50% humidity, checking it everyday. I'm getting a moisture meter this weekend.
I'm also going to leave a 3/4 inch expansion gap around all sides of the room (and closet).

On a side note, I find it interesting that AFTER I've done all this research (via web, books and videos), I now noticed that the people we hired to do our downstairs (lace in existing hardwood and install new in living room and stairs) that they didn't do a good job at racking. Of course, I had no idea what "racking" was until I started researching to do this on our own. There is a area that has "stairing" (6 steps) and Hs. WOW.
Well I feel like we will install it the correct way.
Though I don't think I would have noticed before if I hadn't done the research.

I purchased a "General" moisture meter at Lowes today but I don't know if it's either not working properly or what. Sometimes I get a reading of between 5-6% on both the hardwood and floor and sometimes, nothing. It just reads 0 and doesn't do anything.
I did get some consistency a few times so hope it's ok.
I think this meter is a dud.

most meters wont read below 6% very well. is it a pin type meter?

Yes, it's a pin-type meter. I think I read that somewhere last night online that it doesn't read well under 6%. Is this bad? I tested the hardwood (various planks, various areas) and floor.
Will I be able to go ahead with the install?

well something doesnt jive. if your house is truley 45-50 rh and somewhere near 70deg it should be closer to 8. if its under 6 then your rh is under 25%.

So maybe that means my $2.50 hygrometer I bought (not digital) isn't working?
Ughhhhh...
I keep the house at 64 degrees (we try to conserve energy).
What else can I do?
We are demo'ing this weekend and installing next weekend, so hopefully that gives us some time (hoping).

buyonsale the expected interior moisture content of your floors in your area is 6% mid winter and 7% mid summer, not considering HVAC effects. If your house's relative humidity is at 50%, and temperature 64 degrees F, your floors should be at 9.3% moisture content.

Your readings of 6% would mean that your relative humidity value should be 28% at 64 degrees F. Leaving more room for expansion won't help in the middle of the rooms. Give your wood more time to acclimate. Some times is takes much longer than 3 weeks. Chances are the wood was stored in sub 30 degree F warehouse and the moisture content of the wood could have gone down to 1%.