I'm freaking out here, hickory 5" hardwood flooring was installed 3 weeks ago. Outside Temperatures were between 55-35. I just slept in my house for the first time and noticed low humidity. Throat dry and such. We have forced hot air and the humidifier is not working. Looks like it hasn't been for a while now. I need to address the humidifier to make the house comfortable. Am I screwed once the humidity goes up? Will slowy bringing back the humidity help? And if and when the floors do buckle can they be replaced?
Thanks for the help,

Relax! You're thinking too much into this.

What's going on with the new floor right now? If the floor was acclimated and installed in low Rh conditions with the heat running weeks at a time, you may have minor issues, once more moisture is introduced into the environment.

It depends on other factors too. Things such as how tight the floor was installed and what the moisture content of the flooring was at the time. If it was low you will begin to see some cupping as boards gain moisture (add moisture) and have no where to go but expand horizontally.

Buckling? Possible, but that requires a lot of moisture.

My guess when thinking about the average installer is you may have some gapping right now? Reason being and I'm guessing on a some of this, fast production workers don't care much more than getting the job done and don't think about acclimation. Fairly common in tract home building.

This scenario would actually be better because all you have to do is find the equilibrium point where the gaps close up and maintain the Rh at those levels. Easier said than done.