We are prettty well set to have our first ever wood floor installed. We live in Central Florida. When I asked the dealer we selected about the amount of time needed to acclimate the wood in our house he said that wasn't needed in Central Florida. He said they keep the flooring in a climate controlled storage and can install it the day they deliver. The dealer has been very knowledgeable on every aspect of flooring so far but I always assumed from everything I've read here and elsewhere that floors should always have an acclimation period. However, does the time in their climate controlled facility and the fact that we don't live in a cold/hot climate make it unnecessary?

There seems to be a new trend in the last 4 years, where engineered manufacturers are jumping on a bandwagon, and saying acclimation is not needed. All because one manufacturer put it in their literature, just to move a lot of wood to the fast paced builders market.

ALL WOOD NEEDS ACCLIMATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't care who says what. I've seen what can happen to engineered after being installed without acclimation, and Floridas climate is no different then here in Texas.

I would have asked to see this huge climate controlled warehouse!!! Never seen a retailer or distributor for that matter, have climate controlled warehouses. Only the manufacturers have it, and some manufacturers don't because it is all being made overseas now.

There are situations where one does not want to acclimate the flooring to a particular site and off-site acclimation is prefered. It is when a site is NOT at normal living conditions. This can occur when the site is under construction, not ready, no HVAC, wet trades still working, site is too dry or damp, etc. The idea is to bring the flooring into equalization with the environment it will end up in. And have that environment be acclimated as well, to the NORMAL temp, RH and MC that will be expected and anticipated year round. With modern homes and climate controls, one can accurately estimate normal RH and temps. Harder to do in older homes. But usually, acclimation takes place on the job where the wood will be installed. If the job isn't ready, then delay the delivery of the flooring. That's what I typically do.

I guess I misunderstood the dealer so I contacted the company (Mirage). They said because all their engineered flooring is sealed in the packaging it's not necessary to acclimate the wood. I asked if that was unique to Florida since we don't have cold temperatures but they said it doesn't matter which state I lived in...the wood is sealed in the packaging and acclimation isn't needed at all so long as the existing floor moisture isn't a problem and the home is already enclosed which it is.

Neither the dealer or the Mirage tech rep know if your house is properly conditioned to receive wood yet. The wood is ready, is your house? That is the main issue here.

As an installer I am letting the wood shipment equalize to the homeowners lived in environment because it is my butt on the line each time, not the dealer or Mirage.

Perhaps I can be of assistance here. For the sake of the professionals, I will start with basic recommendations.

Every manufacturer of prefinished flooring prescribes the same interior conditions. Those parameters run around 60-80 degrees and 45-55 percent relative humidity. When those conditions are present, there is no reason to acclimate prefinished wood. When those conditions are not present there is no good reason to install it.

Products like Mirage are milled with a ZERO tolerance between tongue and groove. I am here to tell you that if you do something really stupid like open up the boxes and spread product around, you might get a medal from some carpet layer on this board, but you will never get your floor laid. It simply won't go together.

The rules are simple. Fix the environment and then install the floor.

It is simple physics.

BTW: Congratulations on a wise decision. Mirage is the best there is.

Thanks for all the responses. This is about the most informative board I've seen on just about any topic. I am feeling confident that since we don't have any moisture problems and our house was built 12 years ago that as long as the engineered flooring is kept sealed in the factory packaging we will be fine. We'll make sure when it's delivered that it in fact has been maintained sealed. The company said that's the way to go along with the dealer and the installer so I don't see a reason to challange them all.

Thanks again for all the input.