I am preparing to install 400 sq. ft. of Brazillian Cherry 3/4" solid by 3" wide planks. The flooring has been acclimating for 2 weeks in the room where it will be installed. The temperature in the room is a constant 65-66 degrees with humidity ranging from 40%-50%. The flooring boxes are stacked with 2x4 spacers between them for air circulation. Most of the cardboard boxes are still unopened, but they are not sealed tightly.

Today I received a Wagner MMC220 moisture meter. The average subfloor moisture content is 10%.

I spot checked the flooring and found moisture contents ranging from 4% - 7%. Most of dryer boards seem to be located in the open boxes and near the top or edge of the boxes. When I checked boards from the middle of the boxes, the moisture content is in the higher range (7% MC).

The manufacturer specs a maximum 4% moisture difference between subfloor and flooring. From what I've checked, the majority of boards are in the 5%-6% range. When compared to the 10% subfloor MC, that means a 4%-5% average difference.

Is there anything to be gained by waiting longer before installing? Will the boards continue to dry further causing too much of a difference with the subfloor? Or should I just start the install now?

Another issue: the manual that came with the moisture meter lists a specific gravity for Jatoba as 0.91 which is what I used to get the moisture values for the flooring. But they also include a CD with another species list and that one lists the specific gravity of Jatoba as 0.83. If I use the 0.83 setting, the results are much more favorable for my install. Which setting should I use or should I split the difference and use something like 0.87?

Sorry for the long post. Any responses are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

What a bizarre situation. Here the manufacturer of a scientific instrument is giving you two separate values for the same wood. How frustrating. But consider this. Jatoba is a common name in South America for a wood species that grows throughout South America. And I suspect that it depends on where it is grown and comes from, that determine most of it's physical characteristics. So those two separate #'s could both be right. Now, I will say the 4% bothers me. Why? Because that means it's really dry. And really dry means brittle. And brittle wood will split and crack more and jatoba has that problem enough. I would want to see what the relative humidity levels are. I suspect you are running a heating system that is pulling moisture out of the air ( and hence, the flooring ) and that your RH is actually too low. It should be no lower than 40% and 45 to 50% is ideal. My recommendation is to buy an inexpensive humidistat and find out what the interior relative humidity levels are before doing anything else. If they're too low, you will need to raise them.