Hello,

I was just looking on the Vintage hardwood flooring website. Particularly looking at their "Pioneered Solid Hardwood" series. And noticed their "Relative Humidity Chart". Specifies 45.5%. Does this mean your humidifier must always be used and set to 45.5%??

I've just emailed Vintage but Penny Hodges will be out of her office till this Wednesday. Was wondering if any of you could answer this question. Vintage retailers, Vintage installers, owners...etc.

I ask because my a/c man told me I only needed to use my Lennox humidifier during the winter.

Thanks.

There is enough ambiant humidity during the summer months, that you wont need to worry about adding more. Indeed, depending on your location, you may need to run a de-humidifier to reduce the humidity in your home during cool summer days when the a/c is not even running.

Hello Dennis,

That's probably what the owner of the hardwood install company also said when he mentioned that I would only need to run my humidifier during the winter months (at 35%). That during the summer there should be enough humidity in the air.

Though, it's never been humid (if it has...barely) inside my home...can having too much humidity cause cracking?

So far I'm thinking the installers might have either hammered the nails in too hard (too much PSI), possibly angled the nail gun at an odd angle or maybe not left a gap between the hardwood and the wall (though you'd think they wouldn't make that kind of a novice mistake...this is supposed to be one of the better companies in Toronto...used on the Holmes On Homes show).

Though, using too much PSI or odd angles wouldn't explain the long 6-8" cracks that run down the center of the affected plank. Or would it? Maybe having the floor installed "too tightly" might still cause those long cracks in the center of the plank. Shrug.

If the cracking was due to the lack of humidity I thought I could just turn it on after they have replaced the damaged planks. As a preventitive measure against future reoccurances.

So what is the Relative Humidity Chart for? Is that the recommended humidity setting for the winter?

Prefinished flooring is manufactured for a "normal" range in regards to relative humidity and temperature. Solid wood flooring is especially sensitive to extremes. Most wood floor manufacturers want to see a "range" of relative humidity of between 40% and 60%, with about 50% being ideal. They encourage the homeowner to make every effort to maintain this interior humidity level. Failure to do so will not be considered a manufacturing defect and it will not be honored as a claim. During summertime, depending on your location, a central AC can remove quite a bit of humidity from the interior of a home if it is run a lot. You need a small hygrometer/humidistat to measure the RH in your home. It is possible that some plank could crack if it was installed at a higher moisture content, then it was subjected to a much lower RH environment. It is not usual but it could happen. Typically, one would just see some gapping between the boards. It's odd how different manufacturers have different requirements. Lauzon used to say between 40 to 60 percent RH. I just installed some Mirage and they said 45 to 50 percent RH.

Hello Gary,

I was considering Mirage too actually. Was that or Vintage. Vintage seemed to have a closer matched varnish color to my existing oak stiars. Which is a dark chocolate. Otherwise I might have chosen Mirage. I think my builder uses Mirage for their hardwood floor installs (Minto).

Any how I'm not sure what the humidity was when the flooring was installed. Though, it must have been high as I didn't have a/c then. And I'm not sure if the cracking began before or after I installed my central a/c. Any how, the owner of this hardwood shop (used a lot by Mike Holmes), said that the hairline 1" surface cracks can be "touched up". So that I would not see or feel them again. Hope he's right and was not feeding me a line.

The 2-3 planks with the huge 6-8" deep cracks will have to be replaced. He wants to wait till September. And I have bought two humidity meters. One of the living room where the thermostat is. And another on the 2nd floor in the room with the largest window. Sometimes the hottest and probably most humid. Though recently I've noticed that the living room is more humid by 4-5% over that room on the 2nd floor. Have been running the a/c a lot more. Keeping the RH at around 50%. Averaging between 50-53%.

The recommended range for my Vintage "Pioneered Solid" is 45-55%. Which I have on the main and 2nd floor. On the basement floor I have Vintage Engineered. No cracks at all. Go figure. Less dry? More moisture all the time? Shrug. I thought the guys might have hammered the hardwood on the main/2nd floor too hard. Owner says impossible or there would be "dimples" on the side. Really? I thought not. Then what do I know. I'm just a consumer not an installer.

It's possible the boards were cracked before being installed. I see this more than you would imagine. It's less common with prefinished flooring but it does happen. Sometimes, the crack is so fine the installers just does not see it.



You have engineered in the basement because solid should never be installed on or below grade. Also, engineered is way more dimensionally stable and rarely cracks, unless it's in the veneer on top. That would be a manufacturing defect unless it was subjected to extreme dryness. I agree with the flooring company owner that installing the floor did not crack it. As I said, it's possible there was a hairline crack prior to being installed and it was not noticed.

Hairline crack prior to being installed? Then they installed it anyway?? Some how I doubt that. Though, not entirely impossible. As in the beginning, as I was, dry mopping the floor I don't believe I saw all these hairline cracks. Could I actually have missed them? Ummm again doubtful. Could have been the fact that when it gets warm the wood expands..combined with the short time frame where I had no a/c. So it must have been quiet humid. Maybe too humid. Then I got a/c. Maybe the expansion began the cracking. Was getting "used to" the humidity. Then I got a/c. Then there was the sudden change of 55F blanketing the home. Who knows. Can guess till we're blue in the face.

Just need to keep the humidity within a good comfort zone 45-55%. Manufacturer's recommendation for Pioneered Solid Hardwood (which I have on the main and 2nd floors). And wait till Sept for them to replace the 3 very cracked planks and "touch up" the 1" hairline surface cracks. I really do hope they can totally remove those from view and feel. I asked the owner if those might flake off. I think he said no. If they do I would have divots. Hope he's right about this too.

Fine, have it your way, since you have all these years of experience. I don't wish to sound condescending, but I would not have made that statement if it were not a true possibility. Having installed literally hundreds of thousands of feet of hardwood flooring, I can assure you, not only is it possible, it happens all the time.

Good morning, yes cracks can be created by the installation. If they are near the edge of the boards, it usually means that the nailer machine wasnt properly seated.

By the way, unless the repair guy is a magician, you are going to see those cracks, even in your sleep. If you were unaware of them, it would be possible to effectively conceal them, but I know from experience, now that you are alerted to their existance, cosmetics isn't going to help anymore than putting makeup on a pimple.

Can I ask you why you used an outside flooring contractor? Minto Homes is one of our builders here in the GTA, including both Newmarket sites. You taking the food out of my installers kids mouths? lol.