PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES: APPENDICES

A2 Moisture and Wood Floors

This information is intended as a guide only.

Wood flooring has a comfort level and will perform best when the interior environment is controlled to within a relative humidity (RH) range of 30% to 50% and a temperature range between 15°C and 27°C. Fortunately, that is about the same comfort range most humans enjoy. The table below indicates the moisture content wood will likely have at any given combination of temperature and humidity. Note that equilibrium moisture contents in the recommended temperature/humidity range coincide with the 6% to 9% range within which most hardwood flooring is manufactured. Although some movement can be expected even between 6% and 9%, wood can expand and shrink dramatically outside that range.