Humidity installation challenge

[Mrblackers]

I have abit of a challenge to overcome.

Im due to fit an engineered oak wood floor into a new extension in a couple of weeks. The extension is currently without door or window (with a simple hardboard covering currently). The actual window and door were due to be fitted pre floor and kitchen installation. However, due to Covid delays these are now delayed until a week after the flooring is due to go down.

unfortunately we cant push back so are having to find a solution to minimise the wood buckling.

currently the room RH is between 45-80% so very high. My plan was to use a decent dehumidifier to regulate the moisture levels pre and post installation until the doors go in (also to acclimatise the wood to simialr levels a few days pre installation).

Appreciate this is a terrible idea but looking for any advice to further minimise risk.

The flooring will be glued and also laid over latex for levelling purposes.

Any help would be great!

cheers

 

[highup]

Being engineered wood will certainly help, but the place ought to be at lived in condition for at least a few weeks and all painting and 'wet' work completed.
If you are getting paid to do this..... a failure means you will be paying to remove and reinstall a new floor.... including edge trims, and removal and replacement of baseboards.
Some jobs are not worth the loss. Problems might not start showing up for a month or three after the home is being lived in.

Once you finish, who's going to maintain the room conditions with a dehumidifier until the heating system is up and running?
Where do you live and what's the weather like this time of year?

 

[Mrblackers]

Im the client. Builders messed up door/window delivery so Im trying to minimise risk. Person laying the floor advised against doing it for obvious reason. Need to get back in the house so taking the risk.

The radiators are going in soon after flooring so temperature will be introduced slowly.

We are in london so temperature is currently mild though always risk of rain. Im hoping an industrial dehumidifier will strip out the majority of moisture to acceptable levels.

 

[Dan]

Is this week delay you mentioned worth the time it will take to tear out the floor, trim, radiators, etc to replace the floor after it blows up? I hate do-overs. Wait the extra week and do it right the first time.

 

[highup]

I'd want the dehumidifier running and have a temporary heat source keeping the temperature near the 70 degree range for at least a week or two. Boards for windows isn't so bad if they are sealed off to retain heat.
Depending on weather conditions for the past month or so, the wood moisture content inside the home is probably pretty high. It takes quite some time with heating systems working to bring the interior moisture levels to lived in conditions. That means the flooring substrate, the floor joists, wall studs, and virtually everything inside the home needs to dry out, shrink and become close as possible to lived in conditions.
We are just emphasizing that wood is a totally different animal than tile or carpeting.

 

[highup]

One other thing we don't know, is construction methods where you live. In the states, we typically have wood or I-beam floor joists, with a single layer of 3/4 inch or thicker OSB. Plywood is better, but there are higher quality OSB materials like Weyerhauser Gold.
How much wood is being installed and how large are the rooms?