PNWMax
New Member
I purchased some hickory hardwood flooring 3 months ago. Life happened, and it has been sitting out for 3 months "acclimating" in the space it will be installed in.
My 40 year old subfloor on the second floor above a finished garage in the pacific northwest was at 12% moisture. I installed 1/2" underlayment 3 months ago, and measuring both together is still 12%. The hickory hardwood measures 7.5% on average. For a couple months I had it laying flat on the floor, and the last month I tried cross stacking it. The moisture content of the hickory hasn't measurably changed since I got it. The flooring is 3.5" wide, and the manufacturer recommends installing within 3% moisture content. The subfloor and hickory aren't really changing at all. I have started measuring the exact same spots week to week with no change. I'm using a Lignomat SDM scanner measuring at 3/4" and changing the wood species for the subfloor and hickory.
One interesting point is that if I measure at 1/4" on the subfloor, I'm about 2% difference from the hickory. I just can't get the numbers to match if I measure the subfloor at 3/4" (underlayment into the original subfloor).
For reference, I measured the red oak hardwood that has been installed in a different area for more than 10 years and it is a steady 10%, half way between the subfloor and hickory. I had to sand the oak down a few years ago because it was cupped, and I really just want to avoid a repeat performance of that.
It seems like with 3 months of acclimation and no change week to week, maybe it would be ok to install, but I really don't want to have future issues due to the differing moisture content and this being hickory.
Thoughts?
My 40 year old subfloor on the second floor above a finished garage in the pacific northwest was at 12% moisture. I installed 1/2" underlayment 3 months ago, and measuring both together is still 12%. The hickory hardwood measures 7.5% on average. For a couple months I had it laying flat on the floor, and the last month I tried cross stacking it. The moisture content of the hickory hasn't measurably changed since I got it. The flooring is 3.5" wide, and the manufacturer recommends installing within 3% moisture content. The subfloor and hickory aren't really changing at all. I have started measuring the exact same spots week to week with no change. I'm using a Lignomat SDM scanner measuring at 3/4" and changing the wood species for the subfloor and hickory.
One interesting point is that if I measure at 1/4" on the subfloor, I'm about 2% difference from the hickory. I just can't get the numbers to match if I measure the subfloor at 3/4" (underlayment into the original subfloor).
For reference, I measured the red oak hardwood that has been installed in a different area for more than 10 years and it is a steady 10%, half way between the subfloor and hickory. I had to sand the oak down a few years ago because it was cupped, and I really just want to avoid a repeat performance of that.
It seems like with 3 months of acclimation and no change week to week, maybe it would be ok to install, but I really don't want to have future issues due to the differing moisture content and this being hickory.
Thoughts?
