Acclimatisation
WHY IT’S ESSENTIAL TO WAIT 48 HOURS
Never install your new floor as soon as it arrive at your home. All new hard floor products, needs to sit in your house for at least 48 hours in the room it will be installed in order to acclimate or to become accustomed to a new climate or conditions. (certain products will require less than 48 hours if in doubt we will be happy to advise.
Why the need to acclimatise ?
All laminate flooring has a fiberboard core.
All wood, including HDF, is porous on a microscopic level, even though it might look quite solid. These tiny openings allow air inside the core, carrying with it whatever humidity there may be.
Acclimating allows the planks to become unified in the temperature and humidity that is identical to the conditions found in the room in which they will be installed. Once acclimated, the planks will be uniformly conditioned and the locking system won’t be compromised.
The more humid the air, the more likelihood that planks will swell; the less humid the air, the more likelihood the planks will shrink. While this swelling or shrinking may be very slight, it could be just enough to cause otherwise snug fitting floors to lift, buckle or gap across the floor.
So you can see why acclimation is so important. In fact, skipping the proper acclimation process will void your warranty.
Prepare yourself, as well as your floor
We realise that installing a floor can be exciting but also inconvenient. Either you can’t wait to see the finished floor, or more realistically you have a full “to do” list to accomplish in a specified amount of time. For that reason, we encourage you pick up or schedule delivery of the flooring a week in advance of the day you set aside for installation.
It may be inconvenient to have a room cleared for a week to make room for acclimatisation of Flooring properly, but that beautiful floor you can’t wait to see will be well worth the wait. A buckling or gap-ridden floor will not.
We also know that you’ll find a surprising amount of discussion and differing opinions about the amount of time to allow for acclimation, since acclimation is sensitive to geography and highly individualized indoor-temperature conditions. Chances are slim that whoever you choose to listen to is using the exact same product in the exact same conditions as you. And because manufacturing methods and components vary by company, we urge you to follow the manufacturer’s instructions and resist any urge to cut corners based on a friend — or stranger’s — advice.
How do you acclimatise Flooring ?
Place the packs in the middle of the floor, laying each box flat side-by-side in the room in which you intend to install them. Keep them away from the exterior walls. Allow them to sit a full 48 hours before installation. (Note: Don’t remove the shrink wrap and open the boxes. Leave them closed.) That will give your flooring time to become acclimatise to their new home.
What conditions are critical to correctly acclimatise your flooring?
A new floor is often part of a room makeover or addition where new paint and new heating is a factor. The most critical condition is that the indoor environment be stable and constant; acclimatising and installing your laminate floor is pointless in an open environment (i.e., with open windows or exposed, framed-in walls). What’s required are the constant living conditions in terms of temperature and humidity before beginning the acclimation and installation process.
Although flooring is engineered to provide long-term performance even in somewhat challenging installations, please note the following acclimation specifications:
- The room temperature should be between 18 and 30 degrees Celsius.
- The temperature of the floor should be no less than 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
- The humidity level in the space should be between 25 and 70%. To determine the relative humidity in your room, you’ll need a hygrometer. (Look for a desktop or tabletop hygrometer that are usually combined with a thermometer.)
- Newly painted walls and woodwork should be cured for three days.
- If your floor is to be installed in a area that has under floor heating you must follow the manufacturers guidelines.
Our final advice about acclimating laminate flooring
Please don’t skip this important first installation step to a beautiful laminate floor. Plan ahead so you can easily allow enough time to let your floor get used to its new environment and give you back a beautiful performance for many years to come.