On 12/13/2012 12:10 PM, jloomis wrote:
Then when I thought about it, the wood needs to be dry before finishing
it. right?
And the wood had gone through its movements. right?
And unless the wood was stored in a pond, or a damp garage in the must
and mold, it should be fine. right?
He said the only problem with installing un-acclimated wood is when you
install unfinished wood flooring.
Now the more I think about this, the more I believe him.
I tell you, I never thought I would get so many opinions, and the one
that sticks is the one from a person
who has installed thousands of sq. ft.
hummmm????

No hmmm about it, John ... he may know floors, but he apparently does
not fully understand WOOD.

The following is an absolutely unarguable FACT:

"Finish will slow the rate of moisture exchange, it will not stop it.
Material finished on all surfaces will expand or contract at a slower
rate than raw wood, but finished wood will eventually acclimate to EMC
levels."

"Finishes cannot change EMC; they affect only the rate at which
absorption and desorption occur".

The above quoteS are almost verbatim from the US Forest Products Laboratory.

So, as I said before, and if you want to do the job properly ...
"acclimate".

(as a GC who pays attention to such details, I've caused, and bought,
many thousands of board feet of flooring of all types to be installed;
stubbed my toe once or twice, but never over the same issue more than
once ... and I routinely acclimate pre-finished flooring ... it's simply
cheaper in the long run to do so) AND:

!!!especially if you want to maintain the manufacturer's warranty!!!

G

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