Swingman wrote in
:

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
Ah...Someone who raised my point of consideration...Regardless of what
other experts say, what do the manufacturers of the flooring specify? Why
do they say "acclimate" or "not acclimate"? They may be basing their
position on faulty data but if you do not follow their recommendation,
will warranty on the flooring be invalid due to improper installation?
Just my $0.02 worth(less)...DaveD