Hardwood Floors October/November 2025

By Ryan Jazdzewski

PHOTOS COURTESY OF RYAN JAZDZEWSKI

The next is the “wait until the wood reaches its equilibrium moisture content (EMC)” method. This method is an extension of the seven-day acclimation method. Instead of putting a timeframe on how long the wood needs to be acclimated, this method brings the wood to the existing conditions in the home for as long as it takes for the wood to be neither gaining nor losing moisture. This is a better method, but like the seven-day method, if you are not acclimating at a normal range of conditions for what the house will be kept at, easily you will run the risk of either permanent gapping or cupping depending on the time of year that you are acclimating. (Can any new construction installers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area relate?)

A big thanks goes to the late, great Dr. Eugene Wenegert who first exposed me to this topic at the NWFA Expo Symposium in Milwaukee and also took my phone calls after that time to help further explain this topic.

Then there is the “acclimate the flooring to the dead center of the expected range of living conditions” method. This method involves getting the house to the dead center of expected living conditions (somewhere in between the most humid time and the driest time of the year) and then acclimating the floor within those conditions until the wood has reached EMC. This method allows for both expansion during the humid months and contraction during the dry season. However, if following this method, you may still end up with small gaps because it doesn’t account for hysteresis.

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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