Three words for you:

Acclimatize

Acclimatize

Acclimatize

The "shoulder seasons" (spring and fall) are GREAT times to install wood flooring if you do NOT have humidity control. I like 2-3 weeks. But it isn't about "time" so much as "moisture readings". The flooring will need to be in the home UNTIL it measures within 3% of the subfloor plywood. This can take as little as 5 days or as much as 3 weeks. It all depends on where you start and where you need to end up.

I would suggest bringing in the wood into the area/level (main floor or upper floor) where it will be installed. If you have it on multiple levels, then split the bundles appropriately and acclimate the two different sections at the same time.

Yes you will be living with stacks of wood around your home. Yes this is annoying. Yes it is what is needed.

As you have already discovered, you will void your warranty. So long as you are FULLY AWARE of what COULD happen (and you are honest with yourself that gaps in winter and a bit of cupping in summer won't bother you) you are welcome to install engineered hardwood.

After a few years (5-10 years) the wood will find it's equilibrium (if it has problems in the first place). This is normal and to be expected. When it comes to hardwoods, you have to think LONG TERM.

If gaps upset you or the thought of cupping/crowning causes you to shake with fear, then we are back to sheet linoleum or carpet. Anything else in a "plank" presentation (other than tile) will have some of the same issues as hardwood = gapping, cupping/crowning....because of the lack of humidity control.

Couldn't you just run a dehumidifier to get humidity levels below 60%?

@ lake lover - in theory "yes" but in practice a portable dehumidifier is impractical and often does not offer the humidity stability that is required. This is especially true if the installation is over multiple stories or in multiple rooms. And the "fun" of running the dehumidifier 24/7 for 365 is a huge draw on the power bill. Not to mention the enjoyment of emptying the water trap multiple times per day for the next 25 years. Just the thought of having to put that much effort into a portable device is enough for homeowners to run for the hills.

The most appropriate installation would be the add-on designed for the HVAC system. A whole-home humidifier/dehumidifier is what is needed. But again, the cost ($6K) scares homeowners into working with another product.

SJ McCarthy That makes perfect sense. Especially since the humidity would need to be consistent in every room and that would be almost impossible with different numbers of windows and vents etc. Really couldn't achieve precise level of humidity without a whole home system. Thanks for the explanation!

No.. if ur freaked out now, u probably will be in the future. Is it really worth all that worrying?

Thanks all. Yes, we'd have to have a dehumidifier in each room running all the time. Sand dunes can be seen out in the distance out my kitchen window. And we tend to get really foggy, heavy overcast summers, which are finally turning to sunshine (after summer is almost over!). I can't do a whole house dehumidifier as we have a town home and the furnace is in a tiny closet. So, I'll take your advice SJ and acclimatize. We'll have to pull up the carpet in an area, I guess, so we can test the sub-floor. Pergo Lifestyles says "within 4%" but I've heard 3% myself, so we'll shoot for that. Thanks again.

One other question, especially for SJ McCarthy - could I go with a solid hardwood and do the same thing? Acclimatize, acclimatize, acclimatize? I figured and I've read that engineered is better than solid for humid places but I'd rather have solid because I could refinish it (although I'm seeing more and more solid hardwood with the special UV top coats on it, that say "If you refinish, you'll loose the finish......" Well, yes. Anyway, I'm thinking I have to stick with the engineered wood and cover all the bottom of the legs of the furniture and be careful.

Engineered wood flooring takes 3 days to acclimatize prior to installation. Its a good choice given your humidity levels.

Given the high humidity levels in your area, you probably don't want to install hardwood flooring (other than the engineered wood flooring type). Typical hardwood floors need humidity of 35-55%. Since your home exceeds 55%, you’re opening up a chance for moisture to seep into the wood. Too much moisture and the floor boards could begin to swell. This swelling can create pressure between the boards, which can cause the boards to warp or cup.

Thanks gol, the "official" word from Pergo is that the engineered is also only up to 55%, but I think their are covering their you-know-what probably.

"Engineered wood flooring takes 3 days to acclimatize prior to installation."

That statement can be true and false. You need to check the moisture level's of the product and the subfloor. The flooring and the subfloor need to be within a couple of percentage points of each other for a couple days. It may very well be 3 days and it very well may be 3 weeks. It is not one size fits all.

....pulling up carpet. Oh fun. That means the subfloor could be a MASSIVE problem (or it could be perfectly fine - we won't know until the carpet is out of the way). Carpets hide the WORST subfloors in the world. If there is wood, the subfloor is often low-end fibre board or OSB that has very poor ratings (ie. not good enough for wood install with nail/staple/glue).

I would expect to spend $2/sf just to get the subfloor ready for hardwood. If you float a floor over it you can expect slightly lower pricing for fixing the subfloor. No matter what floor you look at, ALWAYS expect a strong price on the subfloor prep.

And solid hardwood vs engineered hardwood is a personal choice that is based on location, HVAC situation and personal choices. If you cannot add humidity control, I HIGHLY recommend working with a narrow strip hardwood (3" plank). And ALWAYS expect to see gapping in winter and some cupping/crowning in summer. Again, this will balance out eventually (5-10 years). And then you will have a great looking floor.

Solid or engineered = doesn't matter. BOTH REQUIRE humidity control. They are both wood = same requirements. Perhaps a water proof laminate like Aquaguard would be a better choice.

SJMcCarthy, what kind of wood are you thinking with the 3" plank? Finished onsite or is the UV cured aluminum or ammonium or whatever it is, coating on top okay (less expensive from what I understand, if it's prefinished and I like that it's non-toxic). I just figured any hardwood was out of the questioned and the contract is signed and paid for, but no install and boxes (at the warehouse) are unopened, so I don't even know if they'd let me select another product. A friend who lives in a bit more drier area (but still probably up to 60-63% humidity at times) has the 3" strip you are talking about in a lighter solid hardwood, no knots, kinda a light oak color. It's about 20 years old (dining/living combo) and she said she's refinished it (with a new "top coat") a number of times and "It's just what you have to do with hardwood floors". But, I'll tell you what, last time I was at her house, at her dining room table, I was thinking "This floor has certainly seen better days". This was after raising two rambunctious boys. So some things can't come out (gouges, stains, dirt/food in between) from refinishing, I'm assuming.

I prefer site finished. It is easier to refinish when it needs it. Your friend has probably done "buff and coat" procedures. This is normally done ONCE and then a FULL sand and refinish.

If your friend has been doing the buff and coat MORE THAN once, then she's doing it "wrong" (could be "right" for her, but it isn't the regular way for hardwood). Traditionally the FULL sand and refinish occurs around the 20 year mark. So the floors, after 20 years SHOULD look like this. That's kinda what tells you "it's time".

A buff and coat only adds a coat of finish (to freshen up the floor). It doesn't "correct" anything. The FULL sand and refinish will do 10 TIMES more for the look of the floor than a buff and coat. The sand/refinish will strip the old finish off and then carve off 1-2mm of WOOD. That means 99.9% of all dings and gouges will be taken care of.

The "dirt and food in between" (the planks) is MUCH MORE likely to occur with factory finished floors. These floors have bevelled edges (a little shoulder on every plank that creates little valleys between each plank). But it can occur with floors SHRINKING from LOW humidity. The floor can create little gaps between planks. That's normal if the humidity is too low or is uncontrolled.

The THINNER the plank, the LESS the wood will/can shrink. That's why narrow/strip hardwood is the BEST option for uncontrolled humidity. Those big, beautiful, expensive, wide plank products that are SUPER trendy = not an option for uncontrolled humidity.

A factory finished hardwood (with Aluminum Oxide = AO) is going to be SUPER expensive to refinish and here's why. The AO finish is SOOOO tough (how tough is it SJ?). It is SOOOO tough it takes 2-3 TIMES the amount of effort/material to strip it from the wood floor. Once the AO is gone, the wood turns into a normal hardwood floor. And just for fun, the 'refresh' buff and coat is almost IMPOSSIBLE to do. Even the toughest finish looks tired around the 15 year mark. Sadly, AO finishes often prevent a recoat (the finish is chemically very slick...almost nothing sticks to it = HELL to add '1 coat').

The average cost of a full sand/refinish = $5/sf. The average cost of a sand/refinish of AO = $7-$9/sf. Yes. It is THAT TOUGH to remove. A traditional buff and coat = $2.50 - $3/sf.

So if you do the math, the site finished hardwood may cost a bit more on day 1....but by year 30 it will be MUCH cheaper/easier to deal with/live with. It allows you to freshen up the finish around year 15 (if you wish). It allows for a routine sand/refinish without adding a HIGHER COST of labour.

So "cost effective" today can be much more costly by the time you plan on refinishing. In fact, so many people look at the extra costs and figure a new floor is cheaper....and they are right. Sigh...so there goes the idea of using up all the life on the hardwood (3/4" solid hardwood). That goes out the window when the owner realizes the costs are much higher and they choose to rip it out and throw it out; thus negating the benefit of a solid hardwood!

WOW, these "pre-fab" flooring people kinda have a racket going. My friend's home is also not humidity controlled and it's 20 miles from the ocean, in the woods, so it's some what less humidity and some hot, drier weather in the summer (no air conditioning) too. They probably haven't done the "sand/refinish" yet. So, basically, I'll be putting in a "temporary floor" unless I put in site finished hardwood or pay the $7-9 per sq. ft. to sand/refinish? That'll be about 2/3 the cost of a new floor (15-20 years from now). But the hardwood sand/refinish would be about half or a third of the cost of a new floor. I'll look on Lowe's website and see if I can find 3" hardwood "raw" finished at site. BTW, thank you for all your info. and you didn't mention the type of wood, so I guess any types (except for soft Pine and temperamental Bamboo) is okay as long as it has the 3" planks/strips.

Oh, two quick questions, SJ (I feel I can just call you SJ now!). Is the 3" solid hardwood even more appealing since the Falls River Engineered is "variable widths" of nearly 4", 6" and 8"? I'm thinking they may not all "play well together" so to speak. Also, with the 3" solid hardwood (oak probably), do I need anything under the nailed down hardwood? With the engineered wood, a vapor barrier is put down (polyurethane or something like that) and Pergo's "Gold" hardwood/laminate "pad" over that. Would I need those for the hardwood?. I would think the vapor barrier would be good to have but I wouldn't want to use the pad, as it will make the flooring too high (with the hardwood being 3/4") so it won't be level with the vinyl in the kitchen. BTW, the subfloor is plywood, 1/2" I believe.

Hi Cat Draw...the vapour barrier is rarely used over plywood. If you are nailing through it, it is OK, but traditionally it isn't needed (the idea is you do not put a vapour barrier over wood because the vapour gets trapped on the UNDERSIDE of the plastic and then soaks the plywood underneath = rotten subfloor = BIG expensive renovation).

The widths of the Falls River will do well together, but in a non-climate controlled home, you run big risks with these planks. They will have much more movement than a 3" strip hardwood.

Regardless as to the choice of your wood, please work with an NWFA Certified Installer. They have the knowledge and the education to work with your chosen material and your home's climate. They will cost more, but the education that comes with them is MUCH MORE valuable to you than just a couple of bucks.

As for subfloor thickness, traditionally there are TWO layers of subfloor. The first layer sits on the joists and is attached DIRECTLY to the joists. The top layer (known as the underlayment) is then screwed to the first layer but NOT the joists. The minimum requirement for BOTH layers is 3/4".

And just for fun, carpet does NOT need this double layer. Which could be problematic if there is only ONE layer. You would need to add a layer to get a wood floor into place. Have your wood flooring installer CHECK to see the thickness of the subfloor. It may need a remedy or it may not. You/s/he won't know until they get into your home to have a look/give you a written estimate.

Hi SJ, geez, I wish it had dawned on me to go here first, but I'm not of "that generation" so to speak. I told the installer it's one layer of plywood, but really, I don't know, (it's carpet now, so probably one). The install manager (contracted with Lowes) has 30 years experience - I just talked with him today - and he said "these floors are made so much better these days, they are not as 'finicky'", but he was breathing heavily when I was talking about all this with him! They have good reviews online, btw. Skimming the Pergo "install" requirements, I don't think it calls for two layers of plywood (but this was for the engineered 1/2") and interesting about the vapor barrier. I thought the same thing when I found out they were doing this. But won't the Pergo "gold" pad do the same thing? Should I tell them not to do the vapor barrier? I went with Lowes because I've used "big box" (Home Depot) lots over the years, been happy and Lowes had a 24 month no-interest special (12 month is not enough, as "smaller retailers" will do, even though we have excellent credit - I have a sick kid and live in a very high tax state, it's hard to afford large expenditures). Lowes has Bridgewell Resources 3.25" select oak unfinished that's a bit more than the engineered, but the installer doesn't do unfinished wood......Going to Lowes to figure all this out. They messed up a couple other things - appliance wise - that ended up fine and I never complained so hoping they will take that into account. No work has been done so I would think that is important. Thanks for all your help.