Well in my experience acclimation keeps all kinds of stuff from happening and I have never had wood floors installed without it and engineered I have been told needs less time to acclimate I don’t know if that is true or not. The NWFA is just an organization not the be all and end all of flooring guys this is their mandate nothing special IMO

• To deal with customers with honesty and integrity.

• To promote the merits of products and services without degrading competitors.

• To reveal all the material facts so that the truth about products and services may be understood fully.

• To abide by all governmental regulations and statues.

• To support the NWFA and its goals and purposes toward advancing the wood flooring industry.

• To commit no act that would discredit profession or the wood flooring industry.

• To abide by these Standards of Professional Conduct and recognize the NWFA as the authority in all matters relating to interpretation and enforcement of these Standards, within prevailing legal limits.

G&S said it best. You are welcome to ask for an addendum to your contract stating that ANY/ALL installation related issues due to lack of acclimation will be dealt with at the installers expense for the next 'X' amount of years. Normally work/labour warranties are 1 year. Some really top guys go 2 years but that's really the end of it.

If you aren't happy with the installer's statement of 'delivery day = day of install' then go ahead and give him/her the option. Either extend the acclimation process (including the moisture readings to be given over to you at the end of the job) or they offer an EXTENDED labour/product warranty over and above the 1 year range (go for 3-5 years....that should be enough to get them to take notice) - the moisture readings to be handed over at the end of the job when final payment is received.

Be nice as pie. Offer to pay the extra travel time, make sure you are clear, considerate and willing to offer a snick more (their travel time is probably quite long which is why s/he doesn't want to travel more than necessary to get the wood off loaded and then COME BACK to start install and then COME BACK to start the sanding/refinishing and then COME BACK to FINISH the job).

And notice how I mentioned the moisture readings to be handed over EITHER WAY? Right. That's the whole point of this exercise. To get the moisture readings at time of final payment. The moisture readings are what tie VERY STICK OF WARRANTY together. Do not waiver on the moisture readings. Those are non-negotiable.

smit2380 , you have been given very good advice already. If that floor installation fails you wont have a warranty from the manufacturer if guidelines were not followed and recorded. Your installer may be very hard to track down if that happens. :-(

Unless wood is removed from bundles and allowed to have exposure on all tops and bottoms, acclimation before installing is largely ineffective and pointless. It can actually be detrimental if the house humidity is high enough. Exposed ends can grow more than shielded portions causing them to expand more, making it harder to install. We largely follow what you installer does but acclimate for two weeks between completion of installation and commencement of sanding. The major exception would be with wide plank, which requires more elaborate measures to reduce the propensity for cupping.

The subfloor and wood should be checked for moisture before laying any flooring. These measurements may alter the acclimation regimen.

Acclimating has nothing to do with time. The space just needs to be in normal living condition and the MC needs to be within range. Most flooring are delivered between 6-9%. Which is at the recommendation. The installer needs to make sure it is within range of the subfloor and the humidity is not out of whack, before continuing.

Sorry for the delayed response. We took in a new foster puppy, and he is a little demon that has thrown the whole house in to chaos. (Please note that he is not bad. He just has no idea how to live in a house.)

Thank you for all of the advice.

Thanks for the perspective on the NWFA. I will call and get one other estimate from another well-reviewed, but not NWFA-certified installer that I pre-screen to make sure that they acclimate and test for moisture.

G & S, Thanks for the perspective about warranty and the information on MC levels. I was thrown off a little by how offended they acted when I suggested the acclimation/MC level thing especially since they were NWFA-certified.

SJ, I doubt it is the travel time. Although they are the only NWFA installer within 100 miles, they are exactly 13 miles from my house. If they are not willing to check moisture content/acclimate as needed before install, I kind of feel like they would be nightmares for purposes of enforcing an extended warrantyl. With that said, I will take one more run at them with respect to the acclimation/moisture content.

Johnson Flooring, we are only installing a few hundred square feet of flooring and have enough space that they can lay out each board individually like cookies on a sheet. We would much rather have acclimation before installation to minimize disruption and problems.

I was hoping to see a pic of the puppy. Let us know if you end up keeping him. BTW, good luck with your flooring project.

Flopsycat, this is a picture of Donnie (the new foster puppy).