10-10-2020, 06:31 AM
Do you have a reasonably accurate moisture meter? You can bring in a piece of wood now and let it set until you get your flooring delivered. Maybe let it set a week or more so just so you know it's had enough time to acclimate. Maybe use the same species as a little bit of insurance. Acclimation is simply allowing the wood to reach the same moisture level as the interior of the home. A cheap pin moisture meter should give you all the information you need.
When the new wood hits the same moisture level as your benchmark piece, it's acclimated. It's my understanding that it takes longer to dry than it does to absorb moisture. But you don't know if it needs to dry or get wet without knowing the moisture level.
I would still leave the new flooring bundled as I've had problems with bending, especially with narrow planks. Not as much with wider planks. There will always be some warping but you can help control it with keeping the bundles banded. The energy causing the boards to bend is still happening inside the bundle but take a while to move once out of the bundle. Most bent boards can still be installed with a little effort. Generally, I leave several bundles un-banded as I install. I'll lay about 20sq ft and un-band another bundle. I try not to install the bend planks near a parallel wall where you'll use finish nails to install them. It's better to lay them away from a wall where the surrounding boards can keep it in place. You'll want to have several boxes open while you lay the flooring to have plenty of boards to choose from to keep it random looking. Some boxes will have a lot of shorts and some will have a lot of longs. The higher grade (more expensive) flooring will have more long planks and less shorts and have more uniformity between the boxes.
When the new wood hits the same moisture level as your benchmark piece, it's acclimated. It's my understanding that it takes longer to dry than it does to absorb moisture. But you don't know if it needs to dry or get wet without knowing the moisture level.
I would still leave the new flooring bundled as I've had problems with bending, especially with narrow planks. Not as much with wider planks. There will always be some warping but you can help control it with keeping the bundles banded. The energy causing the boards to bend is still happening inside the bundle but take a while to move once out of the bundle. Most bent boards can still be installed with a little effort. Generally, I leave several bundles un-banded as I install. I'll lay about 20sq ft and un-band another bundle. I try not to install the bend planks near a parallel wall where you'll use finish nails to install them. It's better to lay them away from a wall where the surrounding boards can keep it in place. You'll want to have several boxes open while you lay the flooring to have plenty of boards to choose from to keep it random looking. Some boxes will have a lot of shorts and some will have a lot of longs. The higher grade (more expensive) flooring will have more long planks and less shorts and have more uniformity between the boxes.