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Winter Wonderlands Can Create Havoc On Your Home
Winter wonderlands are great for skiing and snowballs, but they can wreak havoc on your home. One of the biggest impacts the winter can have on a home are the seasonal expansions and contractions that form in wood floors. In layman’s terms: the pesky gaps and warped panels formed in wood floors due to high/low humidity levels in your home. The key to preventing these issues with your wood floor is to maintain a balanced level of humidity, otherwise:
If you let the relative humidity level fall below 30%, the wood can get too dry, causing it to shrink and form gaps and cracks in your floor. This is why it is important for homeowners to take preventative measures by running a humidifier to maintain proper moisture levels when necessary.
On the flip side, if moisture levels in your home exceed the recommended 50% relative humidity range, the wood absorbs the excess moisture and expands unevenly to appear cupped or crowned. This also increases the likelihood of mold and mildew. So ultimately, it is important for homeowners to also install a de-humidifier to ensure proper moisture levels when necessary.
Either way, your wood floor could buckle, or worse, collapse under the pressure. The only way to prevent this from occurring is to install a relative humidity meter like Mr. Floor's Thermo-Hygrometer, to ensure that your home has the right moisture levels. Although even if you don't have wood flooring, a thermo-hygrometer regulating the moisture levels in your home in the winter is important to proper breathing and preventing health ailments like dry skin, nose bleeds, and cold/flu symptoms.
So if you have older wood floors, you need a thermo-hygrometer, because those charming gaps and bumps in your floor may be more destructive than they look.
If you let the relative humidity level fall below 30%, the wood can get too dry, causing it to shrink and form gaps and cracks in your floor. This is why it is important for homeowners to take preventative measures by running a humidifier to maintain proper moisture levels when necessary.
On the flip side, if moisture levels in your home exceed the recommended 50% relative humidity range, the wood absorbs the excess moisture and expands unevenly to appear cupped or crowned. This also increases the likelihood of mold and mildew. So ultimately, it is important for homeowners to also install a de-humidifier to ensure proper moisture levels when necessary.
Either way, your wood floor could buckle, or worse, collapse under the pressure. The only way to prevent this from occurring is to install a relative humidity meter like Mr. Floor's Thermo-Hygrometer, to ensure that your home has the right moisture levels. Although even if you don't have wood flooring, a thermo-hygrometer regulating the moisture levels in your home in the winter is important to proper breathing and preventing health ailments like dry skin, nose bleeds, and cold/flu symptoms.
So if you have older wood floors, you need a thermo-hygrometer, because those charming gaps and bumps in your floor may be more destructive than they look.
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