Challenges involved with installing hardwood: Wood Cuts

By Brett Miller

Flooring installers face a variety of challenges on the jobsite every day, but from time to time, we here at the National Wood Flooring Association tend to notice some trends that simply can’t be ignored. During the past few months, we have received a growing number of inquiries about flooring being installed without HVAC systems in place.

This issue came up a number of times at the CCA show I attended in Dallas this past August, and we’ve also noticed an increase in the number of calls to the NWFA’s technical hotline addressing the issue as well. Obviously, this trend poses some problems for all flooring categories, but for wood flooring in particular it can result in potential disaster. To understand why, let’s get scientific for just a moment.

Wood is a hygroscopic material, which means that it will absorb or lose moisture. It expands when it absorbs moisture, and it shrinks when it loses moisture. How much moisture it gains or loses depends directly on its environment. The relationship between wood and water is a complex one, but let’s break it down.

Going back to high school biology, a study of basic plant structure gives us the most rudimentary explanation. Trees grow with roots in the soil, leaves in the air and wood in the middle. These roots collect water and nutrients from the soil, transport them through the vessels and fibers within the wood in the trunk and branches to the leaves. A standing tree is composed of vertically aligned fibers for water distribution. When a tree is cut down, sawn and manufactured into flooring, the fibers then lie horizontally, running the length of the boards.

In a live tree, the fibers are loaded with water. After being cut, the tree begins to lose water and to dry out. The process is similar to cutting flowers, which eventually dry out after being picked. As the fibers in the tree dry, they shrink in thickness or diameter, but minimally in length. This shrinkage, which will happen with all wood species, is critical to understanding the effect of moisture on wood flooring.

Generally speaking, wood will shrink in dry environments and swell in moist environments. Getting wood to a stable condition, where it has reached its ideal equilibrium in moisture content, will ensure its long-term performance, which is where HVAC systems come into the equation.

HVAC systems are designed to control both temperature and humidity within a building, and having one in place helps to get wood to an optimum performance condition. In fact, NWFA’s Wood Flooring Installation Guidelines recommend that HVAC systems be installed, turned on and functioning for a minimum of five days before any installation of wood flooring products takes place. If this is not possible, temporary heating, cooling and humidification systems that mimic normal occupied living conditions can be utilized, but the preferred acclimation method is the HVAC system. And that’s why we’re hearing concerns from flooring installers more and more frequently.

In many cases, builders across the country are refusing or are not allowed to turn the HVAC systems on before flooring installation takes place. In some cases, this is simply a matter of economics for builders wanting to save money on electricity and on cleaning out HVAC systems from dust and other building debris. But in other cases it’s part of the local building codes.

There are many areas of the country where a builder can’t get a permit for the HVAC system until the floor has been installed. This can be a serious challenge in areas like Texas where the temperatures during the summer months reach 100 degrees or more, in additional to high relative humidity. These are not ideal conditions in which to install wood flooring. Most installers understand that the best solution is to refuse to install under these conditions, but many then run the potential risk of being labeled as someone who can’t deliver, which can damage a company’s long-term reputation. Additional risk sometimes surfaces when addressing inspection issues as well. In many cases, the first question is about acclimation and whether the HVAC was on during installation.

In West Palm Beach, Florida, Jenny Riddle, managing partner at AJ Brothers Hardwood Flooring & Stairs, has experienced this dilemma as well. Riddle recognizes that failure issues aren’t always as simple as whether or not the HVAC was turned on. In her view, the problem is “not so much because of the installer, but because of the builders, developers or other project managers.” She explains that “on new construction and commercial build-outs, there is always something not going according to schedule. There are delays and trades working on top of each other. Builders hold payments and threaten suits if installers don’t proceed, even though the jobsite conditions are not desirable.”

Scheduling pressures pose a problem when failures occur, she continues. “Unfortunately, this is also one of the variables inspectors encounter, as they really need to do their research and speak to all involved parties,” says Riddle. “It’s not as simple as the installer is to blame and should not have proceeded.” She says that the results, though, are devastating, no matter who is at fault. “It can include cupping, buckling, crowning, abnormal gaps” and a host of other problems, she says.

Riddle further stresses that these failures often are not caused by a lack of professionalism on the part of the installer, but by the installer being forced into an undesirable jobsite situation. She explains that in many cases, “they may have already done floor prep, plywood installation, concrete leveling, etc., with the materials paid for and delivered, including the wood flooring. In other words, they may not be in a position, financially, to simply walk away from the job.”

Other areas of the country might not be impacted by laws affecting the use of HVAC units, but that doesn’t mean the problem doesn’t exist.

Chris Zizza, president of C&R Flooring in Westwood, Massachusetts, says the issue is something he runs into a lot. “Many of our builders push to have the floors done regardless of the conditions,” he says.

When this issue arises, oscillating fans are one method Zizza uses to move air in a room and reduce humidity. Another option is to use low fans at floor level. “These are the kind of fans that water removal companies or carpet cleaners use,” explains Zizza, who is an installer and also an NWFA-certified wood flooring inspector. “Some people call them snail fans because they look like a snail, but these fans can help reduce moisture in the subfloor.” A third option is to use dehumidifiers, but Zizza warns that installers need to be sure to run the drains out the window or into a nearby sink to avoid having water drain right back onto and into the floor. Finally, he recommends using window air conditioning units, which can help control climate, but he warns this is not always an effective method because “everyone leaves the doors open due to foot traffic.”

Another option that can work when HVAC is not available is acclimating the wood off site. This is possible by storing the wood in a controlled environment away from the jobsite, like in a warehouse where both temperature and humidity are controlled and can be brought to expected living conditions.

Kevin Mullany, president of Benchmark Wood Floors in Albuquerque, New Mexico, agrees with Zizza’s perspective. Mullany says that the old recommendation of racking out the flooring and leaving it on the jobsite for weeks to acclimate is an outdated process that just doesn’t work for new construction anymore. Plus, he says, “The challenge builders are encountering is that the defined air exchange systems require specific conditions to maintain balance. Construction dust, too many opened doors, etc., void the warranty on some of these systems,” so Mullany recommends that each project be assessed, from planning stage to installation, to find the best solution.

HVAC warranty issues are a concern in Washington, D.C., too, which is where Universal Floors president Sprigg Lynn does the majority of his work. Lynn says that much of the historical restoration work his company does is due to water damage, but that new construction often takes place with no HVAC. “You’re dealing with the same issue, even if it’s for a different reason,” says Lynn. “There’s too much moisture in the wood, and you need to fix it, with or without the HVAC. Builders don’t want to turn it on because they don’t want to void the warranty of the HVAC system.”

In Las Vegas, Joe Audino, vice president and general manager of Rode Bros. Floors, says that the best solution is for the contractor to walk away from the job, but that his company approaches the issue in two ways. Audino explains that his crews “treat prefinished wood floors like carpet. Builders understand that it is one of the final items on a project, and climate control is operational by then. For unfinished, for some of our accounts, we install after the wet work is done, then sand and finish after climate controls are operational.”

Failing to control the environment can have an extreme impact on wood, as Wayne Lee, business development representative and technical advisor to Middle Tennessee Lumber, recently described. Lee had been called out to inspect a floor that was installed with no running HVAC, with rainwater running down the exterior walls and with wet work still taking place on the jobsite. The jobsite clearly was not ready for the flooring to be installed, but the builder insisted, and the installer, not wanting to lose the job, installed the flooring. By the time Lee was called, the floor had failed. Lee stated that he “measured a 40-board run on this 4”, which should be 160” total, but that run of flooring had swelled over 2”.”

In Lee’s area, contractors adhere to the International Residential Code put out by the International Code Council, as well as the National Association of Home Builders building codes. According to Lee, builders in his area say the codes won’t allow the HVAC to be turned on, which is resulting in flooring failures.

Lee goes on to say that the issues he’s seeing as a result of installation without HVAC aren’t happening just in high-production tract homes, but in multi-million-dollar custom homes as well. “One of the houses I worked on was about a $2 million house,” says Lee. “We had painters working on stilts while the flooring was being racked. The mindset is: ‘Hurry up and get it done.’ It’s sad because the plumber is getting $100 an hour, but the flooring contractor hired is usually the lowest bid.”

Sometimes, it’s just better to walk away from the job. That’s what Lenny Hall, president and owner of West Park, Florida based Endurance Floor Company, does. He says that he has had experiences with “builders who want to have wood floors and/or subfloors in before the HVAC is installed to protect the ductwork, equipment or whatever excuse can be imagined.” Hall explains the correct and proper installation methods and then politely refuses to comply with the request. He concedes that the builder has no trouble finding another installer to do the job, but that he does not have to deal with the headaches of any issues that crop up afterward. “It doesn’t feel good to lose a job,” he says, “but we avoid the financial and emotional pain from when the floor fails to perform as it is supposed to.”

Walking away is also the recommendation of Avi Hadad, owner of Avi’s Hardwood Floors in El Sobrante, California. Hadad says that it is very common in the San Francisco Bay area to have homes under construction with no heat or air conditioning in place. “The general contractor usually cannot get the gas hooked up until the very last phase of construction,” he explains. “I would say that a big part of wood failures, which in turn creates a bad reputation for wood floors versus other floorcoverings, is a result of building departments or planners or inspectors not approving HVAC until the end of construction.” Hadad says that he does his best to educate builders about the inherent problems with this practice, and that some listen, but that most don’t and end up hiring someone else.

In Braintree, Massachusetts, Dan’s Custom Hardwood Floor project manager Jimmy Nguyen says that it’s an issue of timing in his area, adding, “The majority of our builders would rather be on time with their deadlines versus getting things done correctly,” which poses some significant challenges. He shares that there have been situations in which his crew would “get the floors sanded, stained and one coat of poly down, and the next day, painters would go in and mask everything off so they could spray the walls, ceilings, etc. Taping to the floors? Sure. Cover the finish before it has time to off-gas? You bet. Having crazy amounts of construction traffic over nothing more than rosin paper? Fair game.”

Nguyen says that part of the challenge is that when working with a builder, the flooring contractor rarely gets to interact with the homeowner directly, and in the end, they just don’t seem to care. “They just want a gleaming floor,” explains Nguyen, “and are willing to overlook all other ‘imperfections’ as long as their wall colors are correct, their stain color for the floor is right, their pricey fixtures are in, and they get to move their furniture in, which they scheduled weeks ago.”

A lot of times, according to Nguyen, when a complaint like gapping does occur, the builder will educate the customer for the first time about hygrometers and keeping their relative humidity within range. “In these cases,” says Nguyen, “the builder often tells the flooring owner that’s the way it is with wood, then blames them for not maintaining the environment correctly. The builder might then let them know that most gaps are seasonal, so they need to wait for the cycle to play itself out. For the most part, either the flooring owner forgets about it after that much time has passed, or doesn’t care, or the one-year warranty on the project has passed. So in the end, the consumer gets blamed for the builder’s failure to follow best practices.”

John Alford, president of A Step Above Flooring & Installations in Cincinnati, Ohio, says that he recently encountered a builder who did not want to turn the HVAC on for a job he was bidding on. The reason, according to Alford, was cost. “He had electricity running to the jobsite on temporary poles,” he explains, “and also didn’t want to have to deal with construction dust being sucked into the HVAC system.”

Like the other flooring professionals I spoke to, Alford says the builders in his area are “doing things as fast as they can and as cheaply as they can,” and that the problem is here to stay as long as consumers keep demanding instant gratification. This problem is encouraged by many of the DIY television programs showing homes that are built from foundation to completion in a week’s time. “Those houses are destined to fail,” says Alford, “and not just the flooring. It’s just not the right way to do things for long-term performance, value and success, so those are the kind of jobs we won’t do. The bottom line is that our reputation is at stake, and we’re not willing to compromise.”

Recognizing the problem exists and addressing it by implementing building codes that support long-term flooring performance and success are two entirely different processes. Riddle says, “If building codes and guidelines would all address this issue, it would make a significant difference in how these builders handle wood products on their job sites.” Ultimately, this may be the only way to tackle the issue so that contractors can continue to put food on the table while following accepted industry standards.

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