 | The building should be closed in. |
| Exterior doors and windows must be in place. |
| All concrete, masonry, framing members, drywall, paint and other
wet work should be thoroughly dry. |
| The wall coverings should be in place and the painting completed
except for the final coat on the base molding. When possible, delay
installation of base molding until floor installation is complete. |
| In warm months the bulding must be well ventilated. |
| In winter a temperature of a minimum of 60 degrees should be
maintained at least five days before the flooring is delivered. |
| Be sure the flooring will not be exposed to extremes of humidity
or moisture. |
| Basements must be dry and well ventilated. |
| Crawl spaces must be dry and well ventilated. |
| Crawl space must be a minimum of 24" (600 MM) from ground to
under side
of joists. |
| A ground cover of 6-8 mil black polyethylene film is essential as
a vapor barrier. |
| Crawl space should have perimeter venting equal to a minimum of
1.5% of the crawl space square footage. These vents should be
properly located to foster cross ventilation. |
| The grade level should be noted so that the correct flooring can
be used for
the job. The subfloor should be appropriate for the flooring to be
used. |
| Subfloor (wood or concrete) should be checked by an appropriate
method for
moisture content. |
Flooring should be delivered and stored in the rooms in which it will
be installed. Acclimate according to geographical location or according
to manufacturer's recommendations. Where building codes allow, permanent
HVAC systems should be in place and operating both during and five days
preceeding installations to allow for proper acclimation. If building
codes do not allow operation of the permanent system, then temporary
systems need to be in place. Acclimation of the flooring must occur at
the jobsite with the temperature and humidity maintained at normal
living conditions. Optimum installation conditions are 70 degrees
Fahrenheit at 30-50% relative humidity.
Subfloor and hardwood floor should be checked by an appropriate
method for moisture content. There should be no more than 4% difference
between hardwood flooring, or 2% for solid plank flooring, and wood or
wood composite subfloor taking into consideration normal living
conditions and equalized moisture content (EMC.).
