Hardwood Floors During Winter

Winter Related Hardwood Problems 

Hardwood floors have a stress level much like anything else in nature. If you happen to live in a home that sounds out it’s displeasure during winter days and nights by crackling or making sounds that pop, your floor is telling you something. 

What’s It Trying To Say? Why? 

It’s telling you, ”I’m getting stressed out man, fix me!” You’re bewildered. You moved into the home in the spring and it never happened before. Strange indeed. Colder weather forces us to heat our homes. Heating dries out the indoor air and moisture is lost. Your hardwood floor is actually alive of sorts. It still has pores that gain or lose moisture in minimal amounts. Moisture is being removed from the hardwood flooring, but it did not happen overnight. Individual floorboards are generally installed tight against one another. With drier air they begin to move apart ever so slightly, and finally a breaking point is reached. It cries out. Sounds will be more prevalent with narrower strip floors opposed to wider planks because of the number of seams. 

How Can It Be Rescued? 

Over the years I’ve heard questionable ideas such as boiling water on the stove, or having a large sized fish tank. Boiling a pot of water will do nothing as long as the dry heat continues to crank. Besides it takes a prolonged period of time for the floor to reach an equilibrium level to satisy. Most often a humidifier is added to the furnace system or other heating system you may have. This will provide a constant level of humidifaction to the home environment.