The three temperatures you must control prior to delivery of flooring to site: Surface, Ambient and Product. Floor covering products are required to be delivered into eventual living (service) conditions prior to installation so that they acclimate and don’t change shape when occupancy is reached. Living conditions are typically 20c (68f) at 45% Ambient Relative Humidity. Thermostat controlled, main heat and or HVAC should be operating and maintaining these conditions. Test results should be recorded for future reference. Managing this critical pre-installation stage helps avoid the risk of encountering a host of related problems (depending on flooring type) such as splitting/checking of hardwood top veneers, excessive expansion and related squeaking, shrinkage and gaps, buckling and lifting of vinyl plank edges. The installation area is either within manufacturers’ installation guidelines or not. Temporary electric heaters, such as in this image, are limited to the amount of space they can heat and often do not have thermostat controls. Fans are also required to circulate air and keep conditions stable. Propane heat is not recommended as it introduces water vapour into the air that will raise Ambient Relative Humidity. www.nfca.ca
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November 2020
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