wood flooring and radiant

jack z

I am in the process of building a new house. The house has been dried in approximately two years(I'm a slow worker). The house is completely radiant - Stadlers climate panel over a 3/4" subfloor. The climate panels have been installed for 4 months. The wood flooring which is 3"wide 3/4" thick quartersawn white oak flooring is has been at the jobsite 2weeks and won't get installed for another 2 weeks. The heating system is operational but has not been run except for testing purposes. The AC is not operational and won't be until next summer. The oak flooring and the climate panels are within 3-4% moisture content of each other(tested with a moisture meter). What steps should I take to insure a trouble free installation of the wood flooring. I'm aware of some of the obvious ones such as not nailing through the tubing and leaving an expansion space between the flooring and wall. I am more concerned about the unique installation considerations with the radiant and wood flooring. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Dan Peel

Standard concerns

You have most of the basics covered. Between your finished floor and sub-floor buildup you will need a slip sheet - we suggest 6mil poly. You can see through it when nailing/stapling and it will help prevent squeaking long term. You have the oak and underlayment at close to the same moisture content, that's a good thing but where is this relative to your seasonal swings? Adjust your board to board compression to suit your local moisture variations. Moisture factors in Seattle are way different than in say Phoenix. Enjoy.....Dan

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hr

Moisture control

by far is the biggest challange, as Dan mentioned.

Get it acclimated to your typical humidy levels and keep it there!

Wide swings in moisture levels will cause the wood to swell and shrink. You can never completly stop this movement, but do all you can to control it.

Most of the online hardwood websites have excellent info also.

www.launstein.com
www.nofma.org.
www.woodfloorsonline.com
are a few

hot rod

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Mike T., Swampeast MO

Sounds like you are slow, patient & exacting

Quartersawn white oak is as inherently stable as oak gets.

If, like much of the U.S. your humidity tends to spike in the summer, leave the flooring in the house and wait until autumn (before you have a real need for heating) to install.

Wood will ALWAYS move and on "average" weather-wise that should put the wood at an "average" movement-wise with your home.

Then use your heating/cooling systems as normal and the floor should remain as silent as possible for as long as possible.