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Douglas Fir Facts

Douglas Fir Flooring: Getting acclimated

March 5, 2011 by | nell | There have been 0 comments

Installed douglas fir flooring

Freshly installed and finished Douglas fir flooring.

Behold the Douglas-fir: A truly magnificent tree that yields stunning and durable vertical-grained wood. It’s our go-to wood in the Pacific Northwest and has been since before English Captain John Meares sailed along the coast looking for the Columbia River. He missed it to his utter disappointment, but noted the region’s wealth in timber back in the 1780’s. Fast forward past an English tiff with the Spaniards, the arrival of the great explorers Lewis & Clark, and the California gold rush. By the mid 1800's the Pacific Northwest had turned into sawmill-country. So, we like to think ourselves acclimated to the wood we produce. And, we’re glad to help you do the same before installing your Douglas fir flooring.

Preconditioning
Douglas-fir, as with other wood species, is a natural material familiar with the earth’s elements. It adjusts to its surroundings regardless of form, whether it be furniture, interior framework, or flooring. It’s important that no matter how the Douglas fir is being used, that it be preconditioned to the temperature and humidity level of the place where it will live. Skipping the preconditioning means poor performance - and a shorter lifespan on your investment. We’ll cover how long you should wait before installing your flooring in the section about acclimatizing. But first, if you’ve got the time, we feel it’s important to tell you about Douglas fir’s stability, especially as compared to other wood species like standard pine.

Stability
The Douglas fir proves to be quite stable in what many see as an unstable world. That’s because it’s refractory – it naturally resists getting soaked compared to other species like pine (Radiata Pine). This resistance or repellency is based on the Douglas-fir’s wood properties. In “wood tests,” the Douglas-fir shows better dimensional stability over pine because it’s more uniform in its makeup and density, making it a more stable wood. In other words, it retains its shape better in wet or dry conditions. Some may say it’s stubborn, but we prefer to say the Douglas-fir is headstrong – its particular stability means it does a darn good job at withstanding decay over time.

Acclimatizing
It’s important to not take your wood for granted. What do we mean, exactly? Well, it’s likely your flooring has traveled far and wide to get to your door. It’s common to simply take pleasure in the beauty of wood flooring without thinking about all the steps that occur between felling a tree and flooring delivery. Raw wood picks up moisture in transit and in storage. Remember, wood is porous and contracts and expands, going with the flow of its surroundings. The last thing you want is to install “swollen” Douglas fir flooring, or any kind of flooring that’s been exposed to moisture in transit. Without proper acclimatization, this wood would be “swollen” when installed. Next thing you know, your family is walking on ill-fitted flooring and you’re thinking, it was fine when I installed it.

Conversely, wood shrinks in drier environments when traveling through regions like the Southwest. Without a period of acclimatization, this “dry” wood would expand, warp, and perhaps buckle from exposure to moisture in a more humid home environment. If it expands after installation, the floor will be uneven and unattractive.

All in all, your Douglas fir needs time to settle into its surroundings; mainly, your home’s in-use temperature and humidity levels. Here’s what we recommend for proper acclimatization:

  1. Stack wood boards in the same room where they will be installed
  2. Use plastic separators between layers (if possible)
  3. Wait at least a week for the wood to settle before installation
  4. Wood designated for high moisture areas – bathrooms, basements, kitchens, and porches – needs to be treated with a sealer on all sides prior to installation.



A little patience goes a long way in preventing disappointment. We’d hate for you to pull a Captain Meares and miss out on discovering the working wonders of Douglas fir.

- Nicole Morales


This post was posted in All Entries, Douglas Fir Flooring, Care & Maintenance and was tagged with Douglas fir flooring, douglas fir floors, fir flooring, flooring installation

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