New hardwood flooring can look great when it is fitted but, as your installer will tell you, the fitting process shouldn’t be rushed or problems may ensue.

One of the most important things you must do to any new solid hardwood flooring planks is to make sure they acclimatise in the room where they are going to be fitted before they are laid. Depending on where the wood was previously stored and on the type of wood this time may vary, but if you plan around 1 to 2 weeks into the fitting schedule for appropriate acclimatisation you should be about right, but given the choice the longer the better.

It’s during this initial acclimatisation period that the wood will be able to adjust to the relative humidity and temperature in the room. The wood will have been stored in completely different conditions to those within your home and because of this the planks may have expanded or contracted, they may also have different levels of moisture.

If the floor is fitted as soon as it arrives at your home the planks could expand or contract in situ, meaning that in the worst cases the floor will buckle or large gaps will appear between the fitted planks.

Your wooden floor fitting expert will be able to discuss how long your order will need to acclimatise before it can be fitted.