Like humidity, fluctuations in the temperature in your home can have a detrimental effect on your flooring, causing warping and gaps between floorboards. We recommend setting your thermostat to a comfortable temperature and maintaining this throughout the year. Obviously in very hot or cold weather conditions this isn’t always possible, but do try where you can.
In winter when the property is unoccupied you will probably have the heating turned off for long periods of time. If you are out at work all day it is likely that the temperature will drop. No-one wants to leave the heating on when they go to work or when they go away for the weekend but this will mean that the property will become very cold. Similarly when you get home and put the heating on the changes in temperature will mean that the property goes from very cold to warm quite quickly.
These fluctuations in temperature can have quite an impact on wood and your floor panels will go through periods of expansion and contraction. If the panels contract you may start to notice that cracks appear in between panels. This may be a cause for concern but you should be prepared for this. The difference is less so with laminate flooring as the panels can withstand a little more than solid wood.
If the temperature gets too hot the opposite problem occurs and the boards will expand. Now a little expansion won’t create too much of a problem but if the boards get too close together they will cause damage and possibly crack. There is only so much expansion wood can withstand before it needs to give – the boards forcing against each other will damage and cause cracks and warping.
The best thing to do is to try and maintain the temperature of the room, or premises, at a constant Yes, this will mean having the heating on all of the time especially in very cold weather. There are other things you can consider. If the room is properly insulated then a drop in temperature will be less likely and if you have air conditioning you can prevent the room from getting too hot in the summer months.
If you would like advice on the ideal temperature for your room then we will be happy to offer any help that we can. We have lots of experience in dealing with wooden floor problems and can offer advice on how best to care for your floor.