You need to acclimatise your bamboo flooring before installation to allow it to adjust to adjust surroundings. This process is really important and helps to reduce the risk of the planks of bamboo moving and becoming damaged after they have been installed. When ordering your bamboo floor, you should always allow for acclimatisation time in your home before starting to fit your flooring.
Why is this process of acclimatisation important?
The process of acclimatisation is so important to prevent damage in the future. If your planks of bamboo flooring are not given sufficient time to adapt to their surroundings they may try to adjust once they have been installed. This can cause either plank shrinkage or expansion and could result in noticeable damage. As Bamboo is a natural resource, it will naturally adapt to the surrounding environment. For example, if there are slight increases in temperature, humidity or moisture, the bamboo will absorb this and swell slightly. Alternatively, if the air becomes drier, the bamboo may start to lose moisture and shrink slightly. These changes are completely natural and will be on a minimal scale, so nothing to worry about as long as you have:
• allowed you new bamboo flooring to acclimatise to its surroundings
• prepared your subfloor properly
• installed your bamboo flooring following the instructions in the box
How to acclimatise my bamboo flooring?
Here are some simple steps on how to acclimatise your new bamboo floor:
1. Ensure all wet trades in your home are finished and dry (e.g. plastering or concreting).
2. Make sure you order your bamboo floor with enough time to allow it to acclimatise at home.
3. Leave the flooring in the unopened boxes in the room where you are going to install it. Never leave the boxes of flooring in a garage, outside or in a damp area.
4. If you have underfloor heating, please raise the bamboo off the floor to acclimatise.
5. Always leave the boxes of bamboo flooring flat, don’t lean them against anything.
6. Never leave the flooring to acclimatise next to a heat source or radiator.
7. The relative humidity in the room should be between 45-65%, with an ambient temperature of between 17 – 22°C.
8. Leave the flooring to acclimatise for at least 48 hours.
For more detailed advice, either contact us or have a look at our Acclimatisation and Storage Guidelines.
