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Movement of Wood
Wood is a versatile material, with an infinite number of applications. It is naturally beautiful, characteristic and warm. It is also strong, durable and easy to work with. Wood is influenced by the soil, the climate and the properties and structure of the tree from which wood originates. These influences mean that wood has such diverse properties. If you want to use wood, you must take into account properties such as: wood moisture content, shrinkage and swelling, density and heat properties.
Choice of Wood
Quality and Apllication
Always ask yourself what kind and quality of wood should be chosen for the intended application. When determining this choice, the wood user must take into account the appearance, workability, strength and durability that the material must meet. Wood is often divided into hardwood and softwood. In the official sense, hardwood, wood that comes from deciduous trees and softwood, is wood that comes from coniferous trees. There are softwoods that are harder than some hardwoods.
The right wooden floor for you
The employees of Uipkes Wood Flooring have a great deal of knowledge about wood species and types of wooden floors that best suit your situation. Feel free to contact us for questions and advice or read more on our website about engineered wood floors, herringbone floors and about the possibilities for underfloor heating under your wooden floor.
Wood Moisture Content
Wood contains a lot of moisture. Even when the wood has been processed into a wooden floor, it still contains a considerable amount of moisture. In addition, wood constantly absorbs moisture from its environment and subsequently releases moisture to its environment. Wood moisture content is one of the most important properties of a piece of wood.
Shrinking and Swelling
"Movement of wood" refers to the shrinkage and swelling of air-dried wood as a result of normal changes in relative humidity. When the wood loses even more moisture at the fiber saturation point, the moisture must come out of the cell walls, causing them to deform. The wood will then shrink. When wood absorbs moisture from below the fiber saturation point on, it will swell. The speed and strength of these shape changes depend on the type of wood.
Volumetric Mass
Many materials are described in terms of relative density or specific weight. This is the ratio of the mass of a certain volume of that substance to the mass of the same volume of water. However, this measurement is not suitable for wood because of the large variation in moisture content, with the result that the mass of wood varies and the volume of wood is not always constant. With wood, people prefer to speak of volumetric mass.
Heat Properties
Wood has a low specific heat, about half that of stone. This property makes wood feel warm quickly. Floors, walls and furniture quickly feel pleasant after turning on the heating, even if the stone wall behind it is still very cold. Because wood quickly adopts room temperature, a plank floor generally feels nice and warm.
