Proper indoor humidity is essential in any indoor space, especially when dealing with significant investments such as wooden gym floors in schools, fitness centers, and community facilities. Indoor hardwood courts are susceptible to changes caused by fluctuations in the weather, making it necessary to proactively protect the flooring for each season.
- Humidity and Gym Floors
- What is the Ideal Humidity Level for Gym Floors?
- What if the Relative Humidity is Too High?
- What if the Relative Humidity is Too Low?
- How to Monitor the Relative Humidity Level
- How to Lower a Gym's Humidity Level
- How to Raise a Gym's Humidity Level
Humidity and Gym Floors
As the humidity level changes, wood flooring reacts: when humidity usually rises, gym flooring expands in summer. Conversely, as the humidity level drops, wood floors contract.
Typically, these changes are unnoticeable and normal. Most flooring manufacturers install their gym floors to account for the natural expansion and contraction of flooring. However, in situations where drastic changes in relative humidity are taking place, significant issues can arise.
What is the Ideal Humidity Level for Gym Floors?
Most manufacturers and installers recommend maintaining an indoor humidity level of 35 to 50 percent RH to reduce the expansion and contraction of flooring. Industry-wide, the humidity level in wooden gym floors can increase or decrease by 15 percent without causing significant problems.
What if the Relative Humidity is Too High?
Excessive relative humidity can cause a variety of issues with wooden gym floors:
- Cupping: The edges of a wood plank bow up relative to its center, causing the board to take on a concave "u" shape.
- Crowning: The opposite of cupping, the center of the plank bows up above the edges and creates a bubble shape underneath the wood.
- Cracking: High humidity causes wood flooring to expand, pushing against itself, which can cause visible cracking.
- Buckling: This occurs when wood floors expand beyond the available space, creating a gap between the gym floor and the subfloor and making them feel bouncy.
What if the Relative Humidity is Too Low?
Low humidity or very dry air can cause a different set of problems:
- Splitting: Overly dry air causes the wooden floor to dry out, creating stress on the wood and causing it to split. Once wood flooring breaks, the finish becomes damaged, so the flooring is unprotected. Typically, it cannot be repaired and must be replaced.
- Gapping: Wood shrinks when humidity is too low, causing gaps between the planks. If the wood shrinks too much, permanent damage can occur because it won't be able to expand again fully.
How to Monitor the Relative Humidity Level
Monitoring the current indoor relative humidity level is easy. A simple hygrometer can be set up in the gym as a great resource for monitoring RH levels in real-time, like the Acu-Rite Remote Thermometer / Hygrometer. Equipped with a single sensor but capable of accommodating multiple sensors at different locations in the gym, it provides comprehensive data about the relative humidity level, temperature, and more.
How to Lower a Gym's Humidity Level
The humidity level is consistently high in some areas of the country, particularly the southern portion of the United States. Quest industrial overhead dehumidifiers are a top choice for reliable and efficient moisture removal, offering a permanent solution for long-term humidity control solutions.
The overhead design allows them to be placed out of the way so they aren't taking up valuable floor space, while their programmability and onboard monitoring allow you to set your ideal humidity level and let the dehumidifier do the rest.
If you’re looking for other commercial-grade dehumidifiers, check out our complete selection of industrial dehumidification solutions.
How to Raise a Gym's Humidity Level
In the northern US, routinely low humidity levels are a greater concern than excessive humidity. In this case, moisture needs to be added instead of removed. Designed for buildings up to 4,200 square feet, the Aprilaire Model 700/700M Whole House Humidifier uses your building’s ductwork to deliver humidified air.
Depending on the model selected, humidification can be manually controlled, or a digital humidity controller can be used for set-it-and-forget-it operation. Installing the humidifier on the hot air supply plenum of the HVAC system puts it out of sight, so it doesn't interfere with the daily operations of the gym.
HVAC humidifiers aren’t one-size-fits-all. For other commercial-grade humidification options, be sure to check out all of our HVAC/Ducted humidifiers.
Summary
Maintaining an indoor humidity level of 35 to 50 percent relative humidity is essential to protecting and maintaining wooden gym floors. Using a dehumidifier to lower the humidity level or a humidifier to increase it is a proactive step in protecting this investment.
Still Have Questions?
If you have questions about how to protect gym floors, contact one of our product experts at 1-800-934-9194 or email us at experts@sylvane.com.
