Do I need to take engineered hardwood out of the box to acclimate?
Engineered hardwood flooring needs to be opened and spread out from its packaging so it can properly adjust to the room's environment. Leaving the planks boxed up creates uncertainty about whether air can reach them, which leaves installers risking an improper acclimation before laying down the floor.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Removing the plastic wrap, opening both ends of each box, and opening the top slightly.
- 2Opening the boxes and spreading the flooring out more
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Should I spread them out more or is this fine for acclimation?”source ↗
“Also, while I'm asking, does the weight distribution look okay? This is above a crawl space.”source ↗
“I'd open them and spread them out. Why take the risk?”source ↗
“Do I have to take the flooring out of the box for it to properly acclimate to the room?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 2How to replace thin wood flooring in old, uneven houses
- 2How much should I charge for a small hardwood floor repair?