Arid conditions in the calgary winter air have some serious consequences for the finishing stage of the project.  This is a stark contrast to a previous post where the issue was too much humidity in the attic causing frost and melt damage.  So you have have a house that has too much humidity damaging the attic, and too little humidity inside damaging the wood products.  This year seems to have been particularly bad for both conditions, at the same time.  Such is the cursed life of the home builder who may be trying to add humidity to the interior while fighting to vent humidity from the attic.   

The ambient humidity in calgary air is too low for hardwood flooring, which is entirely produced in more temperate regions.  Once it is installed in calgary, even after being conditioned to the space, it may shrink.  The tactic we are using now is to deploy large humidifiers and leave out gauges to try and get the humidity to at least 40%.  Note that at this time we don’t have the furnace humidifier installed, so the furnace acts to dehumidify the house.   

This large unit can run for 36 hours and will pump 6 gallons of water into the air.  That really works to get the humidity up to a higher level inside.    

This house is being left warm because the painters are working.  They need it warm to dry the paint.  We want humidity over 40% so the gauge is helpful.