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Hardwood Science (PDF view, please be patient, 30 seconds to load)
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"Wood expands and contracts based on the relative
humidity the wood is exposed to (Figure 1). It is not
unusual for interior wood moisture content to cycle
between 6% and 12% moisture content seasonally. This
creates interesting wood trim and wood flooring problems
and sometimes makes opening and closing wood doors a
challenge. Stranger still is that when wood shrinks and
expands, it shrinks and expands differently along the
grain than perpendicular to the grain. It shrinks and
expands much more at a right angle to the grain, than
along the grain."
Excerpt from
Wood is Good...But Strange By
Joseph W. Lstiburek,
Ph.D., P.Eng., Fellow ASHRAE
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