Acclimation: Your best insurance policy
Too often in the contracting field, unnecessary and easily avoidable errors are made due to deadlines and impatience. Proper product acclimation might take a little time now, but it always worth it. When corners are occasionally cut, it almost always shows.
Proper acclimation ensures the beauty of this cumaru for decades to come.
The durability and beauty of Ipe, Cumaru, or Tigerwood, comes with a few concessions. The most important allowance is proper acclimation of the building materials.
Sort, space, and stack the delivery. This assures proper air-drying for all four surfaces of the material. Cover it and forget about it for a week or two. Catch up on some other projects. It’s so easy to get anxious for delivery of the stock and start pounding through the inventory to finish the contract. Sooner than later, this oversight will show up.
Protecting your Investment
It doesn’t always necessarily happen. But I wouldn’t want to assume the risk of anything but the highest-quality installation. The homeowner/project manager is already investing several dollars per square foot for a high-end material. It follows that the project should budget this crucial acclimation of the lumber. Finish boards, risers, skirt boards, and other applications require direct fasteners. Acclimation prevents splitting from shrinkage or swelling of the stock.
A bit of patience gains less splitting, and a true feel of the finish presentation of the product. Therefore, a happier customer may follow. Take a week or two’s allowance to providing the stock a chance to acclimate. The result is the builder, the architect, and the homeowner share a proper chance at the highest-quality overall installation.