The best way to prevent this from happening is to install the flooring when the moisture content is at the happy medium, between the two seasonal extremes typical for sweltering summer and freezing winter temperatures. The other way of doing away with the predicament is not to nail the flooring as tight as you normally would and leave “washer rows” to allow for winter swelling ithat won´t damage the planks.

• Make sure any controllable moisture affecting work such as window and door installation has been finished prior to floor installation.
• Measure the temperature on site. It should be within the normal living conditions range.
• Make sure gutters are in place and correctly installed so that water drainage is flowing out and not into the building foundations, since among the other problems this may cause, it will also add to moisture content.
• Use a good moisture retarder for your wood flooring. If moisture is of real concern to you, you might want to consider opting for engineered wood flooring. It is often the better solution as it is a lot more tolerant to heat and moisture changes. Therefore, engineered wood flooring is the wood of choice if you plan on getting under floor heating installed.