Hardwood Flooring in Novato

Novato Conditions That Affect Solid Hardwood

Novato sits at about 11 feet in Marin County. Hourly outdoor readings at Gnoss Field Airport, just north of Novato, averaged 70.8% relative humidity in July across 2022-2024, with the driest month (June, 67.5%) still well above the summer figures recorded in the Sierra. Humidity stays in a narrow band year-round, ranging only from about 68% to 91%.

Measured Humidity and Solid Wood Movement in Novato

Gnoss Field, Novato, 4 miles away and at about the same elevation, supplied the 78,726 hourly dewpoint readings, 2015 to 2025, behind these figures. Warm that winter air to 70°F without adding moisture and it settles at a median 40.1% relative humidity, with 15% of heating-season hours below the 30% floor NWFA sets for wood floors; the same air reaches 56% in summer. Solid hardwood follows those numbers: its equilibrium moisture content runs from about 7.7% in the heating season to 10.3% in summer, and on the Forest Products Laboratory's coefficients for American white oak that swing changes the width of a 5-inch plainsawn board by about 0.049 inch (about 1/20 inch) — against 0.025 inch for the same board quartersawn. That is a mild climate for solid wood, and it is why wider plank is a realistic choice in Novato rather than a gamble.

Source: Hourly ASOS dewpoint observations 2015–2025, Iowa Environmental Mesonet (Iowa State University); equilibrium moisture content from USDA Wood Handbook FPL-GTR-190 Eq. 4-5; movement from FPL-GTR-282 Eq. 13-3 and Table 13-5

Novato Homes We Work In

ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates put 58.6% of Novato's 20,982 housing units in the 1950-1979 range, with the 1970s alone at 27.3%. Only 2.5% predates 1940 — the newest stock of the four Marin markets covered here. The City's own Housing Element characterizes Novato as having 'a relatively new housing stock,' with the 1970s the single largest decade of construction. Novato's 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s stock is directly relevant here, because homes of that period frequently have a board or plywood subfloor that will hold a nail-down installation, and sometimes original wood still under the carpet. We check for both before quoting a full replacement — refinishing what's already there is often the better answer.