It used to be that you had to hire someone to put in your wood floors. Now, there are many different products that come pre-finished from the factory and can be laid out by a do it yourselfer. This saves time in sanding and sealing the floor. In addition, the newer tongue-and-groove products are much easier to install than older types of hardwood flooring products.
You will want to tear out all the old flooring and make sure the room is level. After cleaning and removing debris, lay out a 15-pound asphalt felt on the subfloor. You will need to overlap seams by 3 inches. Staple it to the floor. This will be where you will lay out the chalk lines to for straight edges.
Any flooring that you receive will need to be bought into the room and allowed to sit for a few days. This will allow the product to acclimate itself to the humidity in the room. Wood has a way of expanding and contracting in accordance with humidity levels.
The first three rows will be nailed in manually, but after that you can take advantage of modern technology by using a flooring nailer. These you can rent at any home improvement store and return once the job is done. You will also need a rubber mallet to strike the plunger and drive the nails through the groove into the floor below.
Continue laying out your flooring, perpendicular to the floor joists, leaving ? inch space around the perimeter of the room for further wood expansion or contraction. Stagger the boards so that they the end joint on each subsequent board is at least 6 inches away from the next board. The space around the perimeter of the room will be covered with the addition of base shoe or baseboard molding. In the event that you have a transition from one room to another, you may need to add a transition strip between the two floors to make them level.
While laying wooden floors is simpler now than ever before, it still requires some experience cutting the baseboards and planks. Many do it yourselfers are already familiar with using a radial arm saw or a power miter saw. If you are not, you will want to practice first before attempting to use these cutting tools with your floorboards.
There is a bit of skill and persistence to putting down a wood floor that you can be proud to say you did yourself. If you follow the guidelines given by the manufacturer, odds are you can do a good job. Try to avoid getting the floors wet while you are working and afterwards too. Moisture is something that can easily damage a wood floor. Make sure that buy more planks than you need so that you don't run out and have trouble getting more. When you are done, you will still need to maintain the wood floor to keep it in top shape for years to come.
During hardwood installation, you may think to consider requesting for assistance from expert. Maybe, you are worried that you would come to failure if you will just do it all by yourself. But that idea could be impractical because you may spend for labor. What if, you don't have extra amount for that? Fortunately, you can use prefinished hardwood floor materials that is ideal and efficient like what you just need.
Well, there is no argument that you can always ask for assistance from others, especially from the professional, to install your prefinished hardwood floor. However, if the issue is the cost, then you are fortunate to somebody that has given his idea to product in which you can essentially choose as an effective alternative for pure hardwood planks.
When installing hardwood floor for in your home, the first step that you have to undertake is to know what particular hardwood floor that you intent to use. With that, you can use from this basic two: oak or maple. Remember, maple is cheaper that oak and do last if you take care of it, however, oak can last for years even without much care like you spend in maple.
Aside from that, you are to prepare the needed equipments that you are surely be using in installing hardwood floor. Gather them all so that you will not be on delay as you go on the process. In addition, it is important that you have acquired manual ( of course this is included when you buy prefinished hardwood floor at your favorite hardware store) for you to be guided accordingly. It is important especially when you are doing it all by yourself.
It is really important that you browse and study the guide before you go into installation. This manuals are included by hardware stores to cater your needs during time of hardwood floor installation. And, it is recommended also that you have with you your safety googles and gloves as you to take on working with hardwood floor installation. Remember, always consider health and safety first before anything.
Before you going hardware store to buy, it is important that you measure the surface area in which you intent installing hardwood floor so that you will know how much you needed and to avoid waste of time or money.
When you cut, allow a little bit extended length so that you can simply find venue for adjustment. To go a little bit longer than what is the area required is most likely to implemented than be left with space that may look unpleasant to fill or adjust.
If you have done the installation of appropriate hardwood planks, prepare yourself to ending touch, which is polishing. After that, place your materials in a place where you can get simple access if you will do the same work, or almost the same task, in the upcoming days.
Both Nancy Dean & Bercle George are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Nancy Dean has sinced written about articles on various topics from Family, Pets and Cooking Tips. Need help with home organization? Visit Get Organized (official site of the popular catalog) for assistance with. Nancy Dean's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.
Bercle George has sinced written about articles on various topics from Herb Gardening, Information Technology and Healthy Diet. Bercle George is an expert of home improvement and has published an excellent hardwood finishing/ home improvement programs at