How to Install a Hardwood Floor

Hardwood flooring is one of the most popular types of flooring out there today, and for good reason. If you want to install your own hardwood flooring, there are a few steps that you are going to need to follow.

Of course, you can choose the easy route and have your floor professionally installed, but if you want to take on the task and save yourself some money, here are the basic instructions that you will need to follow.

Installing Hardwood Flooring

The first step to installing hardwood flooring is to create a base for the flooring. New wood flooring should be laid on a clean, smooth base, to ensure that there will be no movement after you have set the floor. Before installing the hardwood you should also stack it indoors for a few days, in order to give the wood a few days to adjust to your home’s humidity level.

The next step in installing hardwood flooring is to mark the positions of the joists along a wall for reference, and then cover up the subfloor with a layer of 150-pound asphalt felt in order to provide some moisture protection and also to minimize the noise of the floor. This is important if you don’t want to have squeaks when people are walking on the floor.

Remember that during installation you will find it very helpful to lay out several rows of boards at once before you start setting them down, and ensure that you stagger them so that none of the end joints are closer than 6 inches to an end joint in the next row.

The most common mistake that people make when they are installing hardwood flooring is that they rush the job and it ends up showing.

Another tip is that if your new floor is going to be causing a change of level to a hallway or adjoining room, then you will need to install a reducer strip for a smooth transition. Also the floor can be butted against the edges or ends of grooves, and face-nail the reducer strip at the edge of the floor, then set the nailheads below the surface and fill with wood putty.

These tips will all come in very handy if you are installing wood flooring, and make sure that it turns out well. You don’t need a professional to get the job done right, but you will need to follow these few simple steps.