Installing a Hardwood Floor

If you know what you’re doing, installing a hardwood floor by yourself can save you a lot of money. Truth be told, improper preparation and installation can lead to warping and buckling, which will ruin your flooring. Keep in mind that the most important thing you can do to ensure the structural integrity of your floor is to properly prepare.

Before You Begin

Selecting the wood flooring is very important. The aspects that determine how and where hardwood flooring can be installed are:

Moisture – remember to take into consideration the humidity levels in your location before deciding what kind of wood you want. For high humidity or below grade (sea level), engineered flooring may be a more appropriate choice than solid wood.

Subfloor – is generally wood or concrete, while some people choose to install over an existing floor; never install over carpet.

• Thick solid wood – 3/4″ profile – should only be installed over wood subfloors, above grade, and should be nailed.
• Thinner wood – 5/16″ profile – can be installed over wood, concrete, or over existing floors above grade using staples or glue.
• Standard engineered flooring can be installed over wood, concrete, or over existing floors using staples or glue. It can also be floated and glued down.
• Engineered woods can be used below, on, or above grade.
• Interlocking engineered flooring can be installed below, on or above grade, over wood, concrete, or over existing floors and installed by interlocking, no glue, staples, or nails required.

Difficulty of installation should influence your selection of wood flooring. Interlocking engineered wood is very easy to install and least likely to cause issues due to poor installation.

Glue or staples are required for standard engineered floors. They are a little more difficult to install due to the steps involved.

The lifespan of a typical engineered floor is limited in comparison to solid wood (30 years maximum) because thin veneers cannot be sanded. Thicker, high-end veneers can be sanded up to 5 times over the life of the floor and will last for up to 60 years.

The next level of difficulty are thinner solid woods with a 5/16″ profile. There is less chance of splintering on the edges since planks can be glued or stapled. Those are easier to install than thicker woods, but not as easy as an engineered wood. The lifespan of thinner solid wood is 50-75 years with proper care.

Traditional solid woods with a 3/4” profile are more difficult to install. Planks must be nailed down with care taken to avoid splintering. This is your most durable investment flooring.

Potential Installation Pitfalls

Sometimes people tend to forget adjoining floors. Selecting a thin profile engineered or solid wood flooring can help minimize the difference. You can choose going with transition trims in order to help equalize the different heights.

Installing over wet concrete is usually the most common mistake that people make. The slab must be given time to cure, and to dry completely after pressure washing. Your flooring comes with recommendations from the manufacturer about subfloor moisture emission level, usually about 4% maximum. There are items available to speed the drying process, and if your concrete is at or near the maximum, we strongly recommend installing a moisture barrier.

The next common mistake is not leaving enough expansion room. Wood is a porous material that absorbs moisture from the air and swells in the summer. On the other hand, it contracts in cold, dry air. Even it feels stable underfoot, wood is in constant motion. The manufacturer will have all the instructions needed for this installation. We recommend you asking for detail every step of the installation.

Floor Preparation

“Your floor is only as good as your subfloor”.

This saying is available in business, construction, and even relationships. Be wise to build a solid foundation. A poor surface underneath will cause it to ring hollowly, squeak, warp, or buckle, no matter the price of the wood. In order to have a structural integrity, it is important to make sure your installation starts with a good subfloor which must be flat. The floor does not have to be perfectly level, but it does have to be uniformly flat, without bumps, rough textures, dips, or divots.

Remove any furniture and appliances from the room, before other preparations. Everything that literally isn’t nailed down should be removed from the installation area.

The next step in achieving a flat surface is cleaning the subfloor. You must remove any paint, countersink nail or screw heads that are sticking up, remove clumps of drywall left over from wall installations, and clean up any other kind of dirt and debris. For plywood subfloors, make sure the seams where the plywood joins are flat, and check each section of floor for sagging or softness. You should also replace any sections that seem soggy.

After cleaning the floor, you should use a straight piece of lumber measuring 8-10 feet in length to find weak spots in the floor. Furthermore, lay the plank out and look for gaps under it. Now move it across the floor, while marking if there are any gaps; turn the board and move across in another direction. Do the same process diagonally.

Note: Floating underlayment manufacturers might claim that using their product will correct minor irregularities in the subfloor. While this may be technically true for minute flaws, don’t assume it is the answer to your problem.

Installation

What You Need:

• Pencil
• Safety glasses
• Moisture meter (wood, concrete or both)
• Transition trim and wall moldings as needed
• Hand saw, table saw, circular saw or band saw
• Underlayment with moisture barrier (optional, but recommended)
• Tape measure
• Carpenter square
• Hammer or rubber mallet
• Vinyl or plastic tapping block
• Pull-bar
• Utility knife
• Dust mask
• Tape
• Recommended wood glue (if necessary)
• Nails (if necessary)
• Stapler and staples (if necessary)
• Matching filler (if necessary to cover nails, screws or staples)
• Manufacturer recommended hardwood flooring cleaner

General Tips:

• Run the central air or heat for 14 days to establish the “normal” moisture content of the air and help dry any residual moisture.
• Have the flooring delivered a few days in advance and store it flat in the room where it will be installed in order for the wood to acclimatize to the humidity in the room.
• The way the floor looks like depends on shading and direction of grain.
• Before the installation, lay out the floor to determine a pleasing pattern. Mark the position on the back of the boards (example: row 1, plank 1 or r1, p1).
• Examine each board for quality, color and flaws.
• Remove all existing molding, transition trim and, if possible, doorjambs.
• Do not tap the boards directly with a rubber mallet.
• Wood flooring of any kind should never be installed over radiant heating that can exceed a temperature of 85° F.