Advice For Installing Wooden Floors

Wooden floors are one of the top flooring choices for homes of all kinds. Recently, hardwood flooring has gained in popularity, particularly with newer home buyers. The quality of hardwood floors is among the very best. With proper maintenance, wood flooring can outlast the home. Also, the species and design choices are almost endless, so chances are there is a design option for pretty much any room inside the home.

Proper hardwood flooring installation is critical to making sure you don't have problems with the floor later on. Here are some tips for a 'do it yourself' wood flooring installation job:

1. Stack the Wood Flooring Materials Indoors at Least 3 Days Before Installation - Keep the new materials indoors for at least a period of 3 days prior to installing. This ensures that the hardwood has enough time to make adjustments to the level of humidity inside the house.

2. Put 15 lb Asphalt Felt Covering Over the Subfloor - Make sure the felt overlaps the seams by around 3 inches. Then tack the felt onto the subfloor using a staple gun.

3. Snap a Chalk Line Inch from the Starting Wall - Make this chalk line parallel to the center line. The inch gap will be used to allow for expansion of the wood.

4. Always Use the Longest Boards or the Widest Planks for the First Row - This is important because you have that inch gap to give some allowance for overly long boards or overly wide planks.

5. With the Second Row and After, Rap Short Pieces of Flooring Along the Edges - Using a mallet or hammer, sharply rap flooring pieces in order to tighten up the new row against the previous row before nailing.

6. With Final Row, Use Block and Pry Bar to Wedge Boards into Position This will secure these boards and keep them sealed, tightened, and free of leakage.

Now that you've installed your new hardwood floor, you may need to put some wooden fillers inside to fill in the pores. After the fillers are added, it's time to do the sanding and finishing. You will need to sand down any rough areas and make sure the floor is level all the way around. Then you will need to apply a sealer and a glaze to give the floor the beautiful finish you are working toward.

Hardwood flooring installation can be a laborious and tedious process, but it is well worth it when you finally complete all the steps and view the finished product. If the installation of your hardwood floor was done correctly, you now have a gorgeous new floor that should last the life of the house.

If the process of installing your new hardwood floor seems like it's over your head, don't worry. You can still get the hardwood floor you want for your house. A professional flooring contractor will install your floor and make sure all the steps are performed properly, saving you all the trouble and insuring that your floor is installed correctly.