Wood Flooring Installation Made Easy

Putting in wood flooring can really enhance the value of your home and approve its appearance. In fact, few home improvements are as gratifying. Almost any home looks better with wood floors, and when properly installed and maintained, they'll last a lifetime.

It's not hard to install wood flooring. In fact, with some advance preparation and the right tools, most homeowners can do it themselves. The worst part of the job is sanding, which you can avoid by using pre-finished wood.

The first step is to evaluate your sub flooring.

The type of wood flooring you use will largely depend on what kind of sub floor you have. You can't install solid wood flooring over a concrete sub floor, so if that's what you have, you'll need to use engineered flooring.

Whatever type of wood flooring you use, it needs to be installed over a base that's clean, smooth, and level. Because it provides insulation and sound proofing, a plywood sub floor is the best. It will also provide your new floor with extra stability.

Check your sub floor closely and countersink any nails or screws that stick up.

Since changes in humidity and temperature can cause the wood to expand and contract, you should store the boards in the room where they'll be installed for a few days. This will help them adapt to the environment.

Measure the area to determine how much wood you'll need, then buy about 30% more. In every batch, there will likely be some boards you don't like and don't want to use.

Next, prepare your room.

You should remove all the doors and baseboards from the room. To make replacing the baseboards easier, number the boards in pencil and put the corresponding number on the wall above where they go.

Locate the floor joists, and then mark their position on the wall with a pencil. The boards will be installed perpendicular to the joists.

You'll need to use a moisture tester to make sure your room is within the acceptable limits. And to reduce the amount of cracks and squeaks, you should staple down a layer of 15-pound asphalt felt to add some moisture protection. The seams should overlap by 2 or 3 inches.

After you've installed the felt, measure the room's width in several places. Next, snap a chalk line down the middle of the room parallel to the wall where you'll start laying the boards. Start next to an exterior wall, since they're usually the straightest.

Snap more chalk lines over the joists, and then snap one ½" from the starting wall that's parallel to the centerline. Make sure you leave a ½" gap between the wall and the start of your floor because the wood will expand and contract with changes in the weather. Once the baseboards are reattached, they will conceal the gap.

Begin installing the wood flooring strips.

Go through the cartons of boards and set aside any that are warped or crooked. If they aren't cut to varying lengths, cut them yourself into random sizes.

Drill pilot holes that correspond with the location of the joists into one of the longest boards. Then nail the board into the plywood sub floor with 1-1/2" finishing nails. The grooved edge of the board should face the wall. Nail the board about every six inches or so. To maintain the gap between the start of the floor and the wall, use spacers. And to avoiding marring the flooring, finish driving the nails with a nail set, and countersink them a little.

A pneumatic blind nailer will make the job much easier. So if you don't have one, rent one. They're very affordable. Because of the size of the nailer, you probably won't be able to use it until the third or fourth row of boards.

Covering the head of the nailer with some tape will reduce the risk of damaging the floor with it.

When you've nailed down the first board, set out several boards, staggering the ends by about six inches. Cut pieces that will fit between the end and the wall. Installing large sections of the floor at one time, called racking, will save you a lot of time in the long run.

Find a scrap of wood and butt it up next to the second-row board. Then hit it with a mallet to drive the tongue securely into the groove of the adjoining board. Angle a nail from the top of the tongue into the sub flooring and use the blind nailer to drive it in. Angling the nails keeps them from getting loose.

Starting about three inches from the end of the board, nail it every ten inches or so.

The last two or three rows will be too tight a fit for the blind nailer, so face nail the boards like you did at the start. To make sure the boards fit together tightly, you may need to use a pry bar.

Once all the boards are installed, use a nail set to countersink the nails and fill the holes with a matching putty. Then reinstall the baseboards and you're all set.

Your beautiful new wood flooring should give you pleasure for many years to come.