Everyone appreciates the timeless elegance of hardwood floors. Proper wood floor installation requires precise measurements and manipulations with the wood. Here are some tips that will help you install the flooring more smoothly.
Choose the appropriate hardwood flooring
Make sure you choose the appropriate hardwood for the rooms where it will be installed. Prefinished planks shouldn’t be used in the kitchen, for example, because they have bevelled edges that might allow spillage to enter the boards.
Determine the Installation Techniques
The three primary methods for installing hardwood floors are nail-down, glue-down, and click-lock. Glue-down and click-lock are more frequently used with engineered wood flooring.
If your subfloor isn’t composed of wood, you’ll need to either install plywood to make a wood subfloor or take off the flooring to access the wood underneath. The finished nails are almost undetectable. This approach is highly economical.
If your subfloor is made of wood or cement, you may utilise the glue-down approach to install hardwood as well. With this technique, the hardwood is attached to the subfloor with the help of a powerful glue.
Study the Instructions
Instructions for hardwood flooring installation are supposed to be provided by all manufacturers. Before beginning the job, take some time to learn how it should be done. Additionally, you need to be aware that certain manufacturers’ warranties are only valid if the installation is done correctly and in accordance with their provided instructions.
Set up the space
To make room for this large undertaking, move tables, chairs, and other furniture. Get rid of any outdated flooring, but treat any components you intend to utilise gently, such as wall foundation or trim.
Examine Your Subfloor
Before installing hardwood, you’ll need to take care of any subfloor issues. There shouldn’t be any fluctuations of more than three-sixteenths of an inch per 6 feet in your subfloor’s general levelness. You can fill in low areas and sand down high ones if the subfloor only has slight variances.
Make Sure the First Row Is Straight
All the subsequent rows of your hardwood flooring will be uneven if the initial row is. This also applies in reverse: if you put the first row straight, you’ve already created a solid foundation for the remainder of the space.
Remember that since walls are rarely straight, you shouldn’t use one as your straight edge; instead, many flooring experts advise placing the first board in the middle of the space.
The point that is halfway between one wall and the room’s centre should be identified by measuring the distance between the parallel-to-the-floor walls on either side of the space. Your installation will start where you make a chalk mark and a line between those lines using a laser square.
If you face any issues with parquet fitting or not sure how to install a floor, you might want to ask a local contractor for help.
