How to install solid wood flooring.
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Few home improvement projects can improve the appearance and value of your home as much as wood flooring. Wood floors make any home look better, and their durability and longevity make them an investment you’ll enjoy for a lifetime.
Wood flooring isn’t hard to install. It’s a project most homeowners can tackle with good results. But since sanding is tricky, and produces a huge amount of dust, it’s probably best to use pre-finished flooring.
Make sure you have the right sub floor for your wood flooring.
Before you decide which kind of wood floors to install, you’ll need to evaluate your sub flooring. If you have a concrete slab, solid hardwood floors are not an option. You’ll need to go with an engineered floor.
Solid wood flooring should only be installed over a clean, smooth, level base. A plywood sub floor will provide insulation and sound proofing for your wood floors. And give your floors added stability.
Because wood expands and contracts with changes in temperature and humidity, it’s a good idea to store the boards in the room where they’re going for a few days so they can adjust to the new environment.
You should buy about 30% more wood than your measurements indicate because there will likely be some boards that you don’t like and would prefer not to use.
Get your room ready.
If you haven’t already, remove the doors and baseboard molding from the room where you’re installing wood floors. Numbering the baseboards and corresponding place on the wall will make reinstalling them much easier.
Figure out where the floor joists are and mark their location on the wall with a pencil. You’ll be installing the wood flooring perpendicular to the joists.
To ensure a smooth surface, go over the sub floor and sink any nails or screws that protrude. Then use a moisture tester to make sure the room is within the acceptable range.
To minimize creaks and squeaks and add some moisture protection, use a staple gun to tack down a layer of 15-pound asphalt felt. Overlap the seams by 2 or 3 inches.
Once the felt is installed, measure the width of the room in several places, then snap a chalk line down the center, parallel to the wall where you‘ll start installing the wood strips. Usually exterior walls are the straightest.
Snap additional chalk lines to show the location of the joists. Finally, snap a chalk line parallel to your centerline 1/2″ from the starting wall. Because this gap lets the wood expand, it’s essential. And after the wood flooring is installed, it will be covered with the baseboards.
Begin installing the wood boards.
Check the boards and discard any that are crooked or warped. If they aren’t already cut to random lengths, cut them yourself in varying sizes.
Select one of the longest boards and drill pilot holes that match up with the location of the joists. Using 1-1/2″ finishing nails, nail the board to the plywood sub floor with the tongue side away from the wall. Place the nails about six inches apart. Use spacers against the wall to maintain the expansion gap, and to avoid denting the wood, use a nail set to drive the nail slightly below the surface.
If you don’t have a pneumatic blind nailer, you should rent one. It will make the job a lot easier. Because it takes up some space, you probably won’t be able to start using it until the third or fourth row.
Putting a piece of tape on the head of the nailer will reduce the chance of it damaging the wood flooring.
Once the first board is nailed down, lay out a group of boards, staggering the ends by at least four to six inches. Cut the end pieces to fit. This process, called racking, speeds up the job by letting you install large sections of the floor at once.
Place a small piece of scrap next to the second-row board and hit it with a mallet to make sure the tongue and groove fit together tightly. Then use the blind nailer to drive a nail at an angle from the top of the tongue into the sub flooring. Driving the nails at an angle keeps them from becoming loose over time.
You should nail the board every ten inches or so, starting about three inches from the end joints.
When you get down to the last two or three rows, you won’t be able to use the blind nailer anymore, and you’ll need to face nail them. As you did with the first board, drill pilot hotels and attach them with 1-1/2″ finishing nails. You may need a pry bar to pull the boards together for a tight fit.
Sink the nails with the nail set and then use a matching putty to fill the holes.
Once the wood floor is installed, install the transitions, and reinstall the baseboards.
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