What are the Best Tips for Hardwood Flooring Installation?

Hardwood flooring installation requires some special equipment and patience, but most homeowners will find that it is a job well within their capabilities. Hardwood flooring makes a beautiful addition to any home, and is also easy to keep clean. It is an excellent choice for people who suffer from allergies.

Before you begin your hardwood flooring installation project it is important that your subfloor is level. If not, your wood flooring can buckle or develop gaps over time. Invest the time before you begin installing your hardwood to level the floor.

It is important to put an underlayment between the subfloor and wood floor. You can choose either rosin paper or roofing felt. Unroll the paper and staple it over the subfloor. Now you are ready to begin laying your hardwood.

To lay hardwood floor, you will probably want to rent or purchase a pneumatic hammer. These hammers run off of air pressure so that your arm will not become fatigued while hammering the boards in. Hammers designed for laying hardwood floors are designed to sit against the boards and drive the flooring nails in at an angle.

Before you nail your first board in, you may want to lay out your first row in a dry run. This is the most tedious part of the hardwood flooring installation process. It is important to lay the floor out before you nail it down so that you reduce waste. By carefully laying out the floor, you can reduce the number of boards that you need to cut. Once the boards are laid out, go back and nail in that row.

Starting with the second row of your hardwood tile installation, you will have more to keep in mind. The edges of the boards in your new row should not end within six inches (15 centimeters) of the edge of the board in the previous row. Starting with the third row you will need to keep an eye out for “H” joints. These are formed when you have two boards that end at the same spot, with one row in between that ends in the middle of these boards, forming an “H”.

The hardwood flooring installation process is much like putting together a puzzle. While not difficult, you need to look critically at each row before you nail it in. The boards should end in a staggered pattern across the floor. Take your time laying out the rows and you can drastically reduce the amount of wasted boards you end up with.