Hardwood floor has timeless style and fits many rooms and uses. Follow these 4 steps to install your dream hardwood floor!
Prep the Floor
Before installing any new flooring, remove the previous flooring and ensure the soundness of the base floor. The floor should be level, dry, free of debris, and structurally sound. If the subfloor is structurally unsound, consulting a professional may be necessary. Hardwood should never be installed directly onto cement, but an underlayment allows the beauty of wood into any location.
Acclimate the Flooring
Bring the flooring planks into the room and allow them to acclimate to the temperature, pressure, and humidity. Some planks will warp and crack during this process. Plan accordingly with 10% more material than the square footage of the project room. Flooring should be placed in the area to be installed at least 72 hours before installation with temperature and humidity maintained at installation levels to have a healthy floor. During this time, look for warpage or imperfections in the planks and set those aside.
Design the Layout
Before final installation, place the boards down over the prepared floor or underlayment and plan the layout. Planks should be perpendicular to floor support beams, with a 1/2 to 3/4 inch gap around the exterior of the room. Start with the longest, visibly straightest wall of the room and use the straightest boards for the first three rows. Stagger joints by twice the width of the flooring,
Set the Boards
There are two methods of nailing the floorboards to the subflooring, face nailing and blind nailing. While both can be accomplished by hand, using a power nail driver for face nailing and a pneumatic flooring nail driver for blind nailing will reduce plank breakage and installation time. The final row of planks may need to be trimmed to maintain a safe buffer between the planks and the wall.
Call and schedule an appointment or come into Fred Callaghan’s luxury design showroom today!