Hardwood Flooring Installation Tips

Hardwood flooring installation requires patience and a special hammer.  This is a job homeowners can do or you can hire a professional installer.  Many choose hardwood flooring because it is easy to clean, is a good choice if you have allergies, and is a beautiful addition to your home.  Before you start to lay your new flooring you need to make sure that you have a level subfloor because if it is not the hardwood flooring can develop gaps or buckle over time.  If it is unlevel take the time to level it.  If you are not sure how to do this hire a concrete contractor to fix it.

Between the hardwood flooring and subfloor you need to put something between them like a foam padding, roofing felt, or rosin paper.  Although it depends on what you are using, most of the time it involves attaching it to the subfloor like if it is rosin paper you would unroll it and use staples to fasten it down.  When laying the flooring you should purchase a pneumatic hammer.  If you are going to use it only one time it may be cheaper to rent one.  This is the type of hammer that runs off air pressure. It helps prevent arm fatigue when hammering the hardwood flooring down.  The hammers that are specifically made for laying this type of flooring are made to be flush against the flooring and hammer the nails for the floor so they go in with an angle.

To avoid any mistakes and wasted boards you should do a dry run by laying out the first row, which is the hardest part of the hardwood flooring installation.  It is important to lay the boards out before you start to nail it down. When you carefully lay out the flooring you can decrease the amount of boards that will need to be cut.  Once you have the row laid out you can go and nail it down.  On the next row of installation of the flooring you will have more to think about.  The edges of that row should not stop within fifteen centimeters, or six inches, of the end of the board in the row above.

When you start your next row you have to look for the “H” joints.   These joints are made when this board and the first board end at the same area and the row in between the boards stops at the middle of them forming the letter “H.”  Make sure you have the “H” joint before you nail any boards down.  Installing hardwood flooring is like putting a puzzle together.   Across the floor the boards should end in a pattern that is staggered so look at each row before nailing them down.

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