moisture & can rot if left in contact with water for a long timeframe many owners shy away from choosing wood flooring for bathrooms & kitchens. Actually, wood can be a warm, pretty flooring option for these rooms as long as it’s given a sturdy, protective finish & is dutifully maintained.
Traditional strip or plank wood flooring is fastened to subflooring & then sanded & completed. Newer prefinished wood floorings are fastened the same way but do not require finishing.
Base for flooring
New wood flooring ought to be laid on a tidy, smooth, level, structurally sound flooring base.
Unless you’re experienced in sanding & finishing wooden floors, you'’l do well to hire a qualified local hardwood flooring installer or, in case you require to do it yourself, choose the prefinished type. Floor sanding is incredibly dusty work, & a drum sander, in the hands of an amateur, can leave visible marks & ridges on the floor.
Installation steps
Before installing wood flooring, stack it inside for a few days to permit the wood time to amend to your home’s humidity level. Plan to install the flooring perpendicular to the floor joists.
Mark the positions of the floor joists along a wall for reference, as shown in step 2, & cover the subfloor with a layer of 15-pound asphalt felt to provide some moisture protection & minimize squeaks. Mark the centerline of the room using a measuring tape & chalk line as shown in step 1.
If the room is seriously out of square, position the tongue of the first row parallel to the centerline & rip (cut lengthwise) the groove side at an angle parallel to the wall.
To tear flooring, you will require a power saw that has a fence, such as a job saw (portable table saw). For crosscuts, you can use a power circular saw with a carbide-tipped 40-tooth blade or, better yet, a power miter (“chop”) saw with the same type of blade.
In the work of installation, you’ll find it’s helpful to lay out several rows of boards, staggering them so no finish joint is closer than 6 inches to an finish joint in the next row. As you install the strips, cut pieces (at least 8 inches long) to fit at the finish of each row; permit for a 1/2-inch gap at the wall.
When blind-nailing with a hammer & finishing nails, don’t try to drive the nails flush or the indentations will show. in lieu, leave each nailhead projecting up about 1/8 inch & then place a nail set sideways over it along the upper edge of the tongue & drive the nail home by tapping the nail set with a hammer. finally, use the tip of the nail set to recess the nail’s head flush with the wood.
Step 1. Cover the subfloor with a layer of 15-pound asphalt felt, overlapping seams by about 3 inches. Tack the felt down to the subfloor with a staple gun. Measure the room’s width at two or more points to establish an correct centerline, & snap a chalk line parallel to your beginning wall. Working from the joist marks along the walls, snap chalk lines to mark the locations of the support members.
Step 2. To indicate the edge of the first row of flooring, snap another chalk line about 1/2 inch from the beginning wall exactly parallel to the centerline. This 1/2-inch gap between the flooring & the wall will permit for expansion; it will be covered by a base shoe or baseboard molding.
Step 3. Choose the longest boards or widest planks for the first row. Near the wall, where the nailheads will be covered by a base shoe or baseboard molding, drill pilot holes for 1 1/2-inch finishing nails & then face-nail the first row through the plywood subflooring to the floor joists or sleepers. Use a nailset to recess the nails below the surface.
Step 4. Blind-nail this & the next two rows by hand. Drill pilot holes at a 45-to-50-degree angle through the tongues, centered on each joist or sleeper, at the ends & every 10 inches along the lengths. Fasten with 1 1/2-inch finishing nails. Use a nail set to finish driving each nail.
Step 5. When installing the second row & every row thereafter, move a short piece of flooring along the edge & give it a sharp rap with a mallet or hammer to tighten the new row against the earlier row before nailing. keep in mind that finish joints in two adjoining rows ought to not be closer than 6 inches; finish joints ought to also not line up over a joint in the subfloor. If you’re installing a wide-plank floor, some manufacturers recommend leaving a crack the width of a putty-knife blade between planks for expansion.
Step 6. If you’re installing flooring over a immense area, use a wood floor nailer one time you’ve installed the first three rows. Slip it onto the board’s tongue &, using a heavy rubber mallet, strike the plunger to drive 2-inch nails or staples through the tongue in to each joist & in to the subfloor midway between joists. Be cautious not to scratch or otherwise damage the flooring.
Step 7. When you reach the final row, use a block & a pry bar to wedge the last boards tightly in to position. Drill holes & face-nail boards where a base shoe or baseboard molding will cover, using the reference marks along the wall to locate the joists. Set the nailheads below the surface using a hammer & nail set.
Step 8. If your new floor will cause a change of level to a hallway or adjoining room, install a reducer strip for a smooth transition. This strip, milled with a rounded or beveled top, fits onto the tongue of an adjoining board or the ends of perpendicular boards. It may even be butted against the edges or ends of grooves. Face-nail the reducer strip at the edge of the floor, set the nailheads below the surface, & fill with wood putty. Last, install a base shoe or baseboard molding.
