Basic Steps to install hardwood floors

Having a handyman inside your home would certainly be among the best things a family can truly have. Just imagining the option that a father could work like a handy-man could be a lot for any wife. For many fathers who want to check out this attempt, the best test could be installing hardwood floors. If an ordinary husband wishes to demonstrate his manliness to his wife, then this is the best endeavor there is for him.

Each guy should do not forget that this task is technically different in every houses and situation, and that's what makes this a very big difficulty for any kind of man. It is fully challenging for anyone who get to do this first hand; but it is often very basic if one is able to go through proper stages in installing hardwood floors.

One of the very primary, and most essential, levels in this job is to always prepare thoroughly. Not at all is it allowed to accomplish this task totally and properly without having organized planning. And so for the starting point, the suitable subflooring material should be chosen and its proportions, since this may change the positioning of where the hardwood floors may fit inside the house. The next step in hardwood preparations is really the 2nd step, where the subfloor need to be evened out and conditioned for installation. It ought to be thought of that there should be no deviations greater than three-sixteenths over a length of six ft.

Once the planning level is over, it's about time to talk about the acclimation phase. Once the subflooring is properly evened out, one should be able to carefully estimate the area in which the hardwood will be set. For 7 to 10 days, the hardwood floors need to be kept dry and in place. Also, it would be smart to install the hardwood floors at times of the season when the humidity and the heat range are at an average, so that the greatest results would be obtained.

For the next phase, after correctly conditioning the hardwoods, they have to then be placed on the floor. This might work as the basis for all coming layers, so it is essential for everyone to carefully put on the hardwoods. It could be hard to apply these on some places. For those around vents, a jigsaw should be used to chop the pieces into shape. For those places around the doors, the door trim and the door stops needs to be at a height enough to rest on the leveled surface.

When you are close enough to finish hard wood placement, these must then be blind nailed and face nailed due to the fact hardwood floors staplers won't suit at all. After that, transitions when nearby rooms have to be set, and stair nosing must also be mounted. But for the last stage, baseboards and shoes moldings should be set over the edges of the flooring so that the rooms will have borders.

Following all those ways, installing hardwoods floors should complete, and any man who has completed this is permitted to call himself a real man.

Installing Handwood floors

Installing hardwood floors is not very easy process but at the same time it is not so difficult. After Reading this article, you will be able to install hardwood floors by yourself. Before Installing Hardwood floors, you should thinkg about tools, you should need during the installation:

• 2 inch (50 mm) nails for hardwood floors
• Square
• Power nailer, pneumatic or manual
• Chalk line
• Rubber mallet
• Pencil
• Sub-flooring
• Hygrometer
• Mitre saw or circular saw
• Electric drill and 3/32 inch (2 mm) bit
• Tape measure
• Moisture meter
• Wax stick
• Nail punch
• Safety glasses
• Claw hammer


After you preped all this tools, you should think about preparing the surface for installing hardwood floors. Existing floors or demaged sub-flooring should be replaced. For the wood sub-flooring, it is recomended to install construction paper (15 lb-6 kg), and for cement floors it better to install asphalt felt paper.You should also keep in mind that humidity of the sub-flooring should not be more than 12% and using moisture meter for checking the humidity levels of the floor is very important. The sub-floor should be free of debris as well as dry and consist of 5/8 inch (16 mm) plywood.

The next step in installing hardwood floors is to prepare the environment. The temperature of the room should be between 64°F and 72°F(thats 18°C and 22°C) and the humidity should be between 45% and 55%. That's to avoid problems that can be caused by the humidity. For checking the humidity level, you should use hygrometer. After all this checkings are done, open the board packages and leave them in the room for 2 days to let the wood adapt to the environment.

Now comes the most important part of the whole process: praparations for the installation. Keep in mind these advices:

• Install boards perpendicular to the joists.
• Boards installation will start parallel to the longest and straightest wall in the room, usually an exterior wall. Installation can also start near stair nosings and reducers, which will facilitate adjustments once reaching the wall.
• Measure the room carefully to ensure that the last board is at least one inch (25 mm) wide;
• Remove baseboards and other accessories and cut the bottom of door frames,
• Arrange the boards in an approximate pattern

After the preparations are done, you should start the installing of the first rows.
1.Trace a line parallel to the wall with the chalk line.
2.Use the straightest boards to start.
3.Install the first board, groove side facing the wall, tongue side along the line
4.Drill, then nail the board from the top.
5.Drive nails into the board with the nail punch, using a wax stick matching the shade of the boards, to conceal the holes.
6.Secure with concealed nails using the power nailer
7.Cut the last board of the first row, leaving a 3/4 inch (19 mm) distance between the wall and the tip of the board


So, that's a small tutorial. If you want to find out more information about installing hardwood floors, visit my blog.