Installing hardwood floors

[Prashun Patel]

Anyone have experience with this?
I haven't found a good comprehensive installer guide. Any references welcome!

Shawn

[Kevin Godshall]

I've installed some. My cousin does it for a living, I can refer questions. What in particular do you need help with?

[Chris Friesen]

Here are the instructions from the National Oak Flooring Manufacturer's Association:

http://www.installingwoodfloors.com/...rocedures.html

[John Durscher]

I installed hardwood floors and refaced the stairs in my home. I would recommend Hardwood Floors Laying sanding and finishing by Don Bollinger as a good reference.

I used prefinished flooring and am happy with the results. I used the Mirage brand.

Here are a few things that I learned:

- Plan ahead! I didn't think out the transition to a tiled bathroom floor before I started the flooring. It would have been much easier if I thought it through before laying the floor down. It turned out I had to make a custom threshold (fortunately it was pretty easy - just time consuming).
- Screw down the subflooring before you start. I used square head screws.
- Level the subflooring before you start - I got in a hurry and did not do this in one part of the floor and as a result have a couple squeaks that I wouldn't have had otherwise.
- Get a Bosch 1640VS Finecut 3.5 Amp Power Handsaw and a flush cut blade I found this to be much more accurate and easier than cutting door frames by hand.
- If you are using stained pre-finished wood get enough for the project all a one time - dye lots can vary, I've heard of folks having slight color variations.
- Let the wood acclimate to your house before you start.
- I bought a Bostitch pneumatic floor stapler instead of renting. I plan on putting wood floors down in my entire home, so this worked out cheaper than renting.
- I pulled the baseboards off and painted the room before I started the flooring. My original baseboards were nothing special so I replaced them.
- I started in a walk-in closet so I could make my mistakes in part of the room that wouldn't be as noticeable.
- Buy good kneepads!

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Good luck, this is really a pretty easy project - especially for us woodworkers.

John

[BOB OLINGER]

Shawn,

I've installed close to 2,000 sq ft of prefinished oak tongue and groove (I believe 3" wide) within last 2 yrs. Previous flooring was a combination of carpet, ceramic tile, some vinyl. This was in our house. Need to know more specifics of your project before going further. If I can help, let the questions fly. For what it's worth, it's not all that hard to do, but is physically demanding, especially on us older guys!!!

[JohnMorgan of Lititz]

My job is flooring - started out as a refinisher, now in sales. But as others have stated, need a little more info.

* Be careful on the kneepads!! The hard-top models WILL LEAVE marks on your new floor
* use a wood flooring nailer - bostitch work well for us
* run screws in the subfloor to eliminate squeaky joints, etc.
* cover your floor with heavy rosin paper - this greatly reduces any squeaks from subfloor/hardwood rubbing. - don't do this and you WILL regret it.
* please please please acclimate the wood to the installation area
* buying a good brand name like Lauzon, Anderson, Chelsea, Mannington will help your install - less waste, better milled boards, tighter fits, less overwood.

* please don't install a "heavy-bevel" Bruce oak floor. No offense to others who may have this, but this look is so completely dated, its not really funny any more.

Have fun! these projects don't take very long and are rewarding!

[Paul Steiner]

I am currently finishing the last 10 square feet of my house. I used prefinished and I am happy with it. I would like to try unfinished, but if you are living in the house unfinished is really hard to deal with.
Recently I did my master bedroom and with prefinished you can move all the furniture to one side of the room. Put flooring on the other then transfer the furniture. If you do unfinished you will want to move everything out of the room or even the house.
Everything John said is good advice. I borrowed a friends fein multimaster to cut the door jambs and it worked well. I bought a Chinese pneumatic nailer on ebay and after 2000+sqft. it is still working well. But I would buy the bostich staples or nails. If I were going to buy again I would buy a grizzly or HF brand, just so I could return it if it went bad. Renting a gun is not worth it.
Check out Lumber Liquidators before you buy from Lowes.
Transition pieces are expensive so I made all my own, it was not hard. I also made my own shoe moulding.
Being a woodworker you can make your own stair treads and save alot of money. Even add inlay. Here is a pic of my steps, they took some time but finished nicely.
Plan ahead, take your time, and don't be afraid to get creative.

[JohnMorgan of Lititz]

Check out Lumber Liquidators before you buy from Lowes.

Or alternatively, go to your local flooring store and see what they can offer you! If we keep buying from the internet, that's all we'll have left! Times are slow for everyone, so why not see what kind of deal your local guy can offer you.

[Chris Padilla]

* use a wood flooring nailer - bostitch work well for us
* run screws in the subfloor to eliminate squeaky joints, etc.
* cover your floor with heavy rosin paper - this greatly reduces any squeaks from subfloor/hardwood rubbing. - don't do this and you WILL regret it.
!

If you are tearing out carpet or have some carpet laying around, it works pretty good as a knee pad and as a pad to house a box of tools or to lay the stapler on. Cut out a chunk of carpet, fold it in half...works very well, slides nicely, protects the floor.

Definately bounce around on the subfloor and find those squeaks and high, low spots and take care of them. I found a high spot where two pieces of sub met up...took my Rotex and ground the sucker down.

I put down two layers of 15# tar paper (30# is typically used on roofs) and so far, it seems fine. I dunno how tar paper compares to rosin paper.

Acclimation is always good. My maple floor is an engineered one but the top layer (~1/8" I think...maybe more) is solid maple. We broke open several boxes, mixed them all up, let them sit for a couple of days while we played with ideas on the best way to lay them down. You may wish to get familiar with the different lengths you have to work with. In ours, we found 8 different lengths but realized that the longest ones were the rarest ones...1 per box. You might want the longer ones to put in front of doors or highest traffic areas.

Don't space out register locations!!! I've heard of folks covering them over...what a pain to locate it after the fact!!

[Casey Carr]

This is all assuming you have a subfloor. I glued mine directly on top of my concrete foundation. I don't have a subfloor or crawlspace. Just make sure you put down a vapor barrier if you're going directly on top of concrete. Pretty easy though, just labor intensive. One good tool to have is a nice handsaw for all the little cuts that you'll have to do around closet doorways and what not that you can't just use your miter saw for. I have a Japanese Dozuki from Rockler that I absolutely loved for this. Worked awesome for those little nook and cranny cuts.

[JohnMorgan of Lititz]

This is all assuming you have a subfloor. I glued mine directly on top of my concrete foundation. I don't have a subfloor or crawlspace. Just make sure you put down a vapor barrier if you're going directly on top of concrete. Pretty easy though, just labor intensive. One good tool to have is a nice handsaw for all the little cuts that you'll have to do around closet doorways and what not that you can't just use your miter saw for. I have a Japanese Dozuki from Rockler that I absolutely loved for this. Worked awesome for those little nook and cranny cuts.

Do NOT install any 3/4" solid hardwood on concrete - no matter what you're told. No mfg will ever warrant it.

A vapor barrier is only necessary if you "float" the installation - a proper wood adhesive IS the vapor barrier in "full-spread" glue down applications for engineered hardwood.

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks all!
Particulars:
13x13ft sunroom. Abutting room is kitchen laid in 'heavybevel' Bruce narrow strip (builder select!).
I'm planning to use dark (prefinished) Brazilian (Jatoba) cherry 3 1/2" wide, 3/4" thick (engineered) on a diagonal in the sun room. Existing floor is vinyl (7 years old). Under is a couple layers of plywood (total about 7/8").

Initial questions:

1) Can I install directly over the vinyl? It's adhered extremely well. Do I require rosin paper or felt if installing on vinyl?

2) When running diagonal, where should I start? If I start away from a wall, how do I 'backfill' into the corner? Should I use a sliptongue? Biscuits?

3) My wife would like a square border and a diagonal center. If I do this, then do I need to mill tongues or grooves and sliptongues into the diagonal piece faces that abutt the border groove?

4) Crown staples or cleat nails?

[Paul Steiner]

I like staples. They are more robust that cleat nails, cleats sometimes break when you pull them, staples not so much.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Shawn,

Tauton Press has a great book titled 'Hardwood Floors' by Don Bollinger, sometimes available in the Home Despot book section.

[Chris Padilla]

I think the vinyl would be fine. I would still tack rosin, tar, or felt paper over it for good measure. If the vinyl is textured, it will help even it out a bit.

For laying diagonal, I think I would tack down a board in the middle of the room, dry lay a bunch of flooring against it to one corner...then adjust the angle until you like it. With a diagonal, you can be off from 45 and no one will be the wiser. Once the angle is established, you can start in the corner.

For the square border, just pay attention to the tongues and grooves. Biscuits make good tongues when needed and the biscuit cutter makes great grooves.