How To Lay Wood Flooring

Keep joints that line up at least two rows apart.

How to lay wood flooring.

Use 1 2 inch spacers to assist in maintaining the 1 2 inch expansion gap between the first row of flooring planks and the wall. Lay out a box of hardwood boards ahead of the installation to visualize lengths wood grain and colors of the boards. Arrange lengths wood grain patterns and variations in board colors to create a balanced look. The following steps will remove the doubt and fears you may have of taking on this task by yourself.

Learn how to install wood flooring by following these six steps. Install hardwood floors perpendicular to the floor joists parallel to the longest wall leaving a inch expansion gap around the perimeter. Install the wood flooring. Put the first board up against the mason s line with the groove side facing away from the walls.

Mix boards from several bundles to avoid noticeable color changes from one bundle to another. Lastly install any transition or threshold pieces. By doing it yourself you will not only save money but have the satisfaction of looking at a floor installed by you. Lay out several rows of loose boards along the length of the floor following your plan.

Now you can install whatever baseboard or shoe moulding you choose and you are finished with this project. It s prefinished too so no dusty sanding and painstaking finish work. Place spacers inside the expansion gap the space between the wall and floor that allows the wood to expand from heat. When laying out the boards keep in mind to never have the ends of boards in adjacent rows line up with each other.

Join the ends of the boards over a floor joist where possible avoiding joints that form an h. For your first row you ll want the straightest planks arranged with the tongue side facing the center of the room. Learn how to lay laminate flooring with snap together wood. In this article we ll show you how to prepare your floor and then lay the boards.

These may be additional items you need to purchase as part of your flooring order. It s so easy to install that you can lay a beautiful yet durable hardwood floor in a weekend no messy glue and no heavy nailing. Talk to your hardwood flooring retailer and let them know what types of transitions you need. Keep the lengths random and at least 6 in length.

Install a hardwood floor.