Install hardwood floors perpendicular to the floor joists parallel to the longest wall leaving a inch expansion gap around the perimeter.
How to install used hardwood flooring.
How to install a hardwood floor step 1.
Keep joints that line up at least two rows apart.
We first ran this article in 2010.
Join the ends of the boards over a floor joist where possible avoiding joints that form an h.
Make sure there are no squeaks in the.
Check your sub floor condition.
Put one 1 2 inch spacer against each wall and slide the end of the board up.
On your first rows you may need to face nail the rows in place with a finish nailer to hold them in place.
When ordering hardwood flooring.
At the bottom we provide links to posts on the tools we use and frequently recommend for hardwood.
Fit and lock the boards.
It provides detailed instructions for installing hardwood flooring over a wood substructure.
Roll out strips.
Before starting calculate the width the last row will be.
Estimate and order the materials you need.
In short to install a hardwood floor.
Prepare the subfloor and fasten asphalt laminated kraft paper flooring underlayment to it.
Use 1 2 inch spacers to assist in maintaining the 1 2 inch expansion gap between the first row of flooring planks and.
It chronicles tutorials for each step of the process derived from our installation of 3 4 inch solid tongue and groove brazilian walnut hardwoods in our own home.
Use a flooring nailer.
It should be level and free from rot and other major defects.
Minimum requirements are a 3 4 plywood sub floor.
As a rule of thumb the floor boards you install should cross perpendicular to the joists under the sub floor.
Lay it out in the room and overlap it by 4 6 with every row.
Make sure you leave an expansion gap around the edges of the flooring at each wall.
Put the first board up against the mason s line with the groove side facing away from the walls.
If the sub floor above is more than 1 inch thick this rule can be bent in many.
Finish hardwood floor installation.
You may need to use leveling compound to even your surface.
For your first row you ll want the straightest planks arranged with the tongue side facing.