Do It Yourself (DIY)
When most people think about installing wood floors, they typically envision a hammer, nails and a lot of back breaking work. They're right. The reality is that there are several options available for installing wood floors, and choosing the most appropriate method will depend on the type of being used, whether the floor will be installed above or below grade and the type of material being used for the subfloor.
There are three methods commonly used to install wood floors: Nail Down, Glue Down and Floating.
When nailing down a wood floor, it is important to follow nailing schedules to ensure a quality installation. The NWFA recommends fasteners be spaced eight to ten inches apart for solid strip and plank flooring and four to eight inches apart for engineered strip and plank flooring.
Keep in mind using fewer fasteners than recommended could result in cracks or squeaks in the floor, while using more fasteners than recommended could result in splitting the tongue.
There are three types of wood flooring adhesives on the market today: they include water based, solvent based and moisture curing urethane adhesives. When choosing which adhesive to use, consider ease of product use, product performance span, and VOC regulations in the area where the installation will take place.
Before beginning it is important to make sure that the subfloor material is dry and level. Should you find high and low spots you will need to make them level before installations begins to ensure proper performance of the floor. Only put down as much adhesive as you can effectively work with in a 15 to 20 minute period of time. Any longer than that may cause the installation to fail as the bonding reaction may already have begun before the wood is installed over the adhesive.
With many adhesives, the adhesive material must be down on the subfloor for a specified time before the wood is place on it. This is called flash time. It is important to allow the proper amount of flash time to achieve optimal performance. Other adhesives do not require any flash time and are called wet lay products. These require that the wood be installed immediately after the adhesive is put down.
Always check the manufacturer's recommendations on how to use their specific product as well as what type of trowel they recommend to use with their product. Other factors such as relative humidity could influence the bonding properties of the adhesive so be sure that the job site is in ideal condition before beginning the installation.
The flooring is usually engineered and is either glued or clipped to itself, both tongues to groove and at the end joints. This gives the floor stability without actually fastening it to the subfloor material beneath it. This type of installation is ideal over existing flooring material, such as vinyl, ceramic or laminates which can be difficult to remove. Many of these installations are done over concrete slabs.
Before beginning check the levelness of the floor and it is dry. In addition the use of a foam moisture and sound barrier Underlayment must be used. Make sure that the Underlayment used wraps up the wall to completely encapsulate the flooring. Then when the last board is put in place, trim off the excess Underlayment.
There are three methods commonly used to install wood floors: Nail Down, Glue Down and Floating.
Nail Down
Nailing down hardwood floors is the most common installation method. The process involves nailing or stapling the wood flooring material directly to a wood subfloor. The flooring is installed by blind nailing the material through the tongue of the floor board into the wooden subfloor. In this way, the nails are not visible after the flooring is installed. In general as the material fills the room, it will be necessary to face nail the last few boards as the nail or staple gun cannot accommodate the last few rows of material. This installation method works for both solid and engineered wood flooring on wooden subfloors.When nailing down a wood floor, it is important to follow nailing schedules to ensure a quality installation. The NWFA recommends fasteners be spaced eight to ten inches apart for solid strip and plank flooring and four to eight inches apart for engineered strip and plank flooring.
Keep in mind using fewer fasteners than recommended could result in cracks or squeaks in the floor, while using more fasteners than recommended could result in splitting the tongue.
Glue Down
The glue down installation method involves using adhesive to adhere the flooring material directly to the subfloor, or to a moisture barrier installed directly on the subfloor. The adhesives work by creating a bond between the subfloor and the wood flooring through a chemical reaction process. While all adhesives work on the same principal of changing chemically from a liquid to a solid, they differ in the carrying agents or catalysts that activate them based on the chemical properties of the adhesive.There are three types of wood flooring adhesives on the market today: they include water based, solvent based and moisture curing urethane adhesives. When choosing which adhesive to use, consider ease of product use, product performance span, and VOC regulations in the area where the installation will take place.
Before beginning it is important to make sure that the subfloor material is dry and level. Should you find high and low spots you will need to make them level before installations begins to ensure proper performance of the floor. Only put down as much adhesive as you can effectively work with in a 15 to 20 minute period of time. Any longer than that may cause the installation to fail as the bonding reaction may already have begun before the wood is installed over the adhesive.
With many adhesives, the adhesive material must be down on the subfloor for a specified time before the wood is place on it. This is called flash time. It is important to allow the proper amount of flash time to achieve optimal performance. Other adhesives do not require any flash time and are called wet lay products. These require that the wood be installed immediately after the adhesive is put down.
Always check the manufacturer's recommendations on how to use their specific product as well as what type of trowel they recommend to use with their product. Other factors such as relative humidity could influence the bonding properties of the adhesive so be sure that the job site is in ideal condition before beginning the installation.
Floating
The final wood flooring installation method is floating. This is a process that was created by a wood flooring manufacturer in Sweden more than 60 years ago. Using this installation method, the flooring material is neither nailed nor glued to the subfloor but floated above it.The flooring is usually engineered and is either glued or clipped to itself, both tongues to groove and at the end joints. This gives the floor stability without actually fastening it to the subfloor material beneath it. This type of installation is ideal over existing flooring material, such as vinyl, ceramic or laminates which can be difficult to remove. Many of these installations are done over concrete slabs.
Before beginning check the levelness of the floor and it is dry. In addition the use of a foam moisture and sound barrier Underlayment must be used. Make sure that the Underlayment used wraps up the wall to completely encapsulate the flooring. Then when the last board is put in place, trim off the excess Underlayment.
- Selecting a Wood Floor
- Calculating How Much You Need
- Caring For Your Wood Floor
- Learn more about seasonal care
- Bamboo Flooring
- Pets and your Hardwood Floors
