Hardwood Floors - Information About Hardwood Flooring Installation

For more information about installing laminate flooring and hardwood floor care visit Best Flooring Options.

Hardwood flooring installation can be an arduous and time consuming job, but if you feel comfortable giving it a go personally, you can end up saving quite a bit of money. Properly installed hardwoods can last for several years, even under moist and humid circumstances, such as in a bathroom. With a little advice and a step by step guide, as well as plenty of time, hardwood flooring installation can be done without expensive professional services.

Moisture causes the most damage to hardwood flooring. Moisture can gradually warp the surface of the wood as it expands and contracts. This does not imply, however, that hardwood flooring cannot be installed in humid conditions. Hardwood flooring simply requires a little preventive care in order to function well under these conditions. Installing hardwood with an asphalt felt should provide a guarantee against rotting and warping of the hardwood. Take 15 pound asphalt felt, and put it over the subfloor in overlapping sections. The felt should be tacked down with a staple gun.

Leave a minor gap, approximately half an inch, between the asphalt felt and the wall. A baseboard or base shoe will be placed in these smaller spaces between the flooring and the wall. The initial three boards of the flooring should be placed by hand. Board lengths are usually random, so portions of the flooring should be placed as a test before nailing down. When the first boards are laid down, the rest can be set with a flooring nailer. This will make it easier to do a good job of laying out the flooring.

When the new flooring results in an uneven surface, you can use a reducer to create an even meeting point. When preparing to put down a hardwood floor, be sure to safely store the wood. Placing the wood out in the open where it can get wet will lead to uneven flooring that does not fit together. If the flooring must be stored outdoors, be sure to protect it with a waterproof tarp. This will reduce any possible damage from moisture, which can warp and bend expensive wood flooring very quickly. Do not transport wood flooring in an open bed when weather conditions could give rise to rain or high humidity.