The first decision that you need to make before you get to work choosing the materials for your hardwood floor is whether or not you are going to be doing the finishing on your own. If you have a lot of experience with hardwood floors, then you might find that this is a good idea. However, if it is your first time installing a hardwood floor, then you should purchase a pre-finished floor. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that you should be careful to make sure that you don’t scratch the finishing during your installation.
You should make sure that you put the wood you’re going to be using for your floor inside of your house for a few days before you actually install the floor. By doing this, you’ll be letting the humidity in your home affect the wood. This is very important as it will lessen the amount of warping that you will experience after the floor installation.
You will need to start with a clean subfloor, so make sure that you clean it off properly before you start your installation. Once you are done with this, you should start with a layer of asphalt felt. This will cushion the boards as well as provide a good base for the floor installation. You should look for 15-pound asphalt felt for this installation.
Before you put down the boards, you need to make sure that you chalk out the lines for where the boards will end. You need to leave a half an inch between your walls and where the boards end. This will allow the floor to expand with temperature and humidity changes. Don’t worry about the half-inch of space – this will be completely covered up by your baseboards.
When you start to lay the boards, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind. First of all, you should use the longest boards against the wall. These will start the floor off right. Then, make sure that you are careful about where you put the seams between boards. In order to minimize any cracks that could appear in the floor, make sure that the seams between two boards are at least six inches apart from each other. You should also make sure that these seams do not line up with the seams in the subfloor.
With a little bit of time, you should be able to install your very own hardwood floor!
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