DYI Hardwood Floor Installation

It’s impossible to tell you how to properly install hardwood flooring without the assistance of a professional hardwood flooring installer in one web page. With this in mind, we here at Wood Monsters want to remind you that we recommend following the National Wood Flooring Association Installation Guidelines for all hardwood flooring installations. For your warranty to be upheld, all installation procedures must follow these guidelines whether you hire a professional installer or you’re undertaking the project yourself.

Some important highlights of the guidelines apply regardless if you’re installing solid hardwood flooring or engineered hardwood flooring.

• Make sure the humidity levels in your home are regulated year round with a humidity or climate control system. Hardwood flooring reacts poorly to moisture issues within or even beneath a home.
• Always add approximately 10 percent extra to your order to account for waste wood.
• Make sure the subfloor you’re installing the hardwood floor over is flat, smooth and structurally sound. Make sure you read and abide by all necessary precautions in the guidelines when dealing with your specific type of subflooring.
• Acclimate the wood properly to the environment where the wood will actually be installed. Use moisture testing equipment to get accurate readings until the moisture in the wood reaches acceptable ranges based on your geographical region and the type of subflooring you have. Allow as much time as necessary to do this correctly. Installing the hardwood flooring before it’s acclimated properly will have disastrous results later on.
• Thoroughly inspect each piece of wood for manufacturing defects or damage. Remove any planks you suspect are damaged. Remove any planks you find visually unappealing.
• Take your time fitting the planks together to avoid damage to the grooves.
• Never pound on your hardwood floor planks with a hammer. Instead use a small block of wood between the plank and the hammer. A molding edge would work fine for example.

If you aren’t sure about a direction to take or you can’t remember a procedure from the guidelines, rather than guess, stop what you’re doing and consult the guidelines. In this case, following directions will potentially save you thousands of dollars later.