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Replacing Wood Floors
Wood flooring has been around for hundreds of years and there is an enormous selection of woods, color and finishes.
Choosing the right Flooring
Most wood floors today are made of hard woods such as oak, although ash and maple are also popular. Most wood floors came in two, ¼ inch wide strips although wider planks are becoming more popular. Synthetic wood flooring is also gaining popularity and looks and performs like wood.
Refinished flooring is a relatively new option. Generally a tongue and groove system is used to connect adjacent boards. Most systems are also nailed down although some use glue.
The glue method is referred to as a flooding floor. Always begin the installation at the longest wall.
Follow these steps
- Place a ½” temporary spaces between the first board and the wall to allow for several expansions of the flooring.
- Nail the first board to the underlayment at the wall by using special finish nails.
- Continue installing boards using glue on the grooved edge piece just before installing it.
- Turn the last plant or the first course for cutting so that the tongue along the edge of the board is against the wall so it can be marked.
- Mark the turned board and cut it to length.
- Turn the cut board in to the correct installation position and install it at the end of the row.
- Secure the tongue side of this row to the underlayment with 7d finish nails.
- Begin the next row with the leftover piece of the cut board.
- Place a scrap piece of flooring against the tongue of the board to act as a buffer board and tap the boards together with a hammer before nailing.
- Continue with this process to complete the job and install the base moldings.
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