Installing Hardwood Floors Yourself

One of the best and most popular options, when it comes to flooring is wood. It is durable, looks good and adds a touch of elegance to the home. It makes the home look more welcoming. Whether it's covered with rugs or left bare, it looks nice and pleasant. Many people are taking to installing hardwood floors on concrete sub-floors just to increase the resale value of houses. And new contractors are giving houses that already have hardwood flooring installed. How would you like to take up a project of installing hardwood floors yourself? If you're interested in installing prefinished hardwood flooring, you can read the article below. However, be warned that this is not a task for the faint muscled (for lack of a better word).

Preparing

Whether it's installing hardwood floors on stairs or on a floor in a room, you must know that it is not an easy task. It can drain you of your physical strength, and it may be a while before you get back to your own self. So, if you think you are physically fit for some days of hardcore hardwood flooring, then go ahead and do it. Hardwood flooring, before it gets installed on a surface needs to take a while to breathe. It needs to get adapted to the weather and humidity level of the place that it will be laid in. So, when you get the wood home, allow it to breathe in storage for a couple of days. In the meanwhile, you can get to moving around the furniture and other items from the room. Get the necessary tools that you need, namely safety gear like knee pads, gloves etc., measuring tape, saw, carpenter's square, hammer, nails, glue, utility knife, chalk, pencils etc.

Installing

Installing prefinished hardwood floors yourself makes more sense. You can install them using two methods. There are different ways of doing that too. Given below are two of the most commonly used ones. Read on and find out which one you have the might to try out. Remember that since you'll be doing this yourself, even though you may save up on the hardwood floor cost, you might not reach the level of finesse and perfection that a professional does. So don't be too hard on yourself. At the same time, don't be too shoddy either. Good luck.

Glue Down
This is a messy and more time-consuming method of installing hardwood floors yourself. For this method, you'll need to buy a super adhesive that will be needed to glue together the wood. First, however, you'll need to make sure that the floor you're gluing the strips on, is even. Any mounds present should be flattened, any cracks present should be filled. Any irregularities should be removed by sanding the floor. The sanding process can take a while and can get very 'dusty'. So, use this method only with protective gear for your nose and hands. Stick on the wood strips, and give them a couple of days to dry out and then you can move in.

Nail Down
Of the different hardwood flooring types, going in with a plan of installing floating hardwood floors yourself rather than installing a hardwood floor on a concrete sub-floor is a little bit easier. In this method, you have to lay down the wood strips at a 90º angle to the floor joists. Any undulations in the sub-floor must be totally fixed. Else, the floor will not get laid properly, and cracks, creaks and dents will be very obvious. Lay down some strips side by side, with a little distance at the end for space to move around. Nail them down firmly and then, make small pieces to fit the end gaps that you had left initially. To give it a neat finish, don't hammer the nails all the way down into the wood. Then, use a nail set to gently push it down, to give the floor an even finish.

Installing hardwood floors yourself costs lesser than if a professional would do it. However, you may not get the same refined look and feel. In such cases, after a while you can have a session of refinishing it yourself or hire professionals to do it. It will give the wood a new and fresh look again!