Installing hardwood floor is an art. There are steps to follow, tools to use and new tricks to discover. No matter how long you have been installing hardwood floor, there is always something new to learn or tips you didn’t know about.
Here are a few helpful tips to follow when installing hardwood floor.
ACCLIMATION
Nature is in no hurry when it produces trees, and likewise, an impressive wood floor installation is never rushed. The sealed, unopened boxes should be laid flat, in the center of the room for a period of time beforehand. Laminate will acclimate over 24 hours, engineered and bamboo flooring takes three or four days, and solid wood requires five to seven days. DO NOT store the flooring outdoors, in an outbuilding, or anywhere with damp or condensation problems. The conditions where the flooring is acclimated should be as close as possible to the typical living conditions.Using a moisture meter, take a reading of some boards from different boxes and then a reading of the subfloor. Make sure the difference between both of them is not higher than 4%, otherwise it will cause cupping or shrinkage.The room temperature shouldn’t be lower than 18°C (64°F), with a floor temperature higher than 15°C (59°F). The Atmospheric Relative Humidity should be between 40 and 60%.
DETERMINE THE DIRECTION OF THE FLOOR
There are different options here but let’s talk about the most popular ones
- Perpendicular to floor joist: This only applies if the subfloor is plywood. This is the most common way to rack flooring. This will preserve and respect architectural structure making the floor more stable.
- Perpendicular to front door: Interior designers affirm, in most cases, that hardwood floor should be installed perpendicular to the front door. Doing so will allow the space to look larger!
- Parallel to front door: Sometimes you want to install the floor parallel to the front door. This is the case with rooms that are long and narrow. Installing floor vertically will make it look enclosed while a horizontal layout will make it look wider and more spacious.
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