If you\u2019ve recently purchased a hardwood floor and would like to install it yourself, take the time to read our advice in order to carry out the best possible installation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lay the OSB or plywood subfloor on a flat surface (no more than 3\/16 by 10 feet difference) with a humidity rate lower than 12%. In case of a crawl space, waterproof the concrete beforehand for better air circulation. Once the installation has been carried out, clean it and install a vapour barrier such as a laminated tar paper or saturated asphalt kraft paper with superimposed joints of at least 4 inches to prevent moisture problems.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re now ready for the eight steps involved in installing your floor:<\/p>\n
Measure the room to determine the layout of the slats, making sure that the parallel sides are equal and equidistant from the walls. Leave a \u00be space between the slats and the walls for lateral expansion and \u00bc between the ends and the walls for longitudinal expansion.<\/p>\n
Choose the straightest slats to form the first line.<\/p>\n
Prepare the first row by drilling pilot holes \u00bd inch from one side of the slat then every 10 inches, stopping 2 inches from the ends.<\/p>\n
Since using a nail gun is impossible near a wall, the first and last rows will have to be secured manually. Nail the first row with finishing nails, a hammer, and a nail punch to conceal them.<\/p>\n
Using a surface nailer, nail the next slat(s) at a 45\u00b0 angle into the tenon every 8 inches, making sure that the head of the nail is pushed all the way in.<\/p>\n
Where space permits it, use a wood nailer and a rubber mallet. Nail the slats every 6 to 8 inches and 2 or 3 inches from the ends. Then make sure that each slat is nailed in at least two places.<\/p>\n
To prevent the seals from aligning, make sure that the ends of the slats are always at a distance of at least 4 inches.<\/p>\n
Complete the last two or three rows manually, in the same way as the first few. Install the baseboards and the quarter rounds by nailing them into the wall, NEVER INTO THE FLOOR; otherwise, they\u2019ll move with the expansion of the floor.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2022 Mitre saw
\n\u2022 Wood nailer (manual or pneumatic)
\n\u2022 Vacuum cleaner or broom
\n\u2022 Nail punch
\n\u2022 Handsaw
\n\u2022 Square
\n\u2022 Hammer or pneumatic surface nailer
\n\u2022 Power drill
\n\u2022 3\/32 drill bit
\n\u2022 Chalk line
\n\u2022 Measuring tape
\n\u2022 Pencil
\n\u2022 Finishing nail, spiral nails, and 2-inch wood nails
\n\u2022 Vapour barrier membrane<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To properly maintain your hardwood floor, it\u2019s important to regularly check the relative humidity and keep it between 35% and 55%. To clean it, it\u2019s not necessary to pour cleaner directly onto the floor, and never scrub it with a soaking wet mop. Finally, consider protecting the wood in front of entrances with mats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you\u2019ve recently purchased a hardwood floor and would like to install it yourself, take the time to read our advice in order to carry out the best possible installation. The first step is to prepare the room. To do that, you should: Take the measurements of the room in order to ensure a flush […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":54822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3493,3537,3490],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-installation-tricks","category-hard-wood","category-home-renovation-tips"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Maude Lavertu","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.latuilerie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/CommentInstallerUnPlancherdeBoisFranc-eng.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.latuilerie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.latuilerie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.latuilerie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.latuilerie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.latuilerie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.latuilerie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.latuilerie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.latuilerie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.latuilerie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.latuilerie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}