Guys what basic steps need to be taken to install hardwood floors.

As i read the stickies on this topic i see that this is more involved than i thought. I just thought i needed to put down the wood floor, stain it and put down polyurethane. But i've read that the chemicals used will need 10 days to settle. I've heard that sealers need to be applied.

I have a plywood subfloor. I live in Mobile, AL, the rainiest state in the US. It can get quite hot and humid here. I have not decided to glue, nail or staple. I have not decided to use unfinished or prefinished wood. Although i'm leaning toward unfinished because it is cheaper. Also my other hardwood floors are unfinished so i will have to do the same to all.

So what are the basic steps i need to know about.

Thanks!

Jacob:

This should get you started.

http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwo ... /types.htm
http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwo ... finish.htm
http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwo ... renail.htm

Ok guys, I'm leaning towards a prefinished wood, my only concern is the cost and the level of coating and number of refinishings in the future. This is the only things that makes me afraid of this choice.

I'm leaning towards nailing. I live on the gulf coast and from what i've read stapling can be more time consuming and it may not allow the board to expand and contract. I don't know much about cleating.

Is using the machines to do the stapling, nailing, cleating difficult to use? Do i need to be experienced to get good results?

My understanding of the prefinished woods is that all i have to do is buy them and nail them to my plywood subfloor, making sure the boards are perpendicular, and maintaing them according to manufacturer's instructions. That is all.


The above project is for my bedroom which has NO hardwood floors.

Now for the other project. Most of my rooms already have UNFINISHED hardwood floors.

1) How do i know if the floor needs to be sanded? At least one has been pretty well protected beneath rolls vinyl on the floor. One is painted red, so i know it will need to be sanded. We have already spent tons of money on stripper and it is still there. The others are brown due to a lack of any protection over the years. My biggest question is determining whether to sand the floor that was "protected" still looks yellow. And how strong the sand paper needed to be for the floors with a layer of "dirt."

2) After i sand these floors, from what i understand i can then stain them. From reading i found out that if i wanted to change the color in the future this might not be very easy.

3) Then can i put the polyurethane down?

4) I heard something about putting a sealer down after the polyurethane.


Thanks I'm starting to feel more confident in my understanding of hardwood installation.

It is not just a buy the wood, bring it home and start banging boards down!!!!!!!!!!!



I would invest in a good pin type moisture meter for wood. I would get a hygrometer to determine the true humidity, instead of guessing if it is too high to even install wood flooring.

If your finishing with a new finish, it needs to be sanded.
Only you can know what grit to start with. 40-60-80 is a good grit sequence.


If you want to change color, a complete resand is in order.


Yes, the poly or any finish, protects the wood from foot traffic, but not scratching from dragging stuff, or denting from dropping stuff or high stilletto heels or rocks caught in the soles of shoes. A walk off mat is recommended at all exterior doors.


Your hearing lots of things!!! Sealer is put down on the bare wood, after the sanding, like a primer when painting. The finish manufacturers have a sealer-finish system, that they warranty. Mixing and matching sealers and finishes, being the chemist, is a road to disaster.

Sealer is not applied over the polyurethane.

Sorry, i read this and reread it and i didn't get exactly what you meant.




Good advice thanks! Why would i assume there is a problem anyway. My floors are already hardwood in most rooms?





Basically you are saying if i'm redoing my floors i need to sand all of them regardless of their being light, dark or coated with paint. All of them need to be sanded before staining. Correct?

Do i need to start with a very rough grit on all of them? I know i will for the one with the paint on the floor.




Well it is good to know that. So is staining apart of the finishing? So i hve to get stain, sealer, and polyurethane from the same manufacturer?

Further is nailing down these boards going to be hard to do? Which is easier the stapler, the nailer or the cleats?

Thanks!

Jacob, I don't want to be rude (quoting Simon Cowell here) but I sense you don't have a clue as to what is involved in installing a wood floor. As a professional for over 25 years, I can tell you it is NOT easy and it is complicated and hard work. Pros make it LOOK easier than it is, but it is NOT. You just might be able to handle installing a floater IF you are handy with tools and have some carpentry experience. Most DIYers totally bungle installing unfinished flooring and trying to sand and finish it. Seen it many times. I recommend you do not try that. Hire a pro if that's the kind of floor you want.

That's not rude. Thats the type of information I'm looking for. I've been trying to find out if this would be hard or easy. Some people say it is just as simple as snapping pieces of wood together.

On the other hand, i've heard of people sanding and staining their own floors. How well that turns out i don't know. I would like to learn to do a few things myself but i don't want my stain or polyurethane finish to look like a novice did it.

Primarily, i was going to get someone to HELP ME do it. I wasn't going to do it myself. I just wanted to get information so that regardless of whoever helped me complete it, i could make sure they did it right. THere are people who take shortcuts. There are also better techniques that many don't know about. So i thought this was a good place ot learn.

So does it really take a pro to put in a hardwood floor. I've heard of people just snaping one together.

Best wishes and thanks!

I got to thinking too fast about what I wanted to say and left off the important part of that sentence. It should have read...

It is not just a "buy the wood, bring it home and start banging boards down", type of job.!!!!!!!!!!! There is so much more involved, and it can go all wrong, by skipping ot half assing just one step along the way.

Jacob, it depends on the floor you want. As I said before, you could probably handle a floating floor. http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwo ... loater.htm
Those are the type that click/snap together. They don't need sanding or finishing. That is done at the factory. That is what I would recommend for the novice. The traditional hardwood floor is WAY more complicated and requires special tools, expensive sanding equipment and a lot of skill. Even us pros botch up these types of installations from time to time. The odds of a novice DIYer successfully pulling off a finish in place floor are about the same as Albania successfully sending a man to Mars. It ain't gonna happen dude. Now, you MAY find a pro who would let you be his helper but to think you can acquire the knowledge and skill to do this correctly the first time is what I like to call "Stinkin' Thinkin". So forget about the sanding and staining aspect. Buy a factory finished floor and install that. That's hard enough, trust me.

Thanks guys for the information.

Ok, here are my questions:

1) I guess the basic difference between a floating floor and glue/nail/staple/cleats is that he floor is not attached to the subfloor?

2) Is the floating floor real wood?

3) What about the quality of the floating floor?

4) Which one is more durable, the snap-in kind with no glue or the one with glue?

This might be ideal in the room I'll be installing the floor in. It is only a 150 sq ft or so. My only other concern is finding a floor that will match my other pre-existing floors.

I have a few more questions coming, but I would like to get the details about this floor first. I want to buy the materials and set it up quickly so i can move on to my next project.

Thanks!

Haven't seen it mentioned yet in the thread, but you can't just bring it home, lay it down, and start nailing away at it. Needs to acclimatize to the conditions of your house for ~1 week or longer before laying it down. Don't know if that applies to a floater, but I would think so. Read up on all the FAQ's and how-to's, I learned a lot in there.

Someone else will chime in, just wanted to toss that out there.

Not exactly. Floaters are "acclimated" at the factory. It doesn't make sense, right? Well, let me explain. The click system and T&G are so exact fitting that one cannot risk those dimensions changing. So if you were to bring the flooring into an environment that is considerably more humid or dry, the flooring may not fit together. Floaters are typically wrapped in plastic and must remain that way until time of install. So, how does one acclimate a floater? Well, you don't. You acclimate the environment. Which isn't hard to do because what is comfortable for us humans is comfortable for the flooring. Have the temp between 65 to 75 degrees F and relative humidity between 40 to 60 %, with 45 to 50 % being ideal. Leave the floating floors in the cartons in the house for about 72 hours prior to installing. DO NOT RIP OPEN THE PLASTIC WRAP unless the manufacturer says to do so. This same concept applies to many factory finished (prefinished) ENGINEERED floors. When in doubt, ALWAYS consult the manufacturer's requirements.