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Firstly, before installing your hardwood floor, you must verify that the subfloor is wood since wood flooring can’t be laid directly on cement or concrete.
Secondly, in the case of a building or a house that’s currently under construction, the installation of a hardwood floor must be done during the final phase of the work – that is to say, the doors and windows must be installed, and the foundations must be dry for a minimum of two months. Otherwise, the risk of instability during and after the installation of your floor would be considerable.
Thirdly, and most importantly, before laying a floor, you have to make sure that the concrete work, plumbing, plastering, and painting have all been finished and that the house has had an internal climate control system for at least a week or two. This should allow you to preserve good climatic conditions. You need to ensure that you’ll carry out the floor installation in suitable conditions. Laying hardwood in the basement is not preferable.
In conclusion, hardwood shouldn’t be installed if debris, residue, construction materials, or other waste on the subfloor moisture could adversely affect its realization.
You have to measure the moisture in the subfloor to ensure it is less than 12%. The difference between the wood that makes up the floor and the subfloor materials should not exceed 4%. The internal humidity level of the hardwood floor should be somewhere between 6 and 9%.
For strips over 4 inches wide, the floor installer must ensure that the difference between the subfloor and the hardwood floor does not exceed 2% humidity.
In general, we recommend following these guidelines :
* We recommend covering your subfloor with a 15-lb. tar paper or a wax paper designed for this purpose. You should choose at least 3 boxes of hardwood flooring and do the installation from these 3 boxes to ensure that the installation is uniform. The floor installation occurs at 90 or 45 degrees with re-concerning it. * Don’t forget to use a rubber mallet or a tapping block to do the installation. Or, you can contact us for the best installation services.
First, make marks on the walls to determine the position of the floor joists. Start your first row by choosing the longest wall that is also perpendicular to the joists.
At the end of each wall, measure the width of one floorboard and add ¾ of an inch to leave an expansion joint. To do this, trace a line with the help of a string that will serve as your guide. This line must be parallel to the starting wall and have a distance equivalent to one wooden slat plus the expansion joint.
Insert the nails at the ends of the marks and run a line between them to establish the line for your first row.
* Note: Use spacer blocks or wedges to create the expansion spacing. The expansion joint will let the wood expand and contract according to the changing climate.
Use your starting line to begin your installation. The female side must face the wall.
Lay the first wooden slat along the starting line that you set up earlier. Insert the flooring nails diagonally on the male part and in a straight line on top of the floor. Make sure the nails are hidden once the baseboards have been installed. The next strip should be attached along the starting line. The boards must be nailed moving towards the side wall until it is reached.
The slats must be nailed every 6 to 8 inches, with a minimum of 2 nails per slat.
*Note: The first 2 rows must be nailed by hand. Use a pneumatic nail gun to install the floor. Nail at a distance not exceeding 2 inches from the ends of the slat.
Position the first strip in the next row by placing the end of it against a ¼-inch wedge. Drill starter holes in the tongues, then plant and mill through the tongues to attach the slats.
To install the second or third row, there will be enough space between the wall and the strip so that you can use a pneumatic nail gun for the edges. Position the nail gun so that it nails a nail into the tongue of the strip, and hit it with a mallet so that it goes through the wood.
*Always leave a ¼-inch expansion joint between the end of the strip and the side wall.
As you approach the wall at the far end of the room, it will be difficult to use the edge nail gun. Install the last row and nail it with a pneumatic finishing nail gun. Start by drilling starter holes for nailing on the surface of the floor, but don’t nail them before placing all the strips.
*You can use transition moldings whenever you need to change the direction of your slats.