Wood is the best choice when it comes to natural beauty and durability for your hardwood floors. Wood flooring is practical for dining rooms, family rooms, bedrooms, and living rooms. However, wood flooring does not do as well in bathrooms because it expands and contracts when exposed to moisture. The truth is that wood flooring can work in bathrooms as long as a protective finish is applied and the wood is maintained.

Strip or plank wood flooring, the most traditional flooring for hardwood floors installation, is fastened down to subflooring before it is then sanded to a nice finish. In contrast, prefinished wood flooring is fastened down in the same way as strip or plank flooring, but it does not need any additional finishing. Unless you really know what you are doing it is best to go with prefinished floors. If you really want to get plank wood flooring and do it yourself you will need to be careful because you can easily leave visible marks and ridges on the flooring. Below are hardwood floor installation instructions.

New wood flooring always needs to be on a flooring base that is smooth, level, structurally sound, and clean.

It is important that the wood flooring in your hardwood flooring installation is able to adjust to your home’s humidity level so you should stack it indoors for a few days prior to the installation. You should plan to install the flooring so that it is perpendicular to the floor joists.

You will find that laying out several rows of boards and staggering them so no end joint is closer than 6 inches to the end joint in the next row will help a lot. Allow a half-inch gap at the wall and cut 8-inch pieces to fit at the end of each row as you install the strips.

A radial arm saw or power miter saw is great for cutting the boards. When you are hammering in the finishing nails make sure that you don’t try to drive the nails flush because indentations will show. Instead, place a nail set sideways and then drive the nails home by tapping the nail set with your hammer.

By doing this on your own you are able to cut down the hardwood floor installation cost and you will also learn a few things while you are at it.

Roll out 15-pound asphalt felt with 3 inch overlaps and then tack it down with a staple gun.

Measure the room width at two different points so that you can get an accurate centerline. You should then snap a chalk line that is parallel to your starting wall.

Snap another chalk line half an inch from the starting wall to mark where the edge of the first row of flooring is. The half-inch gap is there to allow for expansion and it will be covered by the base molding.

For the first row you need to pick the widest planks. Drill pilot holes for 1 and a half inch finishing nails near the wall and then face-nail the first row through the plywood subflooring to the floor joists. Then use a nail to set the nails below the surface.

Drill pilot holes at 45 degree angles through the tongues at the end of every 10 inch section. Then fasten with 1 and a half inch finishing nails. Use nail set to set finishing nails.

As you move  to the subsequent rows you need to take a short piece of flooring and put it along the edge before hitting it with the hammer to tighten the row.

If you are installing flooring in a large room then you will need to use a flooring nailer after the first 3 rows. This will help keep everything secure. Be careful not to scratch the flooring.

Once you reach the final row use a block and pry bar to wedge the last boards into position. Place nails along the board to hold everything in place.