Doing a hardwood floor project is not for the weak of heart. The installation of the wood flooring itself is a time consuming project that requires lots of attention to detail and quite a bit of patience to ensure that every piece is placed perfectly and that you keep the room straight. When you take on the job of doing unfinished hardwood flooring, you really have your work cut out for you.

When most professional installers do a job, this is more than likely what they will be doing. However, for the DIY installer, full comprehension of the task at hand is necessary before you start up. This is not a weekend task and there is no going back once you get it fired up. Realize that for all intents and purposes, your house is out of commission until you get this job finished.

The real challenge when you install unfinished hardwood flooring comes after the floor has been put down.  From this point, you better be prepared to get messy because now the real work begins.  You have to sand down the boards, clean them up, stain them and then of course put on the final finish to give them that incredible rich look that makes this flooring so popular.

This is a job that creates a massive mess. If you have an empty room in the house that the flooring is not being installed in, use it. Get everything in there and then seal that room off. You should then cover up whatever is left including sealing all outlets and ventilation. The first step is to run the sander with a heavy gauge paper that will level off the floor and get all the rough marks out of the wood. When that is done, you will repeat the process with a finer paper to smooth everything out.

When it is time to clean up, you must do a thorough job or the particles that you leave behind will end up in your finish and ruin the look.  Vacuum everything up and then do it again.  Use the brush attachment to get into every corner.  From there, you are going to have to go over everything several times with a tack rag to ensure that you get everything.

It is quite easy to make a mistake here, so you use a rag if you are not skilled with a brush.  The rag works better because it applies an even coat and will rub the stain into the wood.  With a brush, you may end up having a bunch of darker spots where it first hits the wood.  If you use a brush, you are more than likely still going to have to use a rag to wipe off excess.  Two coats will have to be applied.

This is the final touch and what gives it that beautiful look.  Apply the first coat and then let it dry to the touch.  One it is ready, apply a second coat and then let the floor sit undisturbed for 2-3 days.  It may seem a little excessive, but this ensures that the finish is totally dry and will stand up to traffic and furniture being placed on it.  Otherwise, you run the risk of messing with a soft floor and possibly leaving impressions on the floor as well.