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Installing Hardwood Floors in Your House? Here Are 5 Tips That May Simplify The Job
Are you interested in installing hardwood floors in your house? If so, you should realize that this type of job takes a lot of manual labor. Professionals in the industry of installing hardwood floors will usually charge their clients a lot of money for their work. The easiest way to avoid coughing up those high labor prices is to just do the work on your own.
This type of installation can appear to be extra scary for someone who has never tried something like this before. Don't worry though, just like everything in our world, with a few extra pointers, the task can become much simpler. In this article, I will share a few tips that may make your installation run much smoother.
1. Check to see if the base is level
For one reason or another, people usually try to speed through this step of the install. If you lay your new floor on top of a base that isn't completely level, your new flooring wont be level either!If you decide to use floating floors, leveling the base should be a simple task. If not, you might want to consider using floating floors.
2. Use Floating Floors
If you decide to employ floating floors, the installation will be so much easier. Like I said in the last tip, floating floors allow you to ensure that your base is perfectly level. Also, you dont have to think about tearing up your previous floor. You can install the floating floors directly on top of your old floor!
3. Sweep and vacuum a couple of times prior to starting the project
I don't want to insult your intelligence, but you would be surprised how many people skip out on this part. It is important to totally clear the area of any dirt and dust! Usually, I keep a hand-held vacuum cleaner near my side at all times. I do this because if I spot dust or dirt, I can clear it up right away.
4. Keep the materials in your house for a few days
All wood will most likely expand or contract based on the level of humidity of the area that it is being used in/stored in. Since you are installing hardwood floors in your home, you want to let the wood adjust to the humidity level in your house for a few days prior to laying it. Find an open space in your home (or make one) and stack up the wood. If you don't follow this part of the process, you could encounter a lot of problems when the wood starts to contract or expand according to the level of humidity.
5. Rent the power tools
Unless you think you will be regularly employing power tools, you really shouldn't waste your cash. They will probably just remain in your shed or garage accumulating dust and dirt! Instead, you would be better off renting the equipment! If you want to install the floors at the lowest possible cost, the cost of renting power tools is much lower than the rate of buying totally new equipment.
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Filed under Installing Hardwood Floors by on Oct 16th, 2009. 