by: hammond.j84Posted on:

How to Install a Traditional Hardwood Floor in 8 Easy Steps

By
Joseph Truini

 





 

Wood
flooring is beautiful, timeless, and one of the most coveted features
in a home. It’s available in a wide variety of sizes, colors,
finishes, and species, including both hardwood and softwood. The most
traditional type of wood flooring — unfinished oak strip, a narrow
plank that’s usually less than three inches wide — is still the
most popular. 

 

 

Oak
strip is durable, affordable, and readily available. It exemplifies
the natural warmth and beauty of hardwood and accepts stains and
topcoat finishes easily. While it requires some work upfront, oak
strip lasts for decades once installed. Unlike engineered and
prefabricated hardwood, you can sand and refinish an oak floor
repeatedly throughout its life.

 

Caption:
Traditional
oak-strip flooring has tight-fitting tongue-and-groove joints milled
into the edges and ends of each floorboard.

To
install the tongue-and-groove oak strips, you’ll need an air
compressor and pneumatic flooring nailer that shoots specially
designed nails, called power cleats. Once you install the flooring,
you’ll need to sand and finish the surface. Don’t worry — you
won’t have to purchase all the tools needed; you can rent them at
your local home improvement store.

 

Here
are eight key steps to installing a hardwood floor:

 

Step
1: Prep the Subfloor

 

Use
a drill to drive 1 ⅝-inch drywall screws through the subfloor in
any areas that are loose or squeaky. Patch damaged spots and voids
with wood putty or floor leveling compound. Next, cover the plywood
subfloor with red rosin paper or, better yet, an asphalt-saturated
moisture barrier.

 

Roll
the three-feet-wide moisture barrier across the room, then cut it to
fit tight from wall to wall. Unroll the next piece, overlapping the
first sheet by four inches. Continue in this manner until you’ve
covered the entire subfloor. You don’t need to tape or staple down
the moisture barrier.

 

Step
2: Establish the First Row 

 

Determine
whether you need to cut down the floorboards in the first row to
ensure that the last row is at least 1 ¼ inches wide. Measure the
room width, then divide by the width of a floorboard. That gives you
the number of full-width boards needed to cover the floor, plus the
width of any remaining board. If the remaining board is less than 1 ¼
inches wide, then you’ll need to cut the first-row planks to the
proper width.

 

At
the starting wall, measure from the wall a distance equal to the
width of the first-row floorboards, then snap a chalk line parallel
to the starting wall. This line represents the first row of
floorboards. From each end of the chalk line, measure across the
floor to the ending wall. If the two measurements aren’t equal,
adjust the chalk line to ensure that it’s parallel with the ending
wall. If you start laying floorboards that are slightly askew, the
last row of flooring will be wider at one end than the other.

 

Step
3: Install the First Row

Set
the first floorboard in place on the chalk line with its tongue edge
facing out. Nail the board to the subfloor with 2-inch finishing
nails. Drive the nails at an angle through the exposed tongue. Be
sure to bore pilot holes first and space the nails about 16 inches
apart. 

 

Continue
installing floorboards, end to end, along the chalk line. Cut the
last board to length with a power miter saw or jigsaw. Don’t worry
if the cut is rough — the baseboard moulding will hide it.

 

Step
4: Install the Second Row

 

Next,
set into place the first board in the second row, making sure it
extends past any end joints in the first row by at least six inches.
Stand on the seam between the two boards to align the
tongue-and-groove joint. Then use a rubber mallet to pound the
second-row board tightly against the first row. Once the seam is
tight, use the flooring nailer to fasten the floorboard to the
subfloor. Strike the actuator knob on the nailer with the mallet to
drive the power cleats through the protruding tongue. Space the
cleats six to eight inches apart.

 

Install
the remaining floorboards in the second row, making sure to stagger
the end joints by at least six inches. Cut the last floorboard in the
row to length and nail it in place.

Step
5: Continue Across the Floor


 

As
you work your way across the floor, be sure to pound the joints
closed before nailing through the tongues and into the subfloor. When
necessary, notch a floorboard around a room corner, closet, or other
obstruction with a jigsaw or table saw.

 

As
you approach the ending wall, you’ll run out of room for the
pneumatic nailer and will once again have to revert to hand-nailing
the flooring with two-inch finishing nails.

 

When
you reach the very last row, cut the floorboards down to size on the
table saw, if necessary, making sure you cut off the tongue edge and
keep the groove edge. Then, turn the last-row floorboards upside down
and use the mallet to bust off the bottom lip of the groove edge.
Leave the upper lip intact. Removing the lower lip makes it much
easier to slip the last row into place. Install the last-row
floorboards, using a pry bar to force the joint closed while you
face-nail it to the subfloor.

 

Step
6: Sand the Floor

 

 

Rent
an electric drum sander and sand the floor starting with a
super-coarse 40-grit sanding belt. Sand parallel with the floorboards
and in the same direction as the wood grain — not across it. Be
sure to keep the sander in constant motion — if you stop in one
spot for even an instant, you’ll sand a depression into the floor.

 

After
sanding the entire floor, switch to a slightly finer 80-grit belt and
sand the floor again. Then, switch to an even finer 100-grit belt and
make the final sanding pass across the floor.

 

To
smooth the area around the room perimeter, rent an edge sander, which
uses 6-inch-diameter abrasive disks. Attach a 100-grit disk onto the
sander and work your way around the entire room perimeter, sanding
the floor smooth. When you finish sanding, vacuum the floor clean.

 

Step
7: Screen the Floor

 

The
floor will feel smooth, but it isn’t ready to receive the varnish
topcoat yet. Use an electric buffing machine fitted with a 120-grit
sanding screen to screen the floor. Turn on the buffing machine and
slowly guide it back and forth across the floor in overlapping
passes. One pass over the entire floor is sufficient. When you’re
done screening, vacuum the floor clean.

 

Step
8: Apply the Finish

For
a natural red-oak appearance, finish the oak floorboards with
polyurethane varnish or tung-oil varnish. Use a four inch paintbrush
to apply varnish around the room’s perimeter, spreading the finish
at least six inches from the walls. Next, use a long-handled lamb’s
wool applicator to spread a thin, even layer of varnish over the
entire floor. Be careful not to leave behind any puddles. Allow the
varnish to dry overnight, then smooth the surface with the electric
buffer fitted with a 220-grit sanding screen. Vacuum the floor clean.

 

Spread
on a second varnish coat using the lamb’s wool applicator. Let it
dry overnight, then smooth the floor again with the 220-grit screen.
Vacuum the floor clean. Apply a third and final coat of varnish and
let the surface dry overnight. Complete the installation by
installing baseboard and shoe moulding around the room perimeter,
making sure to nail the mouldings to the wall studs, not the
flooring.

 

 

When
all the steps are complete, you can sit back and enjoy your new
hardwood floor.

 

 

Home
improvement expert Joseph Truini writes for The Home Depot about home
DIY repair and remodeling projects, such as how to install a hardwood
floor and moulding. Visit TheHome Depot to find all the tools and hardwood floor materials you
need for the project that Joe talks about in this article.

 

 

This
article is editorial content that has been contributed to our site at
our request and is published for the benefit of our readers. We have
not been compensated for its placement.

Related posts you may enjoy:

Connect with me & stay up to date with new posts on DIYHSH

Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Google+ | Instagram

Wait!! Do you want to see more amazing DIY projects?!! Subscribe to my mailing list to get updates sent straight to your inbox!

2 thoughts on “How to Install a Traditional Hardwood Floor in 8 Easy Steps”

    1. Yes, Anon! Just search google for "wood flooring noise reduction underlayment". You'll find several options.

Comments are closed.