How to Put Wood Flooring Down

Hardwood floors are a popular choice in today's homes. Wood flooring comes in a variety of finishes to match any decorating style. It adds a warm, classic appearance to your home and increases the resale value. Hiring a professional to install your wood floor can be expensive so you may opt to do it yourself. Putting your own wood floor down is time consuming, but it is not difficult if you have the right tools.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure
• Wood flooring
• Stud finder
• Vapor barrier
• Staple gun
• Chalk line
• Chop saw
• Drill with small drill bits
• Hammer
• Nail set
• Finishing nails
• Pneumatic nail gun
• Table saw
• Pry bar

Instructions

1. Determine the square footage of your room by measuring the walls and multiplying the length by the width. Purchase enough wood flooring to cover the floor of the room, adding extra to compensate for waste and mistakes.

2. Remove the shoe molding and the old flooring. If the old flooring is vinyl and in good shape, you can just leave it in place and install the wood floor over it.

3. Inspect the sub-floor carefully. If any boards are loose or squeaky, secure them with screws. Clean up all the dust and debris from the floor.

4. Make marks on the walls to indicate the location of the floor joists. You can use the nails and seams of the sub-floor as a guide or use a stud finder.

5. Roll out strips of tar paper or felt for a vapor barrier. This protects the wood from moisture coming up from the ground. Overlap the strips by four inches and staple them to the sub-floor.

6. Locate the longest wall that runs perpendicular to the floor joists. Make a chalk line mark on the floor 3/8 inch from the wall. This gap is to allow space for your wood floor to expand and contract with changes in temperature.

7. Choose a long wood floor board and place it along this chalk line, groove side toward the wall. Drill pilot holes in the top of the board near the wall and nail the boards to the floor. The nails should be close enough to the edge that they will be hidden by the shoe molding. The nails should be 10 to 12 inches apart, with at least two nails per board.

8. Continue placing wood floor boards along the chalk line, using a piece of scrap wood to tap the grooved end onto the tongue of the previous board. Nail them in place. When you reach the end of the row, measure and cut a board to fit, leaving a 3/8-inch gap between the edge of the last board and the wall.

9. Add the second row of wood flooring and use a scrap piece of wood to tap the grooved side onto the tongue of the first row. Blind nail the boards by drilling a pilot hole through the tongue at an angle and tapping a finishing nail through the tongue into the subfloor. Use a nail set to drive the nail beneath the surface without damaging the top of the floor.

10. Continue to add wood floor boards until you reach the last row. Make sure you vary the lengths of the wood floor pieces and that the seams are staggered so that they do not line up. Once there is enough room you can use the pneumatic nail gun instead of hand nailing. You will need to resume hand nailing when you approach the other wall and space becomes tight again.

11. Measure the width of the last row, leaving a 3/8 inch gap. Use a table saw to cut the last few floor boards to the correct width.

12. Put the last row in and use a pry bar to push the boards onto the tongue of the previous row. Drill pilot holes through the top of the wood boards near the wall and nail them in place.

13. Attach the shoe molding and fill any visible nail holes in the floor with matching wood putty.

Tips & Warnings

• Lay several rows of wood flooring down without nailing to see how the lengths, colors and grain look before you fasten them down permanently.

Resources

• The Wood Flooring Manufacturers Association
• National Wood Flooring Association