How to Lay Solid Wooden Floors
- 1). Lay the new flooring out in the room where you are going to install it, three or four days before you begin the installation. This will ensure that the moisture content in the new flooring is the same as the moisture in the material you will be covering.
- 2). Mix the pieces of hardwood flooring so that the colors and grain patterns are mixed together.
- 3). Snap a chalk line approximately three inches from the wall to provide a reference for the first row. It is best to begin laying the new flooring along an exterior wall since these walls are usually the straightest. Leave a half inch between the first board and the wall to allow room for the boards to expand with humidity.
- 4). Glue each piece down if you are covering a concrete floor. If you are covering a plywood floor, staple each board down using a staple gun at the base of the tongue. When you lay the next board in place, the groove will cover the staple. When the first board is in place, continue down the row, engaging each piece into the next.
- 5). Measure and cut the pieces in order to fit the wall for the first row and nail it in place. When you start each new row, be sure to start with a length that will ensure that the seam is at least nine inches from the seam in the row next to it, guaranteeing that the seams in the boards will be staggered from row to row.
- 6). Cut notches from the boards before laying them when you encounter an obstacle. Use a combination square to mark the location of the obstacle onto the board and cut the notch with a jigsaw.
- 7). Cut into the casing when the row reaches a door casing. Using a piece of scrap flooring to measure the height of the flooring, make a mark with the jig saw. Cut into the casing in a process called undercutting. Cut the shape of the casing into the board and slide it under the door casing.
- 8). Install molding at the edges to conceal the half inch gap along the walls.
