I am going to install hardwood floors myself, but don't know how.?
Question:I am going to buy some hardwood, my floor right now is old wood and is uneven so I am going to put another layer of plywood sheets on it to make it even and then I don't know how to begin and what tools I need to do this project.
Answers:
Check out places like Home Depot or Lowe's. They usually have free instruction classes on all kinds of home repair/improvements.
It is time consuming but doable. Hard on the back and knees. It is technically complex and requires special tools that can be rented. Buy a good book, Amazon.com would have them on how to do this.
take a class at Lowe's .this will help you
You wont need to put down new plywood over your old wood flooring. By the time you add that and then additional layer of prime wood floor, you will have to cut all your doors down over an inch. Give or take.
You can put a layer of the foam if its a floating floor that is only 1/4 inch. The unevenness wont likely show if you lay the new floor in the opposite direction as the old floor. If its buckled saw a relief and beat it down.
Here I put a layer of roof tar paper (1/8 "or so) down first. Butted the sides and taped them. This prevents moisture getting thru as well as insulates for sound and climate. It also prevents the two floors coming in contact and squeaking.
If you install refinished floor its pretty easy if you rent the right tools. Follow the directions from the manufacturer. They all have DVDs. Good luck
Really not that difficult, You need to rent a tool that sets the nails and clamps the joints together. Make sure you let the new flooring set in the room you will be installing it in for a few days. This will allow the wood to expand or contract to the conditions of the room. If the wood is to green when you install it is will shrink as it dries and you will end up with gaps in the joints. If too dry, it may absorb moisture and could cause the planks to bulge. When you drive in the nails dont rely on the plywood, be sure to nail into the studs with a long finish nail
Engineered, or solid wood? Engineered (like Pergo) used to be a glue-up installation. But today, it's almost universally click-lock, and is installed in what's called a "floating installation" (not fastened to the floor - basically a wood area rug). This is relatively easy, and the most common DIY flooring. Solid wood flooring is nailed in place, and requires a compressor and special flooring nailer (available for rent at Lowes/HomeDepot).
Here's a web page that really covers all the gotcha's and details that most of the DIY sites don't mention. While this covers a nailed-in installation, the same process applies to a click-lock (minus the nails).
http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/floor...
On the subject of the existing flooring- Contrary to what some people have said here, a flat floor is VERY important -- especially with a floating floor (too much give and you'll break the thin click-lock tongues). If I recall correctly, tolerance is something like 3/16" over an 4' span. If you've got solid wood floors that are really off, a layer of underlayment is the way to go.
If you're talking about an existing plywood subfloor, you may or may not need to put a second layer on it. If you've got ridges where two sheets meet, use a circular saw set to 3/4" deep, and score along the seams to create a gap between the sheets. Buckling along the seams is caused by the individual sheets expanding and causing the edges to buckle (there's supposed to be an 1/8", but a lot of builders are lazy and figure the carpet will cover any problems).
Whether or not you're putting down new subfloor, if you've got low spots (caused by a bow in the floor joists), you've got to level them off. Specifically, I'm talking about localized dips with a couple foot radius or less. Use pieces of roofing felt to fill in any dips, bringing them up to the level of the surrounding area. For significant dips, I use cut-up asphalt shingles because it's about four times as thick as the roofing felt, so I don't have to use as many layers to fill in the dip. What you're trying to achieve is a FLAT subfloor, so the final flooring isn't flexing everytime you walk on it. Leveling the floor is nice, but it's not important to the life of the flooring. Flatness is the critical factor. Dips in the subfloor is what will cause engineered flooring to break and solid wood flooring to pop nails.
Umpteen years ago [ 1960's] I used Bruce Hardwood flooring and it look beautiful when finished. Comes in random lengths from one foot to eight feet. This flooring is nailed down with a nail that looks like a "J". There was a tool that was available to set the nails at just the right angle while driving the pieces up tight to the next one. I haven't looked at it but go to ~~~ www.bruce.com ~~~ and check the web site.
This is 3/4 hardwood oak and when finished you just wipe up the dust and put the furniture back in place or whatever.
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http://www.zickgraf.com/installation_eas...
Not to sure about the actual installation, but for finishing with an outstanding shine to your new timber floor, try Tuff Coat Polyurethane. This product is a single pack (pour direct from can) polyurethane with a solid content of 70%. Further information can be found at web page below.
hire a proffessional. i have been a hardwood installer for 7 years and cant count already the number times a home handyman has tried and failed and called me to come fix his mess. if you must do it yourself this is how
1)tear out the old wood so that you can staple the new wood directly onto subfloor.
2)get all neccessary tools (chop saw, table saw, jig saw, compressor, hardwood stapler, 18 or 16 gauge brad nailer, air hoses, rubber mallet, sliding square, chalk line, large flat head screwdriver, caulking gun and tubes of pl400 or pl premium, squeeze bottle of carpenters glue)
3)begin by figuring out which direction the floor will be running,
it needs to go perpendicular to the floor joists
4)pick the longest wall in the house that the floor will run parallel to and make a mark on the floor 12" off the wall at both ends. snap a chalk line to connect the 2 points. measure to opposite wall to determine squarness of the room you are in and adjust chalk line to get it as parallel to both walls as possible
5)pick enough long (3' and over) boards that are straight to make 2 full rows along your starting wall. put a heavy squiggle of the pl glue thats 2 boards wide. place your first row in the glue parallel to the chalk line you made and use the brad nailer to toe nail into the top of the tongue on the board at a downward angle to fasten it in place. contine brad nailing rows until you have enough room from the wall to fit the big stapler on.begin stapling boards into place trying to keep joins between boards in adjacent rows at least 6-8"appart.
6)when you come up to a wall, staple as close to the wall as you can (should be about a foot away from the wall) now continue by using the brad nailer and nailing into the tongues of the boards again until you are about 8" (2-3 rows) from the wall. put a heavy squiggle of the pl glue again and sqeeze some carpenters glue into the groove of the board you are going to place. pull the board in the glue tight. if you cant, then use the big flat head screw driver and pound it into the subfloor and use it to pry the board tight.
7)for the last row measure and mark the width you need and cut it on the table saw to be about 1/8 to 1/4" skinnier that the gap you need to fill. rip it down with the tablesaw at a 15 degree angle, cutting the bottom side of the board skinnier than the top. this will allow you to just rock it into place against the wall. get some wooden shims or make some wedges and pry the last row tight then pound wedges in agianst the wall to hold it tight until the glue sets.
also everyone who says to put tar paper or whatever under the wood to help it "slide" when it expands or contracts or to prevent moisture are wrong. 1)how is a board with multiple 2" staples in it going to do any sliding? 2)what moisture? from where? the wood should have already been in the house acclimating with the humidifier on. and anyways hardwood doesnt really absorb moisture into the side of the grain. the absorbing happens at the end of the boards where you can see the open grain.
thats all there is to it
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