Installing hardwood floors...where do I begin?

Question

We're buying a house that needs new floors. It currently has 40 year old carpet. My husband and father want to install hardwood floors. They're handy, but they've never done this before. They'd like to hire someone experienced to lead them, and then they would provide most of the labor.

We would have to buy the flooring somewhere. I know it comes in so many formats. We would definitely go with prefinished, and I'd like to stay away from fume-y glue if possible.

Where do I begin to learn about this? Should I sit down with someone at home depot? Is there an article I should read? I just don't know how to go about getting estimates and figuring out which product we should use.

Thanks for any advice!

Answer 1

I would like to offer you some great advice.  I have an old home also that needed tons of work when I bought it.  there were hardwood floors under carpeting, but they were badly damaged and it would have cost a lot of money to get them back in their prime shape.  I did tons of research and decided to go over them with laminate flooring.  I chose DuPont Real Touch which sells at Home Depot.  It's more expensive than other brands...but not as expensive as real wood, and it's by far a better quality with a better locking system.  People swear I have real hardwood floors!

Anyway, starting depends on the type of base board you have.  If it can easily be removed, then do so.  If not, leave it, but you'll have to install shoe molding when the project is done.  Start on one end of the room and leave 1/8" space between the new flooring and the wall/base board for weather expansion.  Remember to stagger your joints so they don't match up from one row to the next and you'll be fine.  Cutting is simple if you use a miter saw.  use a jig saw for any special cuts you may have.  It's that easy...no glue, no nails, and no headaches.  The pieces lock together tightly and there is no need for a rubber underpayment with DuPont because it's attached to the laminate already.  I hope this helps and good luck!

Answer 2

begin on the floor

Answer 3

Go to some place like Home Depot and check out the MANY possible types of Hardwood floor. Be sure to check out Laminated  Flooring as it is by far the easiest type to put down.  No Glue, no Nails , just snaps together and looks and preforms wonderfully well.  If you have a Radial chop saw and are able to follow instructions printed on the box you should be able to do it all by yourself. Be sure to talk to someone who has done it before and checkout how well their finished job looks. Follow their advice. If you do go with actual real wood be sure to use the Pre finished type as finishing a hard wood floor well is more difficult than installing it.

Answer 4

Check everything for squareness first- many people ignore this and many more modern houses can be out. Run a tape measure, two people, from one corner to another like a giant X-shape-measurements should be within a 1/4 of an inch. Then your good to go,depending on what type of flooring, start where you have to (you'll find out on the web).  Do some kind of evenly spaced layout off all the walls,particularly with feature strips,etc, not unlike tiling. You can rent all the nail guns you need. Use a good quality electric miter box, cut stuff a little long at first and "creep" up on it till its' dead nuts. Once you get the hang of it its' just elbow grease. Also, watch out for lumps in the sub floor-belt sand them down to level-also walk everywhere first and check for squeaks and tighten them up by s******g into the joists. Use hardwood floor paper if necessary,etc. That's all the important stuff, pretty much. P.S, pull all the base board first and leave a little gap, up to 1/2 inch,will cover later.

Answer 5

Don't know your location, however, Lumber Liquidators would definitely be a quality source for the purchase of flooring.  They would also be very acceptable for assisting in determining just how much you would need to buy for your project.   You can check with DIY network online for directions on installation as well.