【Flooring basics chapter (II)】Installing Hardwood Flooring

【Flooring basics chapter (II)】Installing Hardwood Flooring

There are several different techniques for installing Hardwood Floors. Which one is chosen generally depends on what kind of sub-floor you have, based on the house platform, i.e. slab or pier & beam.

Let’s imagine an hardwood floor install in a classic pier and beam home, frequently found in older parts of Dallas and Ft. Worth. In this design, the sub-floor straddles beams that run across the foundation, keeping your floor above the ground. In most cases, though not all (depending on the age of the house), the sub-floor is some sort of plywood.

If this is the case, we first make sure the plywood base is sturdy and thick enough to handle the kind of flooring desired. That is, can it take and hold the nails that will attach the floor to it? This is usually the case, but needs to be checked.

The installer will then lay down a moisture barrier, usually roofing felt and perhaps an additional plastic sheeting if there tends to be moisture issues under the house. After that, the hardwood flooring is laid out in a proximate design, mixing long and short boards and different shades in an eye-pleasing pattern. When these pieces look right, the flooring is nailed into the sub-floor, one piece at a time, interlocking them with the tongue-&-groove to make a smooth surface.

As the floor in installed, a gap is left on the perimeter approximately a quarter of an inch wide. This is to allow the floor to “breathe,” that is, expand and contract with the weather and the humidity. So, following the nail-down, the gap is covered with a baseboard or a quarter-round.

If it is a pre-finished floor, the job is done (after clean-up, of course). If it is a raw hardwood, then we move on to the finishing, which we will discuss at another time.

Next: Gluing down a floor!

Goldea Designers From French Designing Plus Designer Association

Goldea (Zhejiang Jindi Holding Group Co., Ltd), founded in 1986, is a professional home furniture& decor one-stop solution supplier and manufacturer, dealing with R&D, selling top-grade wood flooring, wood door, wood furniture/ vanity/ cabinet, and other home furnishing products, and has now more than 2000 staff, covering an area of 180000 square meters with group headquarters located in China. south of the World Wonder Qian Tang Tidewater Xiao Shan District, Hangzhou city. Goldea is a wood home product manufacturer who, through high-quality products and discerning design to inspire people, for whom home is an important part of living space and a personal expression of attitude towards life.

Goldea's products are carried out strictly in accordance with the ISO9001 quality system, 6S management model and the BSCI social responsibility requests. As a company being evaluated as AAA-grade quality by Zhejiang Province, Goldea has already become a famous brand in China.