Switching to new flooring is a challenging task. While there are plenty of flooring options you can choose from, the best one you can go with would be hardwood flooring. With this material, you can guarantee timeless beauty in your property while maximizing its longevity.
Hardwood flooring is now a popular choice for most homes as they provide excellent benefits to their house. Even if they come with a higher price tag, every penny would be worth it as they’ll last their property for decades. However, installing new hardwood flooring isn’t a walk in the park. According to Wooden Floors UK, you need to check out different types of wood and know how to install them properly to make the most out of them.
To help you out, this article will discuss some essential guides to choosing and installing new hardwood flooring:
Choosing a New Hardwood Flooring
It’d help if you began by choosing new flooring for your home. There are plenty of factors that can affect this decision more than basing it on its beauty. Moreover, below are some ways to choose your new hardwood flooring:
01. Determine the Rooms for Installation
The first thing you need to do when installing new hardwood flooring for your home is to determine which rooms need to be renovated. This can help you choose which flooring suits your project best. Hardwood floorings are best installed in living rooms, dining rooms, home offices, and bedrooms. These rooms would benefit most when you install hardwood floors in them. It can make a significant improvement on the room and can even help you achieve the look that you want.
02. Choose Between Solid Wood Or Engineered Flooring
After determining the room you want to renovate, deciding which type of flooring you’d like to install is essential. Solid wood comes in thick planks of solid timber while engineered floorings come with a thinner top layer of hardwood.
Solid woods are installed on layers of plywood, making your floor rise and sometimes interfering with existing doors. This also makes your ceiling height decreased. Engineered flooring is at an advantage, especially when installed on concrete subfloors, as they’re easier and quicker to install. Since engineered floors are attached to different types of wood, they carry various movements that prevent the floor from shifting in case of contraction cycle or expansion.
It’s also important to know the aftercare of each type of flooring once you’ve installed them. Make sure to choose the type of flooring that best suits your needs.
03. Identify the Type of Wood
There are different types of wood to select from. Make sure you decide which wood species to use, as each wood can offer various benefits for functionality. Some are harder and more durable while some are more budget-friendly than others.
Selecting a wood type will also vary on which room you’ll install it. Suppose you’re installing it in a busy room and are expecting a lot of foot traffic—it’s better to consider installing a harder wood. One popular choice is oak wood, which is durable and has an attractive natural grain. For a softer look and a richer, warm tone, some use walnut wood. The type of wood depends on the room and your style as there are other types of wood such as hickory, maple, bamboo, mahogany, and many others.
04. Choose Site-Finished Or Prefinished
The difference between prefinished flooring and site-finished flooring is that prefinished flooring allows you to see what exactly you’re getting since you’ll have the same look once it’s installed in your home. Even though this may seem an advantage for the prefinished flooring, the site-finished flooring is on par as it allows customization that many homeowners would want. Site-finished flooring also relies on the contractor to get the final output right.
Installation of New Hardwood Flooring
After choosing your flooring, the installation is the next thing you have to worry about. Since you’d like your flooring to last for as long as possible, you must ensure that you attach them right into it. Below are some guides for proper installation:
01. Identify The Cost of Installing New Hardwood Flooring
Not only should you consider the cost of the hardwood floors, but you also need to think about the cost of a professional service or even when installing it on your own. A solid hardwood floor will cost less than if you opt to use engineered wood.
02. Acclimation Of Wood
Letting your floors acclimate when installing new hardwood flooring is also a challenge. When your new flooring arrives, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should start working on your renovation project. You need to let solid hardwood floorings sit in the room for a couple of days as they will need some time to adjust to the room’s temperature. For engineered floorings, store them in the environment before starting with the installation.
03. Seek Professional Help
Opting for a professional hardwood floor installation company can save you a lot of time regarding the ins and outs of installing hardwood flooring. You don’t need to worry about any steps of the whole installation process. You just need to prepare your home before the help arrives.
You may need to move your furniture out of the room and remove your doors off the hinges to avoid damage once they start hauling their flooring materials and equipment. You also need to hang plastic sheets on doorways where the floor isn’t changing to prevent dust accumulation. Make sure to hire an experienced company as they’ll always know what they’re doing and can help you every step of the way, from estimation up to the completion of the installation.
04. DIY Installation Types
If you have a fixed budget or you want to save a few bucks while installing hardwood floors, there are different types of DIY installation tricks you can choose from to start your home renovation project. Make sure you understand each type to determine which style suits you best.
05. Nail Down Or Glue Down
If you have a concrete subfloor, glue is the best to ensure that your hardwood will stick down on your floor. Even though glue can still be used on a wooden subfloor, it’s best to nail them down, especially if you plan on fitting your hardwood floor to joists.
06. Click-Lock
This DIY installation doesn’t require any materials to attach two floorboards together. Although this was only initially designed for engineered hardwood floors, this trick allows a quicker and easier installation technique. The flooring itself was intended to have an interlocking mechanism between the floorboards. Once you install a floorboard, you can easily attach another one by looking for the groove, and basically, both can now be linked together.
07. Add Finishing Touches
Once everything has been installed, you need to make sure you also add trims and moldings to finish your project. Corners should be cut properly and spacers should now be removed as they’ve served their purpose.
Takeaway
As you identify what type of hardwood flooring would go best with your property, the next thing you have to prioritize is the installation. While you can always hire a professional to do all the hard work for you, there are ways you can do it yourself. This allows you to save money while also improving your home-making skills. Knowing the right type and installation for your home will enable you to turn your property into something extraordinary.
We have also written other article on wood flooring, refer below link: