Wood flooring gives a unique feel to your room. If you are planning to have that warm feel by installing wood flooring, why not opt for floating floor! Floating floor installation is the easiest and quickest way to give your room the desired touch of classy flooring. In floating floor, the planks are glued together and not nailed down. You might be thinking that the floor installation would be a difficult task, but let me tell you that it's not! Yes, just follow the step-by-step instructions to have it right there, in your room!
Tips to Follow
Before you start the installation, consider the area you need to cover. Decide the material you will be using for engineered flooring, laminate flooring or any other, the cost highly depends on this. When measuring, make sure that you consider the unevenness of room, like the pillar space, cut outs and do not forget the closet or area below any furniture. It's better to get some extra material because it will be a problem if you are short of material. Extra material can be useful later, if something is damaged.
Material Required Measure tape Flooring planks Spacer blocks Wood blocks Foam underlayment Dovetail saw Utility knife Duct tape Glue Hammer Pry bar Jigsaw Transition molding Procedure
Step 1
Start by trimming the door casings using the dovetail saw. This will help the flooring slide underneath. To check the height of the cut, lay a piece of flooring and foam underlayment. Now, hold the saw flat, horizontally and make the cut.
Step 2
Now, you have to vacuum the room. After this take the foam underlayment and unroll it to cover the room. Make sure it covers the room perfectly in single layer. In case you use more pieces, place them end to end without overlapping. For uneven cuts, trim the foam using a utility knife. Using a duct tape secure the pieces with each other.
Step 3
Place the spacer blocks along the starting wall. Now, lay the first plank, grooved end in the corner, against the spacer block. Go on laying the planks besides each other, squeezing glue in the groove. Keeping the tongues facing out, cut ends will go against the wall. While finishing the row, you will reach the end, so that only one plank (or lesser) will fit between the wall and previously installed plank. To fill this space, first place a spacer against the wall. Now, measure the space between the spacer to the last plank installed. Take the new plank and mark this measurement, starting at the grooved end. Cut it, to have the required sized plank. Glue the groove end and install to fill up the space. Take a pry bar and slip it between the plank and spacer and push the plank to fix it properly.
Step 4
Go on installing rest of the planks in the same way, row-by-row. Make sure you place the spacer blocks against the side walls before laying the planks. Squeeze the glue into the groove of the plank and then slide it into the plank of previous row. To fix planks properly without any spaces, place a wood block against the outer side of installed plank. Now you have to tap it using the hammer, so that the planks fit best into each other. Continue the installation in same way.
Step 5
While you go on installing, you'll come to the last row. Probably, there is less width left between the planks and wall. Measure the width left for the last row of plank. Make sure you place the spacer against the wall before measuring the distance.
Step 6
Cut the planks to fit in the required width using a jigsaw. Also, cut the plank to fit the doorway notches by taking proper measurements. This plank will go underneath the casing that we had cut in the step 1. Now, remove the spacers placed here to fix the planks properly. Use a pry bar to fix the planks perfectly with planks of previous row and place back the spacers.
Step 7
Trim the planks at doorway to equal the height of the transition molding. Fit the transition molding to overlap the flooring. Now, measure the space between the planks and walls for shoe molding. Finish by installing the molding properly against the floor; you can use finish nails to do so.
Yes, the installation is over! Wait for minimum 24 hours to let the floor settle, before you step over it. Clean your new floating floor and take a look. Isn't it looking awesome!
