How do I lay solid wood click flooring, hints and tips please?
I have solid wood tongue and groove flooring, a flooring fitting kit, a hammer, and a jigsaw.
The door is needing about a half inch taken off the bottom as well, whats the best way to do that?
Please forgive me, ive never laid flooring before, ive made store displays but always 2m squared for Homebase (where I work)
May 28th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
OK – take the door off it’s hinges in order to shave off the bottom – get help to do this as it is quite difficult.
If you can easily remove your skirting boards, then do so, as the finished job will look better. If not, leave a gap between the first board and the skirting board (for expansion). Lay the boards along the longest wall first – you will have to cut the last board to fit – use the bit that you cut off to start the next row. Continue until the floor is covered – the last row is the hardest as you will have to cut each piece lengthwise to fit.
Make sure that there is a gap all round then cover this up by tacking wooden beading to the skirting boards (that’s why it’s best to take them off if you can as you can just use them to cover the gap when you re-fit them.
Good luck – it’s not that hard if you have some DIY skill.
May 28th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
You need a jamb saw to undercut the door jambs you can buy a hand one for about $25 and a power one for about $300. make sure the floor is clean, all base is off.
Is the wood floor you are installing a staple, float or glue down product? a table saw will work better to make the cuts and any 45’s if you have angles. if you are stapling it get the joints tight and staple through the tongue about every 4 inches. if you are floating it put down your underlayment tape the seams and snap it together. if you are gluing. glue down a few rows and let it set a few hours so that when you go to puch more boards in they don’t shift. Make sure you start off a square wall if possible.
May 28th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
#1 make sure you start of square to the room, if the opposite wall is out you have to 50/50 it up, the last thing you want on one side of the room is a final taperd row or borads. #2 dont forget expasnion gaps, ideally u want to remove all the old skirting and then the new skirting will cover the gap up. #3 in responce to the door, just take it of and use a handsaw, dont try and use a jigsaw as the blade can wander and not give a square cut, or if you have one the best option is a circular saw.
May 28th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
First off, remove skirting and thouroughly clean the surface you are going to lay the floor on. Then work out if your room is square (using Pythagoras Theorem), if not, work out which walls are square and work from there. Spread the foam underlay as you get to it (otherwise it will get torn). Get some 10mm spacers and put some between the wall and your first board. Maintain this 10mm gap at ALL walls. Lay your first line of boards. Start the second line of boards with the piece you cut off the end of the first line (this will greatly reduce your waste). Make sure the joints are staggered to give the floor strength. Take the door down to cut it. You also have to cut the bottom of the jambs (sore knuckles), use an offcut of floor as a guide for saw. HTH
May 28th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Mills hit the mark pretty square, something else to consider is to point the grove toward you and use the manufacturers suggested tapping block, usually in an installation kit, to get your joints to “click”
If using a scrap piece do not put tongue and grove together, you will just get em stuck together.
I found that laying flooring with the tongue toward me caused damage to the tongue and the floor would not snap together.