Household Item Reviewer
06-28-2005, 02:15 AM
Hardwood flooring comes in a variety of materials and styles. With a little shopping around, you can find the perfect choice for your house.
Steps:
1. Determine the areas where you want wood flooring installed.
2. Measure the areas to determine the square footage.
3. Determine whether a plywood subfloor is in place already (such as in an area where carpeting has been removed). If you're remodeling, you may find that a 5/16-inch or 3/8-inch engineered flooring product will fit, while standard 3/4-inch-thick flooring would require you to change or trim the doors in the room. In other instances you may want the structural stability of a 3/4-inch product.
4. Consider whether you want an unfinished or pre-finished wood flooring product. Pre-finished flooring has the polyurethane coating already applied, so once it is installed the project is complete. Unfinished flooring requires sanding and coating after installation.
5. Consider the stain color if you are buying a pre-finished product. (Unfinished floors are stained after installation, but a pre-finished product comes already stained.)
6. Decide if you will hire an installer or if you will be installing the flooring yourself. Flooring comes in varieties that can be nailed, glued, or even affixed with pre-attached strips of adhesive tape. A pre-finished glue-down product is easier for a novice to install than standard unfinished nail-down flooring.
7. Consult your installer before ordering the material. Flooring involves a waste factor that varies with room geometry and the type of product. Expect approximately 15 to 25 percent waste. Make sure that you and the installer agree upon the amount of material needed for the job.
8. Shop at several home centers or suppliers to check out the various products and compare prices.
9. Order the material from your chosen supplier. Don't forget to order nails, glue, or any other material required.
Tips:
Oak is the most popular choice of flooring material, but maple and pine are also frequently used.
Unfinished flooring allows you greater latitude in stain colors than pre-finished products, which typically come in only three or four colors.
Warnings:
Installing standard strip flooring (which includes nailing down the flooring, sanding, staining, and coating) is a difficult home improvement for the inexperienced - consider using a glue-down pre-finished product if you want to do the job yourself.
Steps:
1. Determine the areas where you want wood flooring installed.
2. Measure the areas to determine the square footage.
3. Determine whether a plywood subfloor is in place already (such as in an area where carpeting has been removed). If you're remodeling, you may find that a 5/16-inch or 3/8-inch engineered flooring product will fit, while standard 3/4-inch-thick flooring would require you to change or trim the doors in the room. In other instances you may want the structural stability of a 3/4-inch product.
4. Consider whether you want an unfinished or pre-finished wood flooring product. Pre-finished flooring has the polyurethane coating already applied, so once it is installed the project is complete. Unfinished flooring requires sanding and coating after installation.
5. Consider the stain color if you are buying a pre-finished product. (Unfinished floors are stained after installation, but a pre-finished product comes already stained.)
6. Decide if you will hire an installer or if you will be installing the flooring yourself. Flooring comes in varieties that can be nailed, glued, or even affixed with pre-attached strips of adhesive tape. A pre-finished glue-down product is easier for a novice to install than standard unfinished nail-down flooring.
7. Consult your installer before ordering the material. Flooring involves a waste factor that varies with room geometry and the type of product. Expect approximately 15 to 25 percent waste. Make sure that you and the installer agree upon the amount of material needed for the job.
8. Shop at several home centers or suppliers to check out the various products and compare prices.
9. Order the material from your chosen supplier. Don't forget to order nails, glue, or any other material required.
Tips:
Oak is the most popular choice of flooring material, but maple and pine are also frequently used.
Unfinished flooring allows you greater latitude in stain colors than pre-finished products, which typically come in only three or four colors.
Warnings:
Installing standard strip flooring (which includes nailing down the flooring, sanding, staining, and coating) is a difficult home improvement for the inexperienced - consider using a glue-down pre-finished product if you want to do the job yourself.