UNFINISHED SOLID HARDWOOD FLOORING

Solid hard flooring has always been among the best choices for quality home improvement. Now, in the age of technology, we have engineered wood, laminate wood flooring, composite flooring, all mimic the characteristics of wood, and yet, nothing quite beats natural solid hardwood flooring.

The authentic feel and warmth of solid hardwood flooring is complemented with its sturdiness, the way it feels under your feet, and excellent value it adds to any property. Cut from a single hardwood board, solid wood flooring is also much thicker than engineered flooring. Unfinished, solid hardwood flooring allows you to sand and refinish multiple times. While Wooderra's tiger teak and teak flooring offers positive attributes and specialties, exotic hardwood flooring accentuates your home with its striking appearance and impressive functionality from different types of wood. The quality options are limited, while the value of unfinished solid wood floors surpass those of factory-made alternatives. This article provides some expert advice on how to execute the installation from start to finish.

Step 1: Check the jobsite conditions

On a construction project, wood flooring should be left as one of the last steps. It is important to evaluate the jobsite prior to installation and prior to the flooring arrived at the jobsite so potential problems can be minimized. Installing an unfinished solid wood flooring consists of many stages, including the adaptation to the wood, subfloor/ substrate, and the jobsite itself. Its ambient temperature and relative humidity at the installation's time and all variables could have an impact on a wood floor.

Step 2: Acclimatizing solid wood flooring

The acclimation of wood flooring is crucial for a successful finished result. It is the process in which the wood flooring adjusts its moisture content to be in equilibrium with the surrounding environment in which it is expected to be installed.

You can facilitate the acclimation by breaking the flooring material units into small lots and/or opening the packaging. A common practice is to separate each layer of flooring with spacers (3/4" to 1" sticks) and allows air ventilation on all side of all boards.

It is often recommended to let solid wood material to acclimate for at least 3 days up to no given maximum. For onsite-finished product like unfinished solid hardwood flooring, it will take for about 5 to 7 days for the material to stabilize. It also varies depending on the wood species. While acclimation takes time, it is essential for the wood flooring to reach a moisture content that is in equilibrium with its expected use.

A general rule dictates that a relative humidity ranges from 30 to 50% and a temperature ranges of 60 to 80 Fahrenheit is an ideal environment for wood flooring's best performance (with geographic exceptions).

Step 3: Decide on an appropriate grade level

Solid wood flooring is guaranteed to be successfully installed above grade or on grade level, but below grade installation is not recommended. Below grade level flooring is where soil is present along any perimeter wall. Note that ground should be sloped away from your property for proper drainage.

Step 4: Preparation before solid hardwood flooring

A smooth, level, clean, and structurally sound base should be the foundation for a new solid wood flooring. Depending on the project and property, this base may be an existing wood floor in good condition, a previous floor covering, a new plywood subfloor, or a concrete slab. A concrete slab that is at least 60 days old and has been undergone professional moisture examination can be used as subfloor for your solid wood flooring. It must also be flat and without bumps.

Removing an old flooring can be messy, which can be avoided if you choose to install the solid wood over it. This option actually gains the insulation and soundproofing from the old floor. You might need to fix any irregularities as you leave the existing flooring in place.

It doesn't matter what is underneath your new solid hardwood flooring as the removal of doors and base shoe molding is a must to prepare floors for hardwood boards. Only remove baseboards if there is no shoe molding. Keep in mind how many molding pieces there are so they can be easily replaced once you're done.

Minimize foot traffic on a new floor; otherwise, its quality will be compromised. Proper preparation techniques depend on the type of flooring being installed and the base's conditions underneath it.

Step 5: Subfloor preparation

Similar to the base, the subfloor must also be clean, flat, dry, squeak-free, structurally sound, and free from any bump or fasteners. Clean the subfloor by scraping, sweeping, etc. as necessary. To check if there is any dip or rise, use a long, straight board and a carpenter's level. If bumps are found, sand them down and fill dips with levelling compound.

When it comes to dealing with any raised fasteners, reseat them and screw down any squeaky spots using 1 1/2-inch screws. For every 100 square feet of crawlspace, the crawlspace underneath a raised floor should be no less than 18 inches high and properly vented with 1.5 square feet of vent area so that you can avoid ground moisture humidity from increasing in the room and negatively affecting the flooring. Use 6-mil black polyethylene to cover the entire ground area by putting one sheet after another on top of each other and then taping them together.

Step 6: Hardwood flooring layout

Unfinished or prefinished solid wood flooring should be installed perpendicular to the joists or on a diagonal for any single layer subfloor. When ¾" solid strip and solid wood flooring plank is set parallel with the floor joists, you can either add a layer of minimum ½" CD Exposure 1 (CDX) plywood underlayment to the existing subfloor, or brace between joists adhering to the joist manufacturer's recommendations and to the local building codes. Note that some joist system cannot be cross-braced and still maintain its stability. This section introduces two different layouts in plank installation method.

• Wall line layout: You can choose to start the installation at the longest, unbroken, and most visible straight wall. This starting wall could also stand out focal design element in the room.

• Select straight boards for the first three rows of flooring. The boards should be in different lengths, ranging from 6 inches so that the end joints will be staggered by at least 6 inches from row to row.

• Place a working line parallel to the starting wall and allow ¾" expansion between it and the edge of the first plank run. The expansion should be located around the perimeter and free from vertical obstructions.

• Lay out random-width planks by alternating courses. Begin with the widest board, then the next width, and repeat the pattern.

• Place one row of plank parallel to the entire length of the working line

• Nail the first row with appropriate fasteners. Pre-drilling might be required with denser hardwood species. Each subsequent row should be blind-nailed with a nailing machine. It may require blind-nail by hand until top nailing is needed at the finishing wall and other obstructions.

• Depending on the geographical characteristics, interior climate control, and season of the year, more or less spacing between rows might be required. The goal is to minimize the expansion on the wood floor wider than 20 feet.

• Use a removable spacer to leave additional space every few rows and/or start in the center of the room and run to both sides.

• Blind nail through the tongue using 1 ½" to 2" fasteners, or use 1 ½" fasteners with ¾" plywood subfloor direct to concrete slab. Where needed, face nail boards with finish nails. Fasteners should be spaced every 6" to 8" on blind nailing, or every 10" to 12" on face nailing.

• To complete the final rows, use wood floor adhesive, face-nailing, or blind nailing. Both face nailing and blind nailing can be done by hand with a hammer, a drill, and finishing nails. It is much easier, faster, and less likely to cause damage to the flooring, compared to a power nailer or pneumatic flooring nailer used for face nailing and blind nailing respectively. These tools can be rented if buying is not an option.

• Center Line Layout: For a less conventional layout, start from the center of the room, measuring off the two longest walls, and snap a line down the center of tat room as a guideline.

• Nail the first row of solid wood flooring planks against the first board. Do so carefully so that the starter board is not moved when nailing. The flooring plank's groove should be against the first board.

• Proceed with installing the remaining rows of wood flooring with a blind nailer.

• After you've finished installing in one direction, remove the first board, and start rows running in the opposite direction

• Install a slip tongue in the board's groove that was against the straightedge. Apply solid wood flooring adhesive on the entire length of the groove before installing the slip tongue(s). Install the slip tongue by using a blind nailer. Use a scrap piece of hardwood flooring to run along the length of the slip tongue as you nail to secure the slip tongue in alignment for the next board.

• The remaining rows can be installed in the opposite direction with nailing like discussed above.

• Lay a starter board on the line. Affix the first board to the floor with wood screws.

In both layouts, when your reach the final row, rip-cut lengths of flooring may be required. Make a measurement from the wall to the last flooring strip's top edge, not from the tongue. Subtract ½ inch for clearance, mark the boards, and then cut them. If the board is less than 1 inch wide, apply the glue along the tongue of the last full-sized flooring row and fit the final piece in place. As you drill and nail the final strip, a short pry bar can be used to force it against its mate. To prevent the wall from being damaged by the pry bar, use a short piece of flooring. Clean any excess glue.

Clear away any spacers, cut excess underlayment that sticks up around the edges. Then nailing the baseboards and shoe moldings to the wall, not the floor. Finish with transition strips between your new floor and other flooring materials. Use matching wood putty to fill any remaining nail holes.

Step 6 sub: How to fasten solid hardwood flooring

To blind nail, fasten a nail at an angle through the tongue. When the groove of the succeeding board is fitted over the tongue, the nails are hidden. You will definitely need a flooring nailer for this task. Flooring nailers are designed to easily drive a special ring-shank flooring nail at an angle through the tongue of the flooring into the subfloor. Hit the tool with a dead-blow hammer, one solid strike per nail.

Face nailing can be done by hand. First, pre-drill a starter hole in the hardwood flooring's surface. Next, drive a finish nail until its head almost touches the surface. Place the head beneath the surface with a hammer and nailset and fill the hole with wood putty that goes with the floor. Another way is to use a power nailer. Position the tool and pull the trigger, which should sink the nails underneath the surface. Proceed with wood putty as hole filler and wipe away the excess. Work it to make sure all the gaps between boards are filled. Let the filler dry overnight.

Step 7: Sanding

Use a drum sander and 36-grit sandpaper to sand the floor. Work the machine diagonally across the boards to cut down the surfaces quickly and level them. Then run the machine parallel to the boards with the same grit sandpaper. Use a flooring edger and a 36-grit disk to sand the edges. Make sure the floor is clean of wood dust when you're done.

With the drum sander and edger, make two more passes, using 80- and 100-grit sandpaper. In dealing with corners that you can't reach, sand them down with a palm sander. When you finish, vacuum the floor, and wipe it with a damp cloth.

Step 8: Staining (optional)

Spread the stain with a paintbrush and remove the excess with a rag. Divide the hardwood flooring into sections and stain them accordingly. Brush the material on one section and wipe if off before proceeding with the next. Allow the stain dry overnight.

With a flooring applicator, apply a coat of sanding sealer. Allow the sealer to dry and then sand the floor with a floor buffer fitted with a 120-grit sanding screen. Clean the dust when finished.

Apply two or three coats of clear finish to screen the floor and vacuum after each coat except the last one. In lieu of screening the last coat, buff the last coat with a floor buffing machine installed with a lambswool buffer.

Considerations

Installing solid hardwood flooring requires skill and experience to operate sanding equipment properly. If you are a first timer, consider reaching out to a professional refinisher for advice. As an alternative, you can look for a trust- worthy contractor for your hardwood flooring installation using our 10 questions guide.

In a nut shell, install an unfinished solid hardwood flooring includes:

1.Prepare the subfloor

2.Have the planks delivered to the installation site and allow acclimation to the surrounding environment's humidity

3.Start the installation in either wall layout or center layout and mark the placement of flooring

4.Install the first flooring row to the subfloor

5.Cut and fasten the following flooring strips

6.Rip the final flooring row and secure it in place with fasteners

7.Sand, stain, and finish the floor