Installing solid hardwood floor

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See Concrete Subfloor Guidelines. When installing solid strip and solid plank flooring over concrete, a vapor retarder is always required over the concrete slab and below the subflooring material. A minimum 6 mil construction grade polyethylene film, with perm of. In such cases, follow wood or adhesive manufacturer's recommendation. Floor preparation: Refasten any loose areas of subfloor and clean the subfloor by sweeping, scraping, etc.

With frame construction, mark location of joists on perimeter walls so that starting runs and finishing runs, which require face nailing, can be nailed into joists.

Marking also locates the joists for plank flooring installation. Flooring direction: In general over single layer subfloor, wood should be installed perpendicular to the floor truss. Unfinished and factory-finished solid strip and solid plank flooring should be installed perpendicular to the joists or on a diagonal for any single layer subfloor. Exception: Over diagonal, solid subfloor boards, install perpendicular to joists or subfloor direction. Before installing wood flooring, use an approved vapor retarder.

Some examples of acceptable vapor retarders over wood subfloors include:. Cover the subfloor with a good grade of 2 vapor retarders ASTM , lapped 2" - 4" along the edge seams.

This retards moisture movement from below. It is necessary to fasten the felt to the subfloor. Choose a starting wall according to the most aesthetically or architecturally important elements in the room, taking into consideration fireplaces, doors, cabinets and transitions, as well as the squareness of the room.

The starting wall will often be the longest unbroken wall in the room. Random-width plank is laid out with alternating courses varying by widths. Start with the widest board, then the next width, etc. Top-nail and blind-nail the first row hand-nail if necessary , using appropriate fasteners.

Denser species may require pre-drilling. Each succeeding row should be blind-nailed with the nailing machine wherever possible. At the finishing wall and other obstructions, it may be necessary to blind-nail by hand until top nailing is required.

Racking rule of thumb: Avoid H patterns. Stagger end joints of boards row to row a minimum of 6" for strip flooring, 8"" for 3" to 5" plank, and for plank wider than 5 inch, stagger as much as possible with minimal or no H joints. See Figures and To minimize expansion on floors wider than 20 feet, more or less spacing between rows may be needed, depending on geographical area, interior climate control and time of the year. Do not use spacers that may cause damage on factory-finished products.

Face-nail boards where needed using 6d-8d casing or finish nails. Fasteners should be spaced every 6 " -8 " on blindnailing, or every 10 " " on face-nailing.

Blind-nail, face-nail or use wood floor adhesive, as necessary, to complete the final rows. Note: For instructions on using the trammel point method to square a room and find the center point, see Appendix G, Trammel Point Method. Find the center of the room, measuring off the two longest walls, and snap a line down the center of that room.

Install a starter board on the line. Fasten the starter board to the floor using wood screws. Nail the first row of wood flooring against the starter board, being careful not to move the starter board when nailing. The groove of the flooring should be against the starter board. Use a blind nailer to install the remaining rows of wood flooring.

Use the nailing practices described earlier in the chapter. After installing in one direction, remove the starter board and start rows going in the opposite direction. Install a spline or a slip tongue in the groove of the board that was against the straightedge. Put wood flooring adhesive down the entire length of the groove before installing the splines.