How to Install a Hardwood Floor

DIY experts give step-by-step instructions on how to install hardwood floors in any room.


Materials and Tools:

modular porch system kit
wood putty
vapor barrier paper
pneumatic flooring package
nail set
staple gun
drill bits
tape measure
pry bar
chop saw
table saw
ear protection
safety goggles
chalk line
variable speed drill


1. Choose the hardwood species and board widths for the room installation.


3. Check the sub-floor. Minimum requirements are a 3/4" plywood sub-floor. Make sure there are no squeaks in the floor. If there's a squeak, screw a long drywall screw into the sub-floor and joist where the squeak occurs. Remove shoe-molding from the room and sweep and clean thoroughly.

4. Roll out strips of vapor barrier paper, allowing at least a 4" overlap and staple securely to the sub-floor. Use 15 pound tar paper or felt. It is relatively inexpensive (it's approximately $12 a roll at a home improvement store). Mark with a pencil along the baseboards where the joists are located.

5. Start the installation at the longest unobstructed wall. Remove the shoe molding, and snap a chalk line 3/8" out from the baseboard (this allows for expansion in the hot, humid weather and contraction in the colder, drier weather of the hardwood flooring).










9. When cutting along the baseboards, select a piece that will fit in there and leave 10 or 12 inches more and cut it off. Use the other piece on the beginning of the next row. You don't always have to get it in there real close and throw out the end piece. That will save some time and waste.


10. Be sensitive to the way the ends fit together. One end has a tongue and the other end has a groove -- this is called end matched. Make sure to always cut the wall end of the wood so that you do not cut off the groove that fits to the tongue. If that happens, that would result in a pretty big gap. Find a piece and lay it alongside the hole and flip it over. Make sure when you make the mark to cut off the wall side, not the room side. When you make the mark, butt it up against the baseboard and then mark at the end of that tongue. That will leave a 3/8" gap for expansion and contraction when installing the piece.

Note: Before nailing, make sure to put at least two nails in every board. The rule of thumb is to place a nail every 10" to 12".



12. If there's a narrow gap for the last board, take a measurement and rip (cut length-wise) the last board to fit into place. Remember to leave a 3/8" gap at the end wall for expansion and contraction space.


14. Maintenance is easy for a pre-finished hardwood floor -- keep grit off of the surface by sweeping regularly and use a flooring cleaning kit (alcohol-based) and spray on and wipe off with a damp cloth. Hardwood floors also help cut down on dust mites.

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