Where to start installing your wood flooring?
A good start is the path to a perfect finish. Make sure your flooring installation goes as smoothly as possible, which will save you time and materials. Installing your wooden flooring is simple, but before you begin, make sure you’re well-prepared. After that, just follow these simple steps.
- Start by measuring the room. This way, you avoid waste and having to work with lots of small, narrow pieces when finishing up. Small pieces will not only make the floor less attractive but also less stable. Measure the width of the room and divide it by the width of the planks to find out how many rows of whole planks you’ll need. Divide the remaining measurement between two planks, which you will lay at the edge of each side of the room.
- Open up several boxes and check your planks for damage. If you find a floorboard that is cracked or damaged like this one, don’t throw it away. You can still use part of it as the first plank of a new row.
- Don’t start directly against the wall. Most walls aren’t perfectly straight so you risk ending up with a less than perfect installation. Make a mark on the wall at both ends of the room where you will place your first row. This will give you a reference point for where the whole planks should start and end.
Follow this guide to make your floor straight:
- Start with a whole plank from the point you’ve marked on the wall. Put spacers between your plank and the wall. This will give the floor room to expand and contract with changes in humidity. Measure the space that’s left between this plank and the wall and saw the next plank to size. Don’t fit this plank yet, but use the left-over piece to start your second row. Make sure this piece is at least 30 cm long.
- Fit another full plank to the second row. Go back to finish your first row with the piece you’ve already sawed to size. Finish the second row and move on to row 3.
- After fitting three rows, go back and lay the split plank placed at the edge closest to the wall.
- To mark the saw line so that it follows the angle or curve of the wall, place the plank you want to saw on top of the first whole plank you laid. Put a pen on one side of the piece and place the other end against the wall. Drag it along the wall as you draw a line on the plank you want to saw.
- Click it into place. Do this at an angle of 20 – 30 degrees. Press the short side down. Slide them together horizontally. You can use a tapping block if needed. Knock it firmly into place using a flat crowbar. Don’t forget to add spacers.
- When this is done, you can start working directly from the floor.
Remember. Always keep a minimum of 8 to 10 mm gap between your floor and the wall. Depending on the size of your floor the gap should be wider. Use spacers. In places where it is tough to lay planks with the tapping block, you can tap them together with the crowbar and a hammer.
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