Wood Floor Installation

[roz]

No--sorry. When we had some of our floors done, it was part of a major rennovation (the neighbor's tree fell through our house) and we had a contractor. That was also 10 years ago.

For this round, we're still on the deck rebuilding project so we haven't begun pricing anything else yet.

[roz]

OK, DH is home and I asked him about this.

He says the most important thing you need to consider is the base floor on which you are laying this. If it is a mess, you will be putting expensive stuff on top of a mess.

Secondly, if you are using real wood, you need to know that it expands and contracts. The biggest mistake people make is laying wood flush to the moulding. It has no place to expand, so things buckle.

Thirdly, you need to remember that Google is your friend. There are a million forums out there with people posting about their experiences and putting up photos. Learn from experience. DH will be posting his deck soon on one of the sites. It is really awesome--a huge job!

Finally, research, research, research. The more time you spend doing that, the less time you will spend in reworking. Take your time and do it right.

[HeffsRah]

Thanks for asking him Roz! DF did read somewhere about the contracting and expanding thing...cause I remember him saying we have to leave a little bit of room for movement and I had no idea what he was talking about.

I guess we'll have to find out what it looks like under the carpet...I believe there is parquet (spelling?) flooring underneath because it is inside the closets where there is no carpet and in the front door at the bottom of the stairs, definitely not wood. Not sure what it looks like underneath that though...he says we'll have to rip all of it up until we get to the baseboards? I always thought you could lay it right on top. Guess I have a lot to learn.

You'll have to send me a link to wherever your DH puts the info about your deck. We talked about doing that ourselves someday as well. DF's uncle built the deck at his parents house and he was able to help out a little bit - mind you, he was a lot younger so he doesn't remember much. I just think it is so awesome to be able to do things yourself in your home -- so much more satisfaction and you appreciate it all the more.

[elfygp]

my friend was actually talking about a job he had laying down floors and i thought you. i tried to catch some hints but all i really heard was that you have to let the wood sit out in the environment it'll be in for a few days before putting it down to let it sort of settle? like it might dry out a bit or something and you want that to happen before you nail it down.

definitely do lots and lots of research before starting anything! good luck!