Vinyl Flooring – an Easy Choice for a Modern Kitchen Luxury vinyl flooring is a great choice for durability, easy...
500+ 5 star reviews
5 Common Hardwood Flooring Installation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Expert Tips to Ensure a Flawless Hardwood Flooring Installation: Avoid the Top 5 Costly Mistakes Homeowners Make
Are you planning a luxurious hardwood flooring installation for your home? Don’t let common hardwood flooring installation mistakes and costly hardwood flooring mistakes ruin your dream renovation! In this guide, we’ll reveal the top 5 hardwood floor installation mistakes and share expert advice on how to install hardwood floor correctly. These hardwood floor installation tips are designed to help you avoid noticeable defects in hardwood floors and long-term flooring damage. Say goodbye to stress and hello to a flawless hardwood flooring installation and a high-end flooring renovation result!
5 Hardwood Flooring Installation Mistakes to Avoid for a Stress-Free Renovation
Hardwood flooring is the crème de la crème of flooring, providing a luxurious hardwood flooring finish and impressive hardwood floor return on investment. However, to maintain hardwood’s beauty and resale value, your flooring must be installed by a professional hardwood flooring contractor who understands the dos and don’ts of proper hardwood maintenance and hardwood flooring installation. For a stress-free hardwood flooring renovation and successful hardwood flooring project, a pro installer will avoid the following five common hardwood flooring installation mistakes.
Mistake 1: Inadequate Subfloor Preparation and Moisture Control
Although all eyes are on your beautiful hardwood floors, what lies below is critical to installation success. First, the subfloor preparation and underlayment require proper prep work to remove anything interfering with contact between your subfloors and hardwood. Second, subfloors must be dry, level, and clean subfloors to ensure your hardwood remains secure, flat, and even and to prevent structural hardwood floor damage.
Hardwood floor manufacturers recommend subfloor moisture control requirements and the type of proper underlayment based on subfloor moisture level, moisture testing, and subfloor materials. A test detects vapor emissions not visible to the human eye, often referred to as vapor emissions testing. Determining the moisture level in your subfloors prevents issues such as shifting floorboards, creaks and cracks in hardwood floors, and early buckling hardwood floors. Without proper subfloor cleanup and moisture control, your hardwood is destined to fail and you risk hardwood floor failure due to moisture and other common flooring installation issues.
Mistake 2: Incorrect hardwood acclimation before installation
Acclimation prevents expansion and shrinkage issues that lead to structural damage from poor acclimation and distortion of floorboards. Hardwood acclimation is not optional; it is a key part of how to install hardwood floor correctly. Storing hardwood in your home for several days before installation acclimates the wood to environmental moisture levels, reducing expansion and contraction of hardwood once installed. This acclimation time before installation is a crucial part of avoiding buckling hardwood floors, cracking hardwood floors, and long-term structural hardwood floor damage.
Mistake 3: Improper Board Selection and Placement
Although your new floors are made of the same wood, all hardwood is milled and produced in different production runs. Each run tends to see the same shading, but looking at boards from other runs shows board shade variance and grain pattern variance. As a result, when laid side by side, your beautiful hardwood appears uneven and can ruin a consistent floor appearance.
Since it is impossible to avoid having boards from different runs in larger spaces, pulling random boards from different boxes is essential during the installation process. This mixing boards from multiple boxes and random board placement prevents distinct contrasts and creates consistency with equal variations throughout the room. A good rule of thumb is to perform proper hardwood board selection and inspect each board for damage or defects. This kind of inspecting boards for defects helps you avoid damaged or defective floorboards that cause noticeable defects in hardwood floors.
Mistake 4: Insufficient Expansion Gaps and Improper Spacing
Wood naturally expands and contracts as temperatures and humidity levels change. Even if you acclimate your hardwood before installation, these variances continue. As a result, proper installation requires expansion gaps and expansion joints for hardwood flooring to accommodate these changes. With the correct expansion gaps and spacing, your hardwood won’t buckle due to no expansion gaps or loosen with ongoing expansion and contraction of hardwood.
Proper hardwood installation requires a ¾-inch expansion gap for hardwood along the walls, while engineered hardwood requires ½-inch expansion gap for engineered hardwood. Space is also necessary for anything the floors align against, such as built-ins, two-sided fireplaces, or kitchen islands, where expansion space around built-ins, expansion space around fireplaces, and expansion space around kitchen islands is critical. The flooring manufacturer should recommend expansion spaces based on the wood species to avoid insufficient expansion space.
Once you account for expansion space, you also have to manage the nail spacing for hardwood floors or staple spacing for hardwood floors. A 10 to 12-inch nail spacing or staple spacing with at least two nails per floorboard reduces peaking in hardwood floors or movement that makes floors uneven. Without proper spacing and fastening, you can end up with movement and uneven floors, loose hardwood floorboards, and other uneven hardwood floors issues.
Mistake 5: Using the Wrong Tools and Installation Techniques
Common flooring installation issues are often associated with using the wrong tools and incorrect hardwood installation techniques. Proper hardwood installation tools include:
- Pneumatic Flooring Nailer: The nailer quickens the installation pace while securing boards.
- Drill With Drill Bits: A drill with the right-sized drill bits allows you to predrill your nail holes, reducing the risk of damaging your floorboards.
- Hammer and Nail Set: Because pneumatic nailers are hard to use near the wall, you’ll need a hammer and nail set to “face-nail” the first and last few rows of boards.
- Nail Punch: Nail punches allow you to countersink nails for a smooth finish.
- Mallet and Block: Your mallet and block tap each board to secure the tongue and groove connections.
- Pry bar: A pry bar allows you to insert retrofitted final pieces less than an inch wide into the grooves more easily.
- Nail gun: Nail guns make it easier to finish the molding and install the 3/4 round to finish your baseboards.
The technique used is essential for pristine floors. Even the smallest missteps can lead to noticeable defects in hardwood floors that impact your floor’s appearance and compromised floor soundness. For example, your first row of planks should be the straightest ones you can find. If not, your entire floor becomes difficult to install because the boards are not aligned, leading to misaligned hardwood boards and uneven hardwood floors. Another example is not using spacers for expansion gaps to mark the expansion gap. Without spacers, your expansion spaces become uneven (uneven expansion spaces), and your boards won’t align properly, which can lead to long-term flooring damage.
The Benefits of Hiring a Professional Hardwood Flooring Contractor
The easiest way to reduce stress and avoid hardwood floor installation mistakes is to hire a professional hardwood flooring contractor. They offer many benefits, including:
- Insurance: They are liable for damage to floorboards through their insurance. As a result, you reduce costs related to replacement boards you damage due to lack of experience.
- Technique: Professional floorers understand the proper technique. As a result, they follow all floor installation best practices to ensure your floor installation is flawless.
- Troubleshooting: Hardwood flooring isn’t easy. Professional installers have seen it all and will troubleshoot common issues such as uneven subfloors, mismatched flooring levels between rooms, special finishing requirements for kitchen islands, etc.
- Artistry: Flooring contractors have the mastery and skills for a professional finish in every detail of the installation process. As a result, your floors maintain their value and appearance longer without worrying about warping, lifting, bulging, etc.
- Proper tools: Installers have the proper tools to complete the job as efficiently and quickly as possible, so you experience as few disruptions to your life as possible.
No doubt, hardwood floors are the preferred flooring choice for homeowners and the preferred flooring choice for designers alike. To avoid common hardwood flooring installation mistakes and other common flooring installation issues, hiring a professional flooring contractor protects your investment and ensures you see the stunning results you deserve. This approach leads to stress-free hardwood flooring installation, a truly high-end hardwood flooring installation, and a successful hardwood flooring project.
Discover more hardwood floor installation tips and in-depth guidance in our “Ultimate Guide to Flooring Contractor Services” for a stress-free renovation and hardwood flooring renovation success!
About the Author:
Since 2014, Nick Patel and the team at SCV Floorsmith have provided high-quality flooring services to homeowners in Naperville, South Barrington, and the surrounding areas. With over 5000 projects completed successfully and more than 30 years of industry experience, you can be confident that SCV Floorsmith has the experience and expertise to handle your next flooring project.
Vinyl Flooring Durability
Vinyl Flooring Durability for Aurora Homes It can be an overwhelming experience for homeowners to shuffle through the many flooring...
Luxury Vinyl Flooring (LVT) in Bathrooms: Guide, Designs, & Maintenance
LVT & LVP / Luxury Vinyl Flooring in Bathrooms Introduction: Experience the Elegance of Luxury Vinyl The bathroom is often...
Luxury Vinyl Flooring for Entryways and Hallways
Luxury Vinyl Flooring for Entryways and Hallways Embrace Elegance and Durability with Luxury Vinyl Flooring: The Ideal Choice for Your Entranceways...