How to Measure

To determine how many square feet you need, measure the room(s) length by its width, from the longest point, and round up to the nearest foot. For example, if you have a room that is 20' long by 10' wide, you would multiply those numbers together 20 X 10 = 200. The total amount of square footage = 200 sq. ft.

Subtract the areas that are not going to receive new flooring.  Example: if you have an area that is 2' long by 1' wide covered tile, you would multiply those numbers together 2 X 1 = 2 sq. ft. The total for this room is 198 sq. ft.

Measure all the rooms and add them together is the total square feet you need.

It's recommended to add a 5% waste factor for cutting and fitting waste. For example, 5% added to your order of 800 would be 40 sq. ft., making the total needed 840 sq. ft.

Solid Wood Installation 

Inspect the job site carefully before you begin the installation. Some conditions require specific installation methods. A level, flat, clean, dry, and firm subfloor is always necessary. 

Climate and Pre-Installation Procedures

Material should be stored on the job site in rooms where installation is to occur.  Quicker acclimation can be achieved by opening the cartons, but DO NOT remove the product from the cartons.  Make sure the room temperature is set at a normal living range (55 – 80 degrees). Normal living conditions should be achieved and maintained a minimum of five days before flooring is brought into the living area for acclimation purposes. Proper acclimation is not a measurement of time; it is a measurement of moisture levels. This requires taking moisture readings of the flooring and the subflooring. The flooring is acclimated and ready for installation when it has reached a moisture level consistent with the job site and normal living conditions. Using a moisture meter, test the subfloor and hardwood flooring for moisture content. Moisture content of the subfloor should be 6-12% depending on your area. When wood flooring is produced for the North American market, it has a moisture content of between 6-9%. For solid strip flooring (less than 3” wide), there should be no more than 4 percent moisture content difference between properly acclimated wood flooring and subflooring materials. For wide‐width solid flooring (3” or wider), there should be no more than a 2 percent difference in moisture content between properly acclimated wood flooring and subflooring materials.

The customer is responsible for maintaining normal humidity conditions (35-55%) within the home throughout the year. Thesefloors.com is not responsible for environmental conditions that cause excessive expansion and contraction. 

Appropriate Subfloors

1. Preferred Subfloor / Existing Wood Floors

   • ¾ inch plywood in 4 x 8 foot sheets

   • ¾ inch OSB in 4 x 8 foot sheets

2. Sheet vinyl or resilient tile as long as it is installed over one of the preferred subfloors.

3. Concrete slabs – Installation should be done by installer with substantial knowledge of N.W.F.A. (National Wood Flooring Association) recommended alternatives for installing over concrete slabs.

Subfloor Preparation

1. Subfloors must be cleaned. This can be achieved through scraping or sanding the floor to remove all foreign materials. 

2. Subfloors must be flat. ¼ inch in 10 feet. Sand all seams and high spots. 

3. Subfloors must be free of loose areas and squeaks before installation can start. Renail or screw down sections that are loose or squeak. Replace any subfloor that is damaged. 

4. The subfloor must be dry before you begin your installation.

Installation

Before installing wood flooring, place an approved vapor retarder. Some examples of acceptable vapor retarders over wood subfloors include: 

1. An asphalt laminated paper meeting UU-B-790a, Grade B, Type 1, Style 1a.

2. Asphalt-saturated kraft paper of #15 or #30 felt that meets ASTM standard D4869 or UU-B-790, Grade D

3. Red Rosin Paper

4. All solid wood and bamboo should be installed perpendicular to joists or on a diagonal for any single layer subfloor.

5. Wall Line Layout

   • 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. Outside walls of homes are generally the straightest. The starting wall will often be the longest unbroken wall in the room.

   • Snap a working line parallel to the starting wall, allowing a ¾ inch expansion space between the starting wall and the edge of the first run.

   • As a general rule, a ¾ inch expansion space must be left around the perimeter and at all vertical obstructions. 

   • Lay one row of flooring along the entire length of the working line. 

   • Blind-nail the first row (hand-nail if necessary), using appropriate fasteners. Denser species (such as Acacia, Jatoba, and Strand Bamboo) may require pre-drilling. Each succeeding row should be blind-nailed with the nailing machine whenever possible. All nailing should begin and end approximately 2” from the ends of each board and continue every 6-8”. At the finishing wall and other obstructions, it may be necessary to blind-nail by hand or glue-down with subfloor adhesive, the final rows. 

   • Racking rule of thumb: Stagger end joints in adjacent rows at least twice the width of the boards, as product allows. Avoid H-joints.

Nailing: Blind-nail through the tongue. Use 1 ¾ inch to 2 inch fasteners for solid wood. Use 1 ½ inch fasteners for thinner woods and bamboos. Fasteners should be spaced every 6-8 inches on blind-nailing.
Complete the final rows by either blind-nailing or gluing them down with subfloor adhesive. 

Remember that all walls and other vertical structures in the room must have a ¾ inch expansion space left between it and the floor. If your drywall stops at least ¾” above the floor, the thickness of the drywall can be considered part of the ¾” expansion space requirement.

1. Once the floor has been completed the base and the quarter round can be reinstalled into the room. This will cover the expansion gaps left between the wall and the floor. 

2. Sweep or vacuum the floor using a soft brush attachment.

3. Finish by cleaning the floor with an approved hardwood floor cleaner. 

4. Enjoy your new hard wood floor. 

About Trims and Transitions

There is a variety of trims and transitions to accent a floor by covering expansion gaps or transitioning from one flooring surface to another. Before completing your floor it is important to know what trim pieces you will need for your floor. These are rough diagrams of common transition pieces, bamboo transitions are different thicknesses.                              

1. T-Mold- The molding is used mostly between tiled surfaces and wood floors. Also used for connecting to existing wood floors. 

2. Reducer- Used with floors to other floor coverings with lower vertical heights. Also used to transition to carpet.

3. Stairnose- Used to transition for step down and staircases.

4. Threshold- Used to finish the flooring up to vertical objects and carpet.

5. Quarter Round- Used to cover expansion around walls next to base boards.

Moldings must always be nailed to the wall or subfloor, never to the hardwood flooring.