Are you renovating your home and want to install hardwood floors? If so, you'll definitely want to know the following tips that will make the job easier.
Let The Hardwood Flooring Acclimate To Your Home
It is crucial that you do not bring in the hardwood flooring material and start installing it the very same day. That is because the wood has not properly acclimated to your home and can cause some big problems with the installation. Wood naturally expands and shrinks with the weather and humidity, and your home is likely a very different environment compared to where the hardwood flooring material was stored. You need to let that hardwood flooring sit in the room for a couple of days so that it takes on its natural shape.
The problem with not letting the wood acclimate is that it will adjust after it is installed. If the wood shrinks, then you are going to end up with gaps between the floorboards. If the wood expands, your flooring material will start to buckle upward. It's a problem that can easily be avoided by being patient.
Protect The Edge Of The Hardwood Flooring
There is likely going to be an exposed edge of the hardwood flooring as it is installed, which will be across door openings or thresholds where the hardwood transitions to another material. You'll want to make sure that you are protecting this edge so that it doesn't get banged up. This can happen when bringing equipment in and out of the room, which will cause that edge to look really rough.
You can protect the edge by placing a piece of wood against it, such as a 2x4. Anything that hits the wood will bang up the 2x4 and not the hardwood flooring itself. When the job is finished, you can then install the transition piece that helps smooth out where the two flooring materials meet.
Mix Up Your Hardwood Flooring Boards
You may not realize that certain batches of flooring material may look slightly different than others. This can be a slight variation in color or simply having more grain in the wood. If you install the flooring straight from the stack of materials in order, it can result in a noticeable transition between the flooring materials that you use. You can avoid this by mixing up the hardwood flooring beforehand so all the boards from the same batch are not next to each other.
For more information about hardwood flooring installation, contact a local company.
