How to Install a Snap Together Hardwood
Floor
Snap Together Hardwood Flooring is an
affordable and easy to Install Flooring Product
Mark J. Donovan
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When it
comes to flooring, hardwood floors still rank near
the top of the list for most homeowners. Hardwood
floors provide an elegant beauty to a room
unmatched by most other flooring products and they
are extremely durable.
Traditional hardwood floor installation requires
the use of tongue and groove solid hardwood boards
that are toe nailed to the subfloor. Special tools
are used in traditional hardwood floor
installation projects making it unaffordable or
non-cost effective for most homeowners to install
themselves. |
Today, however, improvements in
hardwood floor product technology have enabled homeowners to now more easily
install their own hardwood floors.
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Snap together hardwood floors, the latest
in hardwood floor products, allow do it yourself homeowners to install their
own affordable hardwood floors. Basically the only key tools required are a
couple of saws, preferably a miter saw and a small hand saw or jig saw, to
cut the ends of the boards and to make any necessary notched cuts.
A hammer and small finished nails
are also necessary to install baseboard trim or quarter round molding around
the edges of the floor.
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A square and utility knife are
also necessary for squaring up the floor and scoring the boards.
Snap together hardwood floors are
similar to laminate flooring technology however instead of a plastic top
coating they actually have a thin veneer layer of finished hard wood on the
top surface.
Snap together hardwood floors use
specially designed tongue and groove technology to enable the hardwood floor
boards to interlock together to form a strong and tight joint.
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Consequently no nails or adhesive are required to
hold the hardwood flooring boards together.
Snap together
hardwood floors actually sit on a very thing
underlayment material and float on the subfloor as
one large sheet. Expansion space is allocated
around the perimeter of the hardwood floor to
allow it to expand and contract with temperature
and humidity conditions.
Snap together hardwood flooring can
be found at your local home improvement stores and flooring stores. They can
also be found on the internet.
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Subfloor
Preparation
As with all hardwood floors it is
imperative that they are installed on subfloors that are free of moisture and
that are level. Use a self leveling compound if necessary to smooth out the
subfloor, and make sure the subfloor is free of any popped nails, bumps or any
other type of extrusions.
Also check the floor for any squeaks.
If there are any, screw the subfloor down with some additional decking or
drywall screws.
How to Install a
Snap Together Hardwood Floor
The first step in installing a snap
together hardwood floor is to take measurements of the room using a measuring
tape, paper and pencil.
With the measurements in hand visit
your local home improvement store or online store and order your snap together
hardwood flooring material. Note that you should always order about 5-10%
additional material for waste. In addition, you will need to buy an underlayment
that is appropriate for your specific snap together hardwood floor. You will
also need some baseboard molding or quarter round molding to cover the edges of
the hardwood floor.
With the work area cleared, first
roll out the underlayment onto the subfloor.
When installing a snap together hardwood floor it
is important to make sure that the width of the last row of boards is at least 2
inches in width. To determine this, measure the width of the room and divide
this number by the width of the finished surface of the hardwood board. If the
remainder is less than 2 inches, make sure that you rip the length of the first
row of boards to a finished width, such that the final row will be at least 2
inches in width.
Next, begin by laying and
interlocking the hardwood flooring boards along a straight wall or cabinet toe
boards. Start each row of hardwood floor boards by first cutting off the tongue
of the first piece using your miter saw. Set this board in place, near the wall
edge, however leave approximately 1/4 to3/8 inch space along the wall edge to
allow for expansion and contraction.
Continue to add hardwood floor pieces
to the row along the length of the wall, making sure that the boards snap into
place to form tight, interlocked joints. When you reach the far end of the wall,
cut the last piece so that the board has, again about a 1/4 to3/8 inch space to
the wall edge.
Repeat this process across the entire
floor by adding additional rows one at a time.
After completing the installation of
the snap together hardwood floor, install baseboard molding or quarter round
molding along the edges of the floor, where the floor intersects the walls.
With the molding installed, your new
snap together hardwood floor is ready for use and enjoyment.
For more help on new home construction,
see HomeAdditionPlus.com’s
Home Construction Contractor Bid Sheets.
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Construction Contractor Bid Sheets
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Related Flooring Information
Additional Flooring Resources from Amazon.com
Subfloor Moisture Testers and other Flooring Tools
from Amazon.com
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