How to Install a Prefabricated Wood Floor
- 1). Clean out the room where you want to install the prefabricated flooring. Remove the baseboards and existing flooring until you are standing on the sub-floor. Sweep and/or vacuum the subfloor to make it free from dirt and other debris.
- 2). Examine the floor for protruding nail heads. Countersink them to 1/8 inch below the surface.
- 3). Cover the subfloor with rosin paper or plastic membrane sheeting. As you lay the vapor barrier over the floor, mark every joist with a straight edge and chalk or a carpenter’s pencil. Overlap the vapor barrier by 4 or 5 inches. Staple the vapor barrier in place with 5/16-inch staples.
- 4). Decide on the direction that you want the prefabricated floorboards to run. Snap a chalk line to make the first row as straight as possible.
- 5). Install the first row of prefabricated wood floorboards by lining them along the chalk line end-to-end. Leave 1/4 nch between the floorboards and the wall to allow for expansion. You may have to measure the space and cut the last floorboard to fit in order to finish the first row across.
- 6). Drill a hole through the floorboards into the subfloor and joists below. Use a drill bit that is smaller in diameter than the nails you're using, and only drill the hole two-thirds the length of the nail. If you drill it the length of the nail or longer, the nail won't be held in the hole as tightly.
- 7). Hammer in a 1 1/2-inch nail into the drill hole. Use a nailset to countersink each nail head into the wood at least 1/8 inch below the surface. Drill nail holes through the tongue of the boards at a 45-degree angle. Hammer and countersink the nails.
- 8). Continue laying the prefabricated wood floorboards for the consecutive rows, making sure that you stagger the ends of the boards so they don't run straight across. Nail the prefabricated wood floorboards at regular intervals through the tongue of the boards into the floor joists. Make sure the boards are butted together by placing a scrap board against the side of the board. Tap the scrap board with a mallet.
- 9). Measure the area between the long side of the wall and the long side of the prefabricated wood floorboards, minus 1/4 inch, to determine the width to cut the final row of flooring. Cut the prefabricated wood floorboards to fit.
- 10
Nail the floorboards in place. Sweep or vacuum with a soft-bristle brush over the newly installed prefabricated floor. The room is now ready for you to move in the furniture.
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