Professional Wood Floor Installation

Thinking about hiring professional to install your wood floor?  Here’s a general timeline of what to expect with professional wood floor installation:

Solid Wood Floor Installation: Day 1

8:00am: Wood Floor Installers Arrive; Walk-Through With Foreman

This may be a very small crew (2 or 3 people), but you should walk through the work area with whoever is the leader. Point out the boundaries of the work area and go over any leveling or structural repair that might need to be done.

8:15am: Clear Room of Furniture, Rugs, etc.

Installers move furniture, rugs, and everything else from the room. Alternatively you may have moved these items the night before.

8:30am: Prep Work: Level Depressions, Repair Floor, Cut Under Doorframes

If your floor has leveling problems, the crew will apply leveling compound. Since the compound needs to dry overnight, this means that the crew either must come back the next day (after this short work day) or find other tasks to work on for the rest of the day. Alternatively, some installers fill in depressions with regular roofing shingles. Other minor structural repairs are made at this time. Cuts will need to be made at the bottom of doorframes to accommodate the added height of the sub-floor and wood floor.

10:30am: Cut and Install Sub-Floor

Provided you are installing a sub-floor, the crew carefully measures the work area and cuts 4’x8′ sheets of sub-floor to fit the entire area. The sub-floor material is screwed into place. Note that they will intentionally leave gaps between the sub-floor boards to allow for expansion and contraction.

1:00pm: Lay Down the Paper

Installers roll out and staple red rosin paper or tar paper to the sub-floor.

1:30pm-5:00pm: Begin to Install Wood Floor

One crew member measures and cuts floor boards with the miter saw. Another crew member nails them into place with a pneumatic nail-gun. The noise will be deafening from the pounding of the nail-gun. Before they install even the first floor board, wait to make sure they install it in the correct direction. After this, it may be best to get out of the house. When the crew gets into a rhythm, the work really begins to go fast. Still, with all of the prep work (moving furniture, repairs, and sub-floor), this makes for a tight day and work on this room will run into the second day.

Solid Wood Floor Installation: Day 2 and Onward

Crew continues to install flooring in this room. After crew finishes, they install quarter-round, risers, thresholds, and other items that complete the floor.

The cycle starts all over again with the second room.