Installing Engineered Flooring:

Supplies needed:

Engineered wood, masking tape,

patching compound, 15-pound felt paper

phillips screw driver or ring-shank nails

• To estimate how much flooring to buy, calculate the square footage and the waste

allowance; by 5 to 7 percent for a herringbone. For metric materials 1 square meter equals

about 10 1/2 square feet. Letting flooring acclaimate in open boxes for at least 3 to 4 days .

Wait at least a week before opening boxes in areas with new dry wall. So the stored flooring

does not absorb moisture do not store in basements or garages.

• Pry off and gently remove the baseboard trim,end caps on baseboard heaters, registers

and air vents. Add a box extender to floor receptacles as per codes. Try walking over the

flooring to make sure that it doesn't squeak. When you find the squeak on the existing

floor it is loose you can batten it down with the ring-shank nails, or with the screws and

then set them flush. Repair any damaged or loose flooring with the AC-grade 1/4 inch

plywood.

• Trim off the bottom of door castings to allow flooring to slip underneath. Place a piece of

scrap flooring in front of the door casting and saw slowly repeat on the opposite side of

doorway. Clean up all debris and dust from entire floor.

• Cover the entire floor with the felt paper and run it the same direction as the new flooring.

Cut with utility knife you encounter a vent. Trim felt to 1/2 inch within the walls make sure

that you use a hammer tacker to staple each edge every 4 feet. Start laying floor from the corner

of the longest exterior wall, place 1/2 inch thick spacers.

• Start laying the floor in a corner, along the longest exterior wall which should be straight

and square . Place 1/2-inch thick spacers against the all walls to create the expansion gap to

prevent buckling. Use a mallet , snug the ends together of more long strips. At the end of the course

fit a strip no shorter than 10-inches 1/2 inch from the wall. Next place a straight edge against

the tongues. Then slide the flooring in or out until the tongues line up with the straight edge

Facenail each board with 1 1/2 inch brad nails every 8 inches and within 1 inch of the wall.

Adjust the nailer to set the brads slightly below the floor surface checking alignment as you go.

• Once the first course is in place, drive 1 1/2 inch brads at a 45 degree angle through the strip's

tongue and into the subflooring, a technique called toenailing. Repeat every 4 inches don't nail

closer than 2 inches from the end. Slip the next course over the tongues of the first flooring and snug

up the strips with a mallet. Off set the end joints by at least 12 inches from the first course. Toenail

them with the brad nailer don't facenail. The tongues and grooves are milled into the ends the flooring

ends shouldn't be cut, except when needed when they meet a wall or obstruction. Choose the flooring

by length, not by color or grain. The farther apart you stagger the ends the better the floor will look.

• Make sure to tap each course snugly into place using a hammer or a tapping block. Do it gently

be careful not to hit the block to hard or it will damage the flooring. If this happens use a utility knife

to trim away just enough wood to allow the groove to fit the next piece.

• Nail down the floor if any of the courses are too close to the wall use the pneumatic staple

gun, then toenail them with a hammer and 1 1/2 inch ring-shank nails. Lay out the next five

courses on the floor and fit the ends together. Stagger the end joints randpmly across the floor's

field. Offset he end joints at least 12 inches, and the joints of every third course at least an inch.

• Final fitting with a jigsaw, cut flooring around ducts and outlets. Cover edges with mitered

trim pieces. Fasten trim in place with a brad nailer. When reaching the ending wall, and the stapler

can no longer be used, toenail the next-to-last courses with the brad nailer. Rip the tongue off the

last course using a table saw. Be sure to leave a 1/2 inch expansion space between the final wall

and course. Slip the strips into place force them tightly against the previous flooring with a pull bar

facenail them with the brad nailer. Remove all spacers and install the baseboards. Vacuum floor

fill with colored putty all facenail holes.