Basic Wood Floor Installation

There isn't a wood flooring installer in the business who isn't guilty of taking a shortcut or two on the job site from time to time. The good news is that laying wood floors isn't rocket science. The bad news is that when you take shortcuts, there's plenty...

People not familiar with the process of installing a wood floor may think it's simply banging in the floor, running over it with a sander and slapping on a few coats of finish. Little do they know how complicated the installation process can be and all that is involved in getting the job site...

Over the last few years, the floating method of flooring installation has exploded. A big push for this method in America came as a result of the laminate flooring industry utilizing the floating method and making a huge entrance in the North American...

Plenty of installers have gotten into trouble trying to install a herringbone floor. Stories abound of contractors like the one who tried to lay a herringbone floor in a mall—without snapping...

Q: I just hired a new installation crew. I'm trying to train them to be efficient, but some of the guys seem too efficient, cutting too many corners to get done quicker. Do you have a list of installation "don'ts" I can give them? A: Your installers who cut corners do it at the expense of quality, time, money...

We constantly hear of jobs gone wrong and how to do them right in the future. We read about people who were financially hurt by jobs that went wrong due to unscrupulous contractors, and we've all had to come behind another contractor to clean up the mess...

Today's hardwood flooring professional has to be able to measure jobs under all types of circumstances—like from the outside of the home when the general contractor is stuck in traffic and could be delayed for hours (yes, I live in Los Angeles)...

Engineered flooring has come a long way since it was first introduced to the market nearly 70 years ago. As these products continue to gain popularity, a multitude of style and construction options are available. Largely seen...

Cork flooring has been around for many years, but it's seeing a resurgence due to its unique aesthetics and unparalled green story. Keep these 10 facts in mind if you're working with cork for the first time. 1) Cork is not a structural product. If you're installing 3/16- or 5/16-inch cork...

No installer is perfect. Even the most meticulous craftsman occasionally has an area or two in the wood floor that don't meet up exactly flush. Perhaps the angle on the chop saw was a hair off, and now there's a gap in that mitered corner. Or somehow the template for an inlay was...