There’s no doubt that a hardwood floor adds a beautiful, natural, luxurious appeal to any space. With an extensive range of wood species, patterns, textures and finishes available, you can definitely achieve that wow factor you’re looking for. Although hardwood floors have all this going for them, as well as being tough and durable, correct installation and some maintenance is vital in getting them to look and stay their best. For this reason, our advice would always be to get a professional to do the flooring installation for you. Getting it done right from the start makes all the difference.

To give you a better idea of what’s involved in hardwood flooring installation, here are just a few of the important things to consider:

1. Choose right. It’s important to consider your space realistically, and choose a wood floor species that can maintain the amount of foot traffic and wear that you expect to have in that area. 
2. Make sure it’s level. Always make sure that your sub floor is flat, level and dry before beginning the new wood floor installation. 
3. Keep the moisture to a minimum. It’s not a good idea to install hardwood flooring in an area that is exposed to excessive moisture. This probably means avoiding areas such as  bathrooms, depending on the situation. When the bottom of a floorboard is wetter than the top, it can cause cupping, and when the wood floor becomes too damp, it can lift off of the sub floor and buckle. It is a good idea to use an appropriate moisture barrier to sit between your sub floor and your new hardwood floor surface, as this creates an extra protective barrier and helps to slow the moisture migration down. But even this is not a permanent solution for high moisture areas.
4. Temperature matters. When wood floorboards are not acclimated and are exposed to excessive moisture or big changes in temperature, they can expand, crush together and be forced off of the subfloor. For this reason, it is probably not a good idea to install hardwood floors in homes that experience extreme temperatures and are not climate controlled throughout the year.
5. The detail is in the finish. If the wood floor was contaminated or not prepped correctly when the finish was applied, the floor finish can begin to peel. Things like too much sanding with high-grit sandpaper can damage the wood and result in a surface that is too smooth for the finish to stick to. This and other missed details in the finishing process can cause problems for the finished installation result you’re looking for.

Hardwood floors that are installed with professional skill and attention to detail will save you a lot of hassle in the future. Love your floors for years by getting them laid right, and following some simple maintenance and care routines. Come in and chat with one of our flooring installation professionals if you’d like to know more. We’d love to help.