DIY Hardwood Floors Install

  • Working time: Some 8 hours per day
  • Total time: One to four days
  • Skill level: Advanced
  • Project cost: Hardwood flooring costs between $4 to 8 per square foot.

TIP: Check the warranties for hardwood floor boards, most have a 25-year residential warranty.

Hardwood floors are a classic and timeless choice for homes, offering both beauty and durability. They come in a wide variety of colors, species, and styles to suit any taste and budget. Installing hardwood floors yourself is a big sweating DIY project but not too challenging for an advanced DIYer.

Safety Considerations

These are general guidelines, and specific safety measures may vary depending on your specific type of hardwood floor and individual needs. If you’re planning on installing hardwood floors by cutting hardwood yourself, you’ll need to follow safety guidelines while using a saw—whether it’s a miter, jigsaw or table saw. Wear safety glasses, a safety mask, work gloves and ear protection while using a saw. When installing hardwood floors, be sure to wear knee pads to save your knees. Steel toed boots are a good idea if you choose to use a pneumatic nail gun to install hardwood floors.

Tools

  • Tape measure
  • Pry bar
  • Moisture meter
  • Ear plugs
  • Drill and bits
  • Hammer
  • Safety glasses
  • Safety mask
  • Work gloves
  • Table saw, miter saw or table saw
  • Chalk line
  • Pneumatic nail gun (optional)
  • Punches and nail setters
  • Knee pads
  • Staple gun
  • Mallet
  • Long level
  • Nail set

Materials

  • Underlayment
  • Vapor barrier paper
  • Hardwood
  • Wood putty
  • Nails
  • Collated flooring nails

Instructions for Installing Hardwood Floors

1. Pick Hardwood and Estimate Material Need

There are three ways to achieve hardwood floors and each one varies in time and material needs. For our purposes here, we’ll explain how to install nail-in hardwood floors. First you’ll need to measure the space you intend to install hardwood floors on.

Once you have your space measured, add 5% for cutting or up to 10% if you’re laying hardwood floor on a diagonal surface. Remember to round up when ordering hardwood floors.

2. Let Hardwood Acclimate

Hardwood flooring needs time to acclimate to your home’s climate. Retailers suggest letting hardwood sit for five days prior to installation at 75 degrees with 30% to 55% humidity. That will help reduce any expansion or contraction of the hardwood.

3. Prepare the Area for Hardwood Installation

Start by pulling the baseboards and check the subfloor to make sure it’s level and smooth. If you don’t have a subfloor, you’ll need to add one. Indicate where floor joists are and cover the floor with underlayment.

A 15- to 30-pound asphalt-saturated felt or silicone shield or vapor barrier paper works well to inhibit moisture and protect floors and subfloors from spills and water vapor from the ground underneath.

4. Install Hardwood Floor Boards

Pick the straightest boards for the first two rows. The first rows need to be nailed through the face of the board while the others can get nailed through the tongue with a pneumatic floor nailer, which you can rent from a home improvement store. If you don’t use a pneumatic floor nailer, you can drill 1/32-inch diameter hole ½ inch from the grooved edge.

1. Snap a chalk line and lay the first board along it with the groove facing the wall. Place ¾-inch spacers for an expansion gap along the length and between the wall and the end of the board.

2. Hammer nails in pre-drilled holes. 6d or 8d flooring nails will work best.

3. Use a mallet to tap the next board into place and blind nail in place. Blind-nailing is a way to hide a nail by using an adjacent board. With tongue-and-groove flooring, you can drive a nail at a 45-degree angle through the tongue and conceal it with the groove of the next board.

4. Countersink nails (driving them slightly below the surface to prevent interference in the joint) with a nail punch and fill the hole with matching putty.

5. Cut the board to fit at the end and leave a ¾-inch gap for expansion.

6. Nail at a 45-degree angle on the tongue edge at every floor joist along the length of the row.

7. To start another row, push the groove into the tongue of the first row and tap into place with a tapping block. Stagger the joists 6-inches apart and nail into place at the end of the row.

8. Install the rest of the hardwood floor boards, using boards from different boxes, staggering the joints and maintaining room for expansion. Use a pneumatic floor nailer after the third row to drive nails through the tongue and then tap with a mallet. You may need a jigsaw to cut around objects to fit the boards. You can rent a pneumatic floor nailer for around $40 a day from a home improvement store.

9. Face nail the final two rows on the tongue side. Drill 1/32-inch diameter pilot holes ½-inch from the edge. Cut the length of the boards to fit the final row and leave a ¾-inch gap for expansion, then use a pull bar to put the boards together and then face nail.

10. Cut excess underlayment, sand and stain. Fill nail holes with wood putty that matches. (PS: You can apply stain before or adding ptty.)

You can install hardwood floors by gluing them down using manufactured wood pieces. There are also click-lock or tongue and groove hardwood floors that people use on cement, tile or floors with radiant heat. Then there’s nail-down hardwood floor installation. Nail-down requires a subfloor that you’ll have to install if one isn’t already there.

5. Replace Baseboards

When you put the baseboards back, they’ll cover the expansion gap. Keep the lower edge of the baseboard even with the top of the floor and nail it to the wall. Then nail shoe moulding to the baseboard. Do not nail the shoe moulding to the floor or subfloor.

6. Install Threshold or Transition Strips

There will be places where the edge of the floor is exposed and you’ll need to add threshold or transition strips to cover it.

When to Call a Pro

Calling a pro early in the process can be wise as older homes could contain asbestos in the old flooring material. If you are not familiar with installing floors at all and want to be sure you don’t waste money on the materials if you accidentally mess up, calling a pro is always the ideal choice.