How to Install Unfinished Oak Hardwood Flooring

Regardless of the ever-increasing selection of hardwood flooring materials available, oak continues to be the norm. It is among the most abundant domestic hardwoods, and whether or not you stain it, oak blends nicely with many different decor motifs. Most homeowners opt for prefinished floorboards when they lay a brand new hardwood floor, since it eliminates the extra steps of sanding and finishing the ground, however a prefinished floor has a different character than just one which you finish yourself. Sanding allows you to measure the boards and create a smooth, integrated surface free of distracting vandalism and lines.

Installing the Floor

Degree the subfloor before you start putting the flooring. Fill depressions and gaps with ground leveling compound, and knock down substantial points with a belt sander. Irregularities in the subfloor produce flaws like gaps and bleaches.

Lay a moisture barrier. You can choose from several materials which you staple into the subfloor, including tar or kraft paper, vinyl sheeting and crystal clear plastic, or you’ll be able to apply a paintable plastic coating with a paint roller. The barrier is a safeguard against separation and warping.

Snap a chalk line to demarcate the first row of flooring, either down the middle of the room or against a wall. Lay the first row with its edge along the line and also face-nail the boards with pairs of 2-inch finish nails. Drill a 1/8-inch hole for every single nail, and separate the pairs by 8 to 12 inches. Cut the last board in the row to match with a chop saw.

Install the remaining boards by blind-nailing them which means to nail them through their tongues — with 2-inch flooring cleats. Use a pneumatic flooring nailer or a nail gun to push the nails.

Install the last row against the wall by cutting on the bottoms of the grooves off the boards with a table saw, laying the boards in place and face-nailing them.

Sanding, Staining and Finishing

Sink the heads of all visible nails with a nail punch. Dilute a gallon of latex floor filler with water until it is pourable and spread it over the entire ground with a rubber grouting float. Work it to all of the gaps between boards. Allow the filler dry overnight.

Sand the ground with a drum sander and 36-grit sandpaper. Run the machine diagonally across the boards to decrease the surfaces fast and amount them, then run the machine parallel into the boards with the same grit sandpaper. Sand the edges with a flooring edger and a 36-grit disc. Vacuum the floor when you are done.

Make two more passes with the drum sander and edger, using 80- and also 100-grit sandpaper. Sand the corners which you can not reach with the edger with a palm sander. Vacuum the floor and rub it with a damp rag once you’ve finished sanding.

Stain the ground, if needed, by spreading stain with a paintbrush and wiping off the excess with a rag. Stain the ground in sections, brushing material on one segment and wiping it away before continuing on to another. Let the stain dry overnight.

Apply a coat of sanding sealer with a flooring applicator. Allow the sealer dry, then sand the floor with a floor buffer fitted with a 120-grit sanding display. Vacuum the dust once you are done.

Apply a couple of coats of clear finish, screening the ground and vacuuming after each coat except the final one. Instead of viewing the last coat, install a lambswool buffer on the floor buffing machine and buff it.

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