Hardwood Flooring, Nail Down or Staple.

Hardwood Flooring Installation Instructions For Nail Down Staple Down methods on top of A Wooden sub-floor.

INDEX:
* INTRODUCTION
* INSTALLER/ CONTRACTOR/ OWNER RESPONSIBILITY
* TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES
* STEP 1: SITE INSPECTION
* STEP 2: PERSONAL SAFETY AND PREPARATION
* STEP 3: SUBFLOOR DEMOLITION New Video
* STEP 4: REMOVAL OF PAINT,WAX AND FOREIGN MATERIALS
* STEP 5: LEVELING OF FLOOR New Video
* STEP 6: TESTING MOISTURE CONTENT
* STEP 7: UNDERCUTTING DOOR JAMBS New Video
* STEP 8: PREPARING THE HARDWOOD FLOOR PLANKS
* STEP 9: ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BASE LINE New Video
* STEP 10: SPREADING THE HARDWOOD FLOOR GLUE
* STEP 11: INSTALLATION OF FIRST HARDWOOD FLOOR PLANK
* STEP 12: END CUTS
* STEP 13: ROLLING THE HARDWOOD FLOOR
* STEP 14: CONTINUING WITH HARDWOOD FLOOR INSTALLATION PROCESS
* STEP 15: CONTINUING HARDWOOD FLOOR INTO ANOTHER ROOM/HALLWAY
* STEP 16: COMMON SENSE CARE

INTRODUCTION
Thank you for choosing Austin Flooring Store as a source for your own personal needs. We strive to provide the latest and newest information for the public. As part of the National Hardwood Flooring Association our company will provide only accurate and proper information.

Hardwood flooring is a natural product. It may have defects from the manufacture's process of making the floor, or as a normal characteristic of nature. It is up to the Installer\Owner's responsibility to comb thru material and call out any defects for that matter.Cutting these out and using the ends for cuts or starters increases the yield of the wood. 5-10% is the overage for industry standards. For any project of any size you must order 5-10% over.

Before any hardwood flooring installation the installer\contractor and owner assume all responsibilities for final inspection and quality control. You should never install hardwood flooring that is not acceptable. Final grade inspection of make, finish, and characteristic is the sole responsibility of the Installer\Contractor\Owner. Installer\Contractor\Owner must exercise common sense, good judgment, and skill during hardwood flooring installation. Once a hardwood floor is installed, it is considered to be accepted by the Installer\Contractor\Owner. Any floor hardwood installed will not be Austin Flooring Store responsibility due to defects, lack of judgment, quality control, labor, hardwood floors installation, and associated costs.

The Installer\Contractor\Owner must check for environment and quality of sub floor for proper and acceptable industry standards. Austin Flooring Store declines any responsibility with any deficiencies associated with sub floor, or job-site environment.
Installer\Contractor\Owner must call out hardwood planks during the hardwood floor installation. Putty or filler may be used for any imperfections and is considered a normal process of any wood floors installation.

TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES
* Tape Measure
* Broom
* Rubber mallet
* No.2 pencil
* 3-M Blue Tape 2"
* Table saw
* Jamb saw
* Hammer
* Urethane cured hardwood floor glue
* Urethane hardwood flooring glue cleaner
* Quality moisture meter with manufacture's relevant exotic species calibration figures
* Calcium Chloride test (optional for moisture meter)
* crowbar
* roller 75 lbs.
* floor scrapper(4-8" replacement blades)
* 6' to 10' foot straight edge
* finish trowel
* manufacture's recommended glue trowel for glue and type of hardwood floors
* screwdriver
* two 5 gallon buckets(for mixing leveling compound)
* heavy duty drill mixer and mixer for thin-set or texture
* power nailer for 3/4 " hardwood floors

A warranted moisture sealer product may be used if moisture content of sub floor exceeds industry standard levels. (See step 6 for moisture levels checking procedure) Here are a few recommended sealer and glue systems we highly recommend with the use of installing hardwood floors.
* Bostik MVP (Moisture Vapor Protection) Used to seal the sub-floor along with the use of Bostik Moisture Cured Urethane Adhesive. See www.bostik-us.com for details.
* Franklin Titebond 531 Epoxy Moisture Control System, used to seal sub floor along with the use of Franklin Moisture Cured Adhesive. See www.franklinflooring.com for details.
* Sika Primer used to seal the sub floor along with the use of Sika T55 Adhesive. See www.sikausa.com for details.
* Dri -Tac-MCS 7000 Concrete Control used to seal the sub-floor along with the use of Dri -Tac 7600 Moisture Cured Urethane Adhesive. See www.dritac.com for details.
Here are some more urethane-cured hardwood floor glues that provide bond only warranties. No moisture protection warranties are offered with the following glues listed below:
* Franklin 811 or Franklin 811 Plus Urethane Adhesive
* Dri Tac7600
* Bostik's Best, Bostik's Fast Tack, Bostik's BST Urethane
* Parabond 4002
* Sika Bond T55
* WE DO NOT RECOMMEND WATER BASED GLUE FOR ANY HARDWOOD FLOOR INSTALLATION

STEP 1: SITE INSPECTION
Prior of hardwood floor installation, the building must be structurally sound and completed. All exterior walls, windows, and doors must be completed. All interior construction walls and paint must be completed with proper drying time. If paint is not properly dried, it may cause a slight elevation in moister content within the building. All HVAC systems must be fully functioning 14 days prior for any hardwood flooring installation. Always try to maintain a consistent room temperature of 60-75 degrees Fahrenheit. The relative humidity should be kept between 35-55%.
Proper Exterior drainage must be established. Exterior drainage must point away from house. Gutter systems and down spouts must be completed. Hardwood flooring is not recommended in bathrooms due to fluctuation or instability of moisture content with in bathrooms. Moisture content of sub floor must be checked prior to any hardwood flooring installation.
The hardwood floors must be acclimated in a controlled environment meeting industry standards just described above. Hardwood is a porous product; this characteristic is the nature of wood. It contracts and expands. This is caused by the relative humidity in the atmosphere present. All wood floors must acclimate for as long as possible.
Unload hardwood floors carefully and into the controlled environment. Boxes should be stacked 4" inches above slab to insure proper air circulation. The wood floors should acclimate in this controlled environment 3-5 days or until moisture content of wood floors does not exceed the sub floor 4% or manufactures recommendations. It is the Installer\Contractor\Owner's responsibility to check for this prior to hardwood floor installation. Although an engineered product is designed to withstand moisture due to the criss-cross ply structure, industry standards require these measures before any installation of any hardwood floor.

STEP 2: PERSONAL SAFETY PREPARATION
Before any wood floor installation personal safety preparation is essential any time conducting a project like and installation of a hardwood floor. Always wear protective clothing and dust masks for harmful dust. Eye protection is a must, always wear goggles. Exercise safety precautions for every situation, tool operational use, and method of movement during the installation. Use knee pads and back brace belt for heavy lifting. Use tennis shoes to minimize damage to hardwood floor finish caused by buttons, metal tip boots or any foreign sharp metal or aluminum foreign objects on shoes or work boots that may cause damage to hardwood floor finish. If safety regulations in certain situations do not allow the wear of tennis shoes, beware of metal tip boots, buttons metal objects, or sharp foreign objects on shoes or boots that may cause damage to hardwood floor finish. Make sure knee pads are hardwood floor friendly, meaning they ar e not the hard plastic cup knee pads. Soft rubber pads or cushion knee pads with elastic Velcro straps are preferable. For these reduce the risk of damage caused by abrasion to hardwood floor finish. Fans are essential for dust control. Always put fans facing outside as to suck out dust. Cover up furniture wisely during demolition process.

STEP 3: SUBFLOOR DEMOLITION
Using a utility knife carefully cut out carpet in 3' feet by 3' feet squares or tiles. This insures carpet and pad may easily be handled and disposed of. Staking these carpet and pad tiles insures space reduction and obstruction. Once carpet and pad is removed from site, carefully remove tack strip with a crowbar or a chisel. Placing the chisel in front of each nail underneath the tack strip and tap it with a hammer until the concrete nail busts loose. Use careful precautions as not to tap to hard and missing, injuring yourself. The end of a crowbar is useful to pull up the nail. Remember these nails are nailed into the concrete maybe only 2\8" deep, so they are being held by high pressure in between the concrete. Concrete chunks the size of a quarter U.S. Dollar or bigger can fly in the air causing injury or damage. Exercise good judgment, common sense, and safety. Dispose of and remove from site tack-strip. Do not leave tack-st rip exposed for safety. Tack-strip may be carefully wrapped within carpet or pad tiles previously cut from job-site, or disposed of in closed container.

Removing vinyl Linoleum from Hardwood Floors

One of the hardest task in any hardwood floor project can be removing vinyl linoleum from a floor. First you need to determine how old the linoleum. Vinyl flooring tiles manufactured prior to 1986 may contain asbestos. If you are concerned, or worried you may want to contact the linoleum manufacturer and then use a certified asbestos removal contractor that can address the issue accordingly. Never use a sander on any residue that may contain asbestos.

If there is no asbestos, the first thing you want to do is try to pull off as much of the linoleum surface as you can. You can achieve this by using a razor blade and cutting into the linoleum. Cut 6" inch strips, this can reduce the space per square inch that is actually being pulled. In affect reducing the labor required to pull up the linoleum. Linoleum adhesive is usually tar based. Once the surface is up, you can remove the adhesive with a thin scraper and mineral spirits.

If you have a wooden sub-floor, than cutting into it may damaged the hardwood floor underneath. Taking care not to damage the hardwood underneath may be important if you want to salvage your existing hardwood floor. Follow the wood grain is a good idea. A heat gun can be used to soften the linoleum adhesive, making it easier to pull up the linoleum. You may be at great risk in damaging the hardwood floor if you use a heavy-duty scraper. The surface can be sanded even if there is a residue of adhesive still remaining on the hardwood floor.

Removing Carpeting from Hardwood Floors that you want to salvage.

The first thing we have to establish is the facts. Carpet that has been adhered to a hardwood floor is alot harder to remove than a linoleum floor. If you have to do this try to see first if you can pull as much as possible with out cutting into it. If you have to cut into the hardwood floor, make sure to follow the wood grain. Try not cut deep into the wood floor. If your hardwood floor is an existing pre-engineered, than maybe you may reconsider.

First determine the type of adhesive used. Dark or tan color adhesive is tar based and mineral spirits can be used. A light or clear adhesive (usually carpet tape) can be removed with an all-purpose adhesive remover. A yellow looking substance is generally carpet adhesive and can be scraped or chipped off easily, and an all purpose adhesive remover may be used. Always follow manufacture's procedure in removing the carpet glue. The surface of a hardwood floor can always be sanded if glue residue is left behind.

STEP 4: Removing paint

Apply a small amount of water to floor to loosen up paint and foreign materials. This also helps the paint become heavier. In relation of being influenced by the weight of water, it does not become airborne as easily if it would to be dry and flaky. Scrape up with a floor scrapper, one that uses a 4-8" blade system. Take precaution when handling the blades, for they are razor sharp and can easily cut through anything, causing serious and unbearable injury. Dispose blades in a closed container such as a bottle and close tight.

Some paint oils and wax may require a paint and oil remover. This can be acquired at Home Depot or local paint store. Carefully read and follow directions on can. Vacuum all paint and water residue. Steer away from sweeping, for this causes dust to elevate and can increase the airborne dust levels.

STEP 5: LEVELING OF FLOOR
Level flat within 3 \ 16" of an inch over 10' feet or 1 \ 8" of an inch over 6' feet. If leveling compound is needed use only portland based leveling compound from Parabond, Ardex, Mapei, or even Home Depot and Lowe's. Follow the hardwood manufactures recommendations. Any area containing leveling compound must be dried as per the manufacture's recommendations before proceeding with the hardwood installation. If the sub floor is plywood or equivalent, high areas can be sanded down flat.

High spots will have to be marked off on concrete slab and chipped down manually with hammer and chisel, or electric chipping hammer. Grinding down high spots can also be an alternative method but a messier one. Grinding down concrete produces allot of fine dust.

If plywood or equivalent, the sub floor must be structurally sound and secured with nails or screws every 6" inches along joists to reduce the possibility of squeaking after the hardwood floor installation.

STEP 6: TESTING FOR MOISTURE CONTENT
With a quality pin moisture meter, measure the moisture content of sub floor. If sub floor is plywood, measure it with a moisture meter designed to measure moisture in wood. The hardwood floor planks should not exceed 4% moisture content between the sub floors. Sub floors should not exceed 12%. If sub floors exceed 12% an attempt should be made to locate the moisture related problem and eliminate it. The two most common used moisture tests are:

* Tramex Concrete Moisture Encounter Meter, moisture not to exceed 4.5 on the upper scale. See www.tramexltd.com for details.

* Calcium Chloride Test, moisture transfer should not ever exceed 3 lbs\ 1000 square feet. One test for every 250 square feet. Such test may be acquired by local flooring distributor company or see www.taylortools.com for details.

If moisture does exceeds manufactures recommendations, then a sealer must be applied. (see TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES for qualified sealants)

STEP 7: NAILING PLY-WOOD ON TOP OF CONCRETE.
First of all lets start with the idea if you are going to remove the base-boards and re-install them or use new, do it now before installation of ply-wood. Then we have to concider the type of ply-wood to be used on the concrete. Once you have established a ok with the concrete moisture content, you will then proceed with the ply-wood application. The ply-wood needs to be 3/4" CDX minimum. A 6 mil poly-film needs to be installed before the ply-wood. The ply-film needs to be installed in an over lapping fashion minimum 6" inches between each seam. If the poly-film runs up the wall a few inches, this can be trimmed off later after the hardwood installation is completed. A neumatic 22 or 27 caliber nail gun with the red bullet points need to be used. This would be the maximum power level of shots. Concrete is a hard floor to penetrate so high powered shots need to be used. When shooting into the ply-wood and a nail did not penetrate and sank into the plywood re-load gun and shoot the nail head again with out a nail in the nail gun. The nail head needs to be sinking at least 1/32" of an inch to insure it does not become an obstruction underneath the wood floor planks. Leave a minimum of 1/8 expansion gap between each sheet of ply-wood, and a 1/4 gap from wall. The ply-wood needs to be nailed minimum every 8" on the edges and every 1 square ft in the middle. The nails need to be 1 1/2" concrete nails with the washer. These items can be bought at the nearest Lowes home improvement store. Always follow manufatures directions when using these high powered tools. This includes wearing goggles. When a nail does not penetrate the concrete after it has been shot and the head still potrudes out some, usually about 1/8" or so, re-shoot the nail again. Never leave the nail head potruding outward for this can cause the wood floor to peak, since the nail head is sticking up and lifting up on the wood floor plank. Always make sure each nail f a stens properly. The failure to ensure nails fasten properly can result in poor sub-floor installation, thus poor hardwood floor installation.

STEP 8: CUTTING DOOR JAMB/PREPARING FLOOR PLANKS
Door-jambs should be undercut with a proper door- jamb cutter. The notch should be 1 \ 16" of an inch above the thickness of the hardwood floor. If an electrical door- jamb saw is not available, than a manual one may be obtained from the Home Depot or Lowe's home improvement store. Place a hardwood floor plank next to the door-jamb and saw on top of the plank. With out moving the saw up or down, start saw cutting into the door- jamb while maintaining the saw blade flat on the hardwood plank. Most door jambs are no more the 1 \ 2" inch thick. Cut into the door trim the same way so all three sides of door jamb are cut out. You will also need to cut on the bottom of the door jamb since there is ply-wood involved. This will require you to cut into the door jamb with the saw laying flat on the ply-wood. This will make a double notch, enabling you to remove the notched out door jamb piec e out of the way. This will allow you to slide the hardwood floor underneath the door jamb. If not removing baseboards, cut 1" or more into the bottom base board away from the end of the door trim to insure proper hardwood floor plank placement underneath door jamb in correlation with the quarter round or shoe-molding. The ends of finishing trim usually get cut at a 22 degree angle. If wood floor plank is not placed slightly under the base starting from the end of door-trim, a small gap may result from this action. A gap the size of a dime or less can result between quarter round or shoe molding end cut, and the door-jamb. Take precaution. Remove all baseboards if applicable. To re-install baseboards, follow the same nail hole pattern and same size nails used before, otherwise a stud finder will be necessary. One that also detects electrical and water pipe-lines, this way no water-lines get punctured with nails when re-installing base-boards.

Nothing could be more inconvenient than looking down a fresh hardwood floor installation and noticing that there is a large amounts of darks and light colored wood planks bunched up together across a living room floor. Another aspect of a quality hardwood floor installation is the lack of wood plank distribution through out the entire floor. Most manufactured wood planks come random length's so mixing the planks up becomes a very important role when performing a hardwood floor installation. The practical thing to do is always open from 3 to 4 boxes. You may even consider the possibility to open all but two boxes, considering you know the exact number of square footage is involved. When opening the larger amount of wood floor boxes the chances of running into the lighter and darker wood planks become greater. Thus allowing you to mix and match color scheme according to texture, lights and darks.Another benefit of opening the most boxes possible is final inspection of the flooring for finish quality and milling. Remember, if any defective hardwood is installed, most manufacturer will not consider it a claim, nor is it covered under any sort of warranty. It is the installers/homeowner/contractor's responsibility to perform final inspection. By opening several boxes color and grain variation, get distributed and random lengths are mixed accordingly. Avoid bunching smaller and larger pieces, they should be placed at random. Stager all end joints by six inches or more and not repeated during subsequent rows.

Another recommendation when performing a hardwood floor installation is the professionals call "racking". This is the process of installing each wood floor plank dry first and butting them up on the ends, while at the same time mixing and matching you overall color, length and texture wood plank mix. Do not nail any boards, first dry install the boards and make all the end cuts of 4-6 rows. After all the wood floor planks are installed in this dry fashion. Start to nail each row one by one. This is also good method to save on material by utilizing as much wood floor possible.

For solid material a good rule of thumb is to allow enough expansion equal to the thickness of the product. So for this instance if you are going to be installing the 3/4" inch solid nail down hardwood, pull baseboards since they are not near 3/4" thick. Before the ply wood is installed scribe a line on the sheet rock to allow expansion underneath the sheet rock. This will allow the hardwood floor to clear the baseboard, since most baseboard are 1/2" inch thick.------------------------------------------------------------------------
Open several boxes at a time to insure proper mixture of wood shade and color. The more boxes you open the better. This is also a good time for final inspection. Mark any defects the hardwood floor planks may have and simply cut them out. Use the left over end pieces to either start a row or finish one. Opening and choosing from several boxes at a time maximizes the mixing of shades over all. Be careful not to place the hardwood planks upside down on the floor. This can cause them to get scuffed up or scratched.

STEP 9: ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BASE LINE
Nothing is more important than the base line. This is the first initial base line. First establish a direction in which you wish the hardwood floors to run. The longest outside wall is the preferred visual effect. Outside walls are the true square of a house or building. Stack about 1 foot more or less of hardwood planks as if you were going to assemble them without glue, the distance of about 1 foot. The reason for this foot is that the power nailer cant reach 1 ft to the wall due to its 22 1/2 degree angle cartridge. It is tilted at this angle because of the nail that has to shoot straight in has to cover nail body space. In other words if the nail were to shoot straight in the ply-wood it will hit the concrete floor causing a falilure to sink into the wood floor plank. So at this angle, the nail can go in at an angle making it not hit the concrete, since the ply-wood only measures 3/4". Once finished assembling these hardwood floor planks, measure from the groove side of the plank to the outside tongue edge to get an exact measure. Mark you're measuring tape with a #2 pencil to insure measure. Add an additional 1 \ 2 " inch and mark the floor with the pencil in an arrow fashion indicating exact spot, pin pointing to the next 1 \ 32 " of an inch. Mark the floor at the right and left far end of the outer most longest outside wall. The closer to each corner, the more exact. Pop a chalk line with in these two pin points. This may take two people, one to hold one end, and the other person to hold the opposite end. Once the line has been established, check it to make sure the farthest walls from each other do not differ within 1 \ 4 " inch. If it does than you may need to establish another line using the same outside wall one board width more or one board width less.

Next you mark the chalk line just popped using simple arrows. Draw an arrow every 1' to 2' feet, pin pointing the line with these arrows. The arrows should be drawn the opposite side where you are going to start nailing or stapling. These arrows will insure that the base line does not get lost due to glue or the hardwood floor planks covering it up during you're first base-line installation. Now that you have established a base line it is time for your hardwood floor installation to take place.

STEP 10: INSTALLATION OF FIRST HARDWOOD FLOOR PLANK
The base line is to treated with respect. Install a wood floor plank on the line one by one. Use a finish nailer and nail down the plank to the line turning opposite of the actual tongue and groove. So for this lay out, you would lay the wood planks on top to the line with the tongue facing away from the actual installation, and facing the nearest wall. The reason for this is because this wood floor plank line is going to be called the dummy line. After it gets faced nail with a finish nailer preferable 16 guage and the nails a length of 1 1/2 " long this wood floor plank line serves only as a support brace for the actual first stack of hardwood floor actually being nailed in with the power nailer. After you have nailed in your first row of about 3 wood floor planks in width, remove the dummy line. If the tongue of the dummy line were to face the wood floor and the plank row actual tongue were in th e groove of the wood floor 3 board initial installation, your risk of damaging your wood floor goes up. The reason for this, is that in amongst taking up your dummy line the tongue can actually lift up on the freshly installed wood and make the upper notch crack. This will in turn be followed by an extensive repair.

After the dummy line has been removed glue in the rest of the base line that the power nailer could not reach due to the fact that the line is only 1 ft away from the wall. Liquid nail each plank or use a urethane cured hardwood floor installation glue. These planks will be need to be compressed together using a crow bar and faced nail at the end of the body hitting the wall. Face nail the hardwood plank as close as possible next to the wall insuring that the finish nails will be covered up with the base-board.

The term "racking" is a term used by professionals. Lay your first hardwood floor plank preferably the longest.

Next lay the following hardwood floor plank above the first floor plank. Make sure this floor plank is 6" inches or more shorter than the first one. The third hardwood floor plank will be placed above the second in the same fashion 6" inches or shorter than the second hardwood floor plank previously laid above the first hardwood plank. Once secured, then proceed to repeat the process.

STEP 11: END CUTS
Once you have neared the end of wall, it is time to do the cutting of hardwood floor planks. Make sure to leave the manufacturer's recommended gap in between hardwood floors and outside obstructions. Always exercise good judgment, common sense, and safety procedures described with all power tools such as table saw, chop saw, and jamb saw. Follow manufacturer's cutting procedures and safety regulations. Once the end cuts are finished start to nail the hardwood floors.
The long cuts are to be performed with the table saw. Never ever attempt to cut hardwood with a skill saw. Always maintaining the hardwood floor aligned with the base line. Failure to do this will result in a crooked misaligned installation.
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STEP 12: CONTINUING WITH HARDWOOD FLOOR INSTALLATION PROCESS
The next set of rows will be much easier than the first initial base line. The reason for this is because before you installed you're first hardwood floor planks, an established base line did not exist. Now you have a firm and proper base line to go off by. Make sure to rack your hardwood floor installation. This will insure proper mixture of the planks.

STEP 13: CONTINUING HARDWOOD FLOOR INTO ANOTHER ROOM\HALLWAY
By now you probably have already installed a room and are nearing to the continuation of the hardwood floor installation into another room or hallway. Stop the hardwood installation right before continuing into another room or hallway. Pick out about 3 hardwood planks similar in size or the same. Assemble them on the floor. Avoid stair casing in this procedure. Trace the far end of the last board. Make sure this last board is the longest of the boards. Now a line is traced on the concrete floor with you're pencil. This is a temporary base line. Temporary because it is too short to be used as a primary base line.
Next stretch out the base line by popping a chalk line on top of it the length of the room or hallway, re-establishing base line again. This time instead of going off the outer longest exterior wall, you're going off of the same initial hardwood plank line. Door ways are usually only 30" to 36" inches in width, which isn't allot. The only way to stretch this base line marked on the floor, is to pop another chalk line again.
Take you're chalk line, laying directly on top of this temporary base line marked with a pencil. Stretch the chalk line all the way to the far end of room or hallway. This procedure takes 2 people. One to hold the end and the other person is to hold the other directly above this short temporary base line. The person above the temporary line is to direct the other to gently lower the chalk line, avoiding to pop it or tap it hard on the floor. This person is to also direct instructions in which direction to move the chalk line until it is fine tuned and the temporary penciled base line disappears underneath chalk line. Pop the chalk line.
The base line is complete. Double check base line with walls making sure its parallel within 1 \ 4 " inch. If the base line is not parallel by 1 \ 4 " inch, remark it. Adjustments are tolerable because hardwood wood planks, although straight, can be manipulated to flex over a long stretch, since the planks are broken down, or the base line is broken up by various lengths. Remember walls are not always straight, don't be misled. Check walls to see if they are straight. Walls are usually parallel to each other within 1 \ 4 " inch. Walls that are off by 1 \ 2 " inch or more should be taken into consideration. Common sense and good judgment should be exercised.

STEP 14: TRANSITIONING THE HARDWOOD FLOOR TO EXISTING FLOORS
Transitioning the hardwood floor to existing floors
REDUCER reducer

STAIR NOSE starinose

END-CAPThe transition depends on the floor covering. The height of the two surfaces that you are transitioning will determine the type of transition strip needed, along with your own personal taste. Strips are from 1/2" to 3" in width, up to 1/4" high and can either be made of wood or metal, pre-manufactured or custom designed, depending on the doorway transition. Most manufacturers make their own transition strips according to hardwood floor specs. If your doing a solid wood floor, than transition strips have to be purchased separately and stained to match. This can be achieved by simply taking a piece to raw transition strip and a piece of hardwood floor that best describes the over all color scheme of the entire wood lot, and visiting your local paint store. Once you are there make sure that you specify that the stain must made to match hardwood floor. Wooden transition strips sh ould be sealed after the strips have been stained and sealed.
Carpeting may not require anything more than rounding off the edges if working with a solid hardwood floor. For the pre-engineered hardwood floor, you may need what they call an end-cap. End caps go in between the carpet and the wood floor. Always pre-check the end cap and its measurements, every manufacture size is different. Allow the space required between the door jamb and the actual door. What you want is for the end cap to sit on top of the hardwood floor and finish right underneath your door. To achieve this always make sure you pre-measure the strip and determine where you wood flooring needs to end. You don't want to end your hardwood floor right underneath the door, this can cause the molding not to fit properly and can end up inches into the other room. The trick here is end the transition strip right in the middle of your actual door when closed. Before you install check and measure to establish a line on the concrete indicating where the hardwood floor needs to e nd. This will save time in floor repairs later.

For vinyl flooring or stained concrete, you may need a transition strip that tapers from hardwood floor to a flat surface, kind of like a ramp. This transition strip is usually called a reducer strip. It usually comes the same thickness of the wood and tapers down to a minimum. For example if your hardwood floor is 3/8" than you would need a 3/8" strip so the strip will flow flush from hardwood to the flat surface like linoleum, or stained concrete. If you can find the reducer than your next bet is to get it raw and stain the transition strip. Reducer strips get liquid-nailed down to the concrete or stapled on a wooden sub floor. Excessive liquid nail can be cleaned up using a terry cloth and odorless mineral spirits.

Transitioning from hardwood to ceramic or pre-existing hardwood floor
This transition requires a T-molding. This piece of transition strip gets placed in between the ceramic tile or pre-existing hardwood floor. Always pre-measure the t-molding strip to make sure you leave plenty of space in between two floors. For example if your t-molding measures 2" (most of them do) than leave no more than 1 1/2" of space in between the two floors. Always do this before the installation take place. Establish a line for a guide. This will save time on repairs later when you discovered that the gap was too big or too small. Use liquid nails and drop a quarter size drop every 4" to 5". Make sure the drops surpass the height of the two floors being transitioned into each other. This will ensure that the liquid nails get dispersed out well. Clean up excessive liquid nails with a terry cloth and mineral spirits.

Transitioning from hardwood to a step down
This requires a stair-nose. This particular of nosing is designed for stairs. The molding has to be pre-measured to ensure exactly what amount of space will be left before installing the floor. The reason for this, is that most stair nosing is designed to be flush with the flooring and an additional piece goes on the bottom end of the nosing. Always dry fit your hardwood floor transition strips before actually fastening them down. This prevents sloppy installation and repairs. Stairs are probably the hardest of all because of its odd positioning. Stairs get fastened with liquid nails and nails.

STEP 16: COMMON SENSE CARE
Keep all hardwood floors free from dirt, water, food, grease and other spills that can damage wood floor finish. Clean floors periodically using only leading brand cleaner made for pre-finished hardwood floors. Read directions carefully. Do not use ammonia, polish, oil-based wax, abrasive cleaners, or furniture cleaners on hardwood floors. Install floor protectors underneath chairs and furniture or other items that may sit directly onto a wood floor. This may reduce damage done by accidental sliding of furniture. Regularly sweep, dust mop or vacuum to prevent dirt build up or grit scratches. Wipe up spills promptly with soft, dry cloth. Avoid walking on floors with sharp stiletto high heel shoes or soles in need of repair. Congratulations on your new wood floors.