Should I DIY hardwood floors?

Question

I want to install about 500 sq ft of hardwood flooring in my Living/dinig area, as well as the main hallway. I'm wondering if it would be wise to try and save a few bucks doing it myself. Any experiences installing Hw's and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

If you are handy with power tools, then I would say go for it. It will save you a lot of money. Another answerer mentioned having to finish the floor. That is only true if you choose non-pre-finished flooring; that's why I would not recommend doing non-pre-finished floor yourself - it's a heck of a mess.

So, you will want to choose between engineered and pre-finished solid. Either comes in various thicknesses - from about 1/4" to 3/4" thick. It's easier to install engineered flooring. In fact, engineered flooring comes in two flavors: strip and panels. I think the strips are much nicer looking - they are virtually indistinguishable from solid wood flooring.

The main tools you will need to get are a miter saw and a pneumatic floor nailer. Be very careful in getting the latter, because there are several different types! You need to make sure the one you buy matches the floor you chose in both thickness and in driving power. These are fairly expensive to rent, so unless you'll be able to do the whole floor in a couple of days, I'd buy one and sell it on eBay.

The miter saw is used surprisingly little - only at the edges of the room. All the other pieces fit together.

Another tip: spend a little time and step back to make sure your pieces match up nicely. I mean this in two ways: (1) that you get random coloring (every piece varies a bit in color and grain, so you want to make sure you spread the different colors out); (2) make sure that the seams on two adjacent courses are not closer than about 6" to each other. These two things will make your floor look a lot better.

Feel free to contact me directly if you have more questions and I'll try to help.

Answer 2

first thing the hardwood is it going over a wood subfloor or is it going over concrete? Or are you going with a floating hardwood similar to laminate just alot thicker?
Wood floor to install the hardwood onto a wood subfloor you will have to have it stapled through the tongue,(so extras staple gun$250 to $600, staples(20 to $60, air compressor, hoses?) On concrete you will have to spread glue and it is some very sticky stuff, then you have to tape the top of the floor every few rows to make sure that it stays together because the glue takes up to 24 hours to dry so gluing will take a few days, you will need to glue down about 6 rows tape it together and let it set up overnight so that you have a good solid area to push off with. You will need to undercut your door jambs, take off all base and doors. If it's the floating floor it goes together pretty easy, you will still need to undercut the jambs, take off the base and doors. Sometimes you can just by the product and find someone to do the job on the side for you and it won't cost as much. Where i live they charge 2.25 a sq ft to install.

Answer 3

My husband and I have installed hardwood (unfinished) in our bedroom and in our dining room (finished). It was definitely helpful to have 2 people do it as it does involve some time and one person can select the right sized/ color strips and one can nail. The dining room obviously went faster because we used a finished product, but I thought that there was more waste as there were many strips with deep holes/knots in them that we would not put on the floor. It was nice, however, not to have to urethane the floor when we were done. It took a while to do the bedroom as I put 3 coats of varathane on the floor. It is hard on your knees and back - we were in our late 40's/early 50's when we did these rooms, but there is great satisfaction in completing the job yourself. As far as the cutting for corners and such, if possible remove your door moldings beforehand, then you can put them back on later and you won't have to fuss with finessing the cut with the flooring. (You will have to trim a bit off the bottom of the door trim, though) We put our baseboard molding on afterwards also, because I hate that quarter round stuff. I think hardwood is easier than ceramic tile as it is not as messy, and the wood is easier on your knees than the tile! I personally would not use laminate anywhere other than a bedroom or upstairs hall as you have to be very careful about keeping water off the floor or the product can delaminate. And if you do it yourself, some companies will not warranty the laminated floor as a 'professional' did not install the floor. So, good luck and go for it!

Answer 4

Its a tough and slow job when you get to the hallways and doorways. There are a lot of little things that slow you down. You will need to pull up the shoe mold and base mold to allow for the gap that the instructions will tell you to leave. My dad and I did the floors in my house last September and it said to leave a half inch gap all the way around the room, and the shoe mold doesnt completely cover it.

Also, going under door ways and into closets is tough, tight spaces, and getting under the door jambs, we had to cut ours to make the clearance high enough for the flooring. Also, the clean and prep is time consuming (or can be) depending on what type of floor you are covering with the hard wood.

If you dont mind hard work, and the possiblity of wasitng a lot of planks because of bad cuts, wrong cuts etc... sore knees and backs and if you have someone you trust to help you with it, then go for it. I wouldnt ever want to do it again, it can get very frustrating.

Good Luck

Answer 5

Hardwood or laminate?

most hardwood floors have to be nailed down using an angled nailer (see home depot - flooring nailer), you have to be good at cutting with a circular saw, a bench saw and possibly a miter saw, other than that it is a little rough on the knees but worth the savings. Assuming the rooms are squared and not too many doorways.

Laminates are easier they typically are glueless and use a locking system, you still have to be able to cut the correct lengths but if you can it is definately worth trying

Answer 6

Locking planks of laminate wood is easy if you have a square or rectangular shaped floor area. Where it get really tricky (difficult) is if you have to do a lot of cutting. I have installed two houses with laminates. You can buy excellent quality laminates at Costco for about $20 a box. Each box covers 17 sq. ft. of area, so a 500 sq ft surface will cost you about $620. You'll also need to purchase the right tools for a few bucks more. If you DIY, you will save A LOT of money, not just a "few" bucks.

Answer 7

So long as you have someone else to help. I think it's always best to have 2 people on any project. That way, you catch each other before mistakes are made and it's much easier to move large or awkwardly shaped parts. We're going to install our own. Far as I know, it's not rocket science - just common sense stuff. I wouldn't do drywall or rewire my house, but flooring? Sure.

Answer 8

All you have to do is go to DIYNETWORK.com look up how to install hardwood floors. You can also go to Home Depot for a free workshop class on installing hardwood floors.
I guarantee that you can do it yourself, hell you may start doing other home improvement projects.

Answer 9

Lowes has a clinic every Saturday in March 1-2pm on how to install hardwood floors... I plan on going to one of these myself.
Go to lowes.com then "PROJECT CENTER", then "how to clinics".
Lowes has a great video online too; right now on their website when you shop for wood it has the product demo right below the flooring.
Also, Home depots have the "do it herself" clinics and about once a month there's also one on putting in wood floors. Go to homedepot.com, on the top click on "know how" then CLINICS.
If you have them in your area, I would visit both. Even though lowes is more expensive most of the time, sometimes they'll have a special.
Good luck.

Answer 10

geee
I wouldn't
if it's real hardwood you'll end up staining, varnishing and finishg entire floor and it would be very time consuming for a newbie
don't forget about expensive power tools
if you're going to do it with hand tools it's going to be complete waste of time.
I'd rather hire a professional