Floating Floors

• 1). Trim door casings to allow the new flooring to slide under the casings. Lay a piece of flooring face down butting up to the casing. Lay the saw flat and carefully cut the casing.
  
  
• 2). Vacuum the floor to remove all dust and debris. Roll out the underlayment, if your flooring requires its use. Butt the seams of the underlayment and seal the seams with duct tape. Trim the underlayment flush with the wall using a utility knife.
  
  
• 3). Place spacers along the edges of the floor to keep the required gap. Most floating floors require a gap of 3/8-inch to allow the floor to move as a unit.
  
  
• 4). Lay out the first row of flooring with the grooved side towards the wall. Trim the last piece to length measuring from the grooved end and fit into place. Use the remaining cut piece to start the next row if it is more than eight inches long. This will ensure that the butt seams are staggered.
  
  
• 5). Trim the remaining row of flooring and ease into place with a pry bar. Remove the spacers before easing the last row into place. Install baseboard or shoe molding, nailing the molding to the wall and not the floating floor.
  
  

Glued Wood Floors

• 1). Vacuum the subfloor to prepare it for flooring installation. Stack the flooring in the area of installation and allow acclimation to the moisture and humidity levels of the room for at least 72 hours before beginning installation. Place spacers around the perimeters of the room to ensure the correct expansion gap.
  
  
• 2). Wear rubber gloves. Spread enough moisture-resistant glue for two or three rows of the flooring. Use a notched trowel held at a 45-degree angle to the floor to spread the glue.
  
  
• 3). Install the first row of flooring with the tongue side into the room. Push firmly down on the flooring to ensure good contact with the glue. Use a tapping block and a hammer to close up any gaps in the butt ends of the flooring. Start the second row with a cut piece of flooring to keep the butt ends staggered. Wipe off any glue on the flooring surface before it dries.
  
  
• 4). Continue the process of laying the flooring until there are two or three rows remaining. Let the floor dry 24 hours before installing the remaining flooring. Install the remaining flooring and allow the floor to dry 24 hours before walking on it.
  
  
• 5). Install transition strips and the baseboard. Nail the baseboard to the wall, not the floor, to allow for expansion of the floor.
  
  

Nailed Wood Floors

• 1). Place spacers along the walls to ensure proper space for the normal expansion and contraction of wood floors. Trim the door casings to allow the flooring to slide beneath the door trim.
  
  
• 2). Lay out the flooring along the beginning wall with the tongue side facing into the room. Face nail the flooring along the wall, spacing the nails 8 to 12 inches apart. The baseboard or shoe molding will cover these nails. Use a pneumatic floor-nailing machine to drive nails into the tongue portion of the flooring.
  
  
• 3). Begin the next row with a short length of flooring to stagger the butt ends. Tap the flooring into place onto the tongue of the previous row and nail through the tongue.
  
  
• 4). Install baseboards and transition strips.