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6 Ways to Prepare for Professional Wood Floor Installation

February 8, 2019

Originally published on Thespruce.com on February 2, 2019 By Lee Wallender

Don’t just sit back and wait for the wood floor installers to arrive and create havoc in your house. Some very simple preparations on your part can help mitigate the dust, muss, fuss, and damage that wood floor installers can inevitably cause in your home. Even though your flooring company may promise to take certain precautions, the more you can do beforehand, the better.

The mess associated with flooring installation can be directly related to how long the contractor is in your home, and good preparation will ensure that the flooring company is in and out as quickly as possible. You may even be able to discuss the issue beforehand with the contractor, who may agree to lower the price if you are handling the preparation and perhaps even the cleanup. Don’t be afraid to suggest this at the time you are negotiating bids for the work.

Here are six things you can do to help simplify the flooring installation and reduce mess.

Provide Dust Control

Dust is the #1 problem in flooring installation, and it is particularly troublesome if the wood flooring will be stained and varnished in place. Most floor installers will take minimum preparations to contain the dust, but their efforts are rarely perfect. You can do better: Seal off rooms that will not be sanded, not just by closing the doors but by covering the doorway with plastic sheets secured with masking tape. “Ad hoc” plastic curtains help only a little bit, while something like a ZipWall barrier system helps a bit more. But sheets of securely taped plastic sheeting over doorways, heating ducts, and other openings will prevent airborne dust from entering the room and settling on fresh varnish coats as they dry.

Remove the Doors

Any floor installer company worth its salt will remove the doors from the hinges before they begin flooring installation, but they will not necessarily safely store the doors.

Remove all doors from their hinges and stack them in a different room, with each door separated by a blanket to prevent scratching. Make sure to keep hinge pins collected together in a plastic bag. When the flooring installation is complete, you may want to handle the reinstallation of the doors yourself, so as to avoid any scratches.

Remove the Baseboards

Depending on the type of the baseboards in the room, it is usually best to remove either the entire baseboard or the shoe moldings that line the bottom edge of the baseboards. Small ranch or colonial-style baseboards that have no base shoe moldings usually can be removed entirely, using a couple of thin pry bars. This will allow the installers room to install the flooring planks as close to the walls as possible. Some homeowners like to take this opportunity to install new baseboards after the flooring has been installed.

If your home has tall, built-up baseboards, it’s common practice to remove just the small base shoe moldings that cover the seams between the baseboard and flooring around the perimeter of the room. The shoe moldings can be reused if they are in good shape, although many homeowners simply install new shoe molding at this time.

Remove the Door Trim

The case moldings and stop moldings on doorways are a bit more problematic than the baseboards. Almost no flooring installers will remove these moldings—instead, they typically cut the bottoms of the moldings in order to slip the new flooring beneath them. But a better appearance can be achieved if you remove the moldings entirely, which allows the installers to fit the flooring boards tightly around the door frame. The look will be much more uniform and polished. After the flooring is laid, you can trim and reinstall the old case moldings, or retrim the door with new moldings. This is serious finish carpentry work, however.

Prepare the Subfloor

Most flooring installers spend little or no time working on the subfloor unless this was discussed beforehand and negotiated as part of the price of installation. If your subfloor is less than perfect—if there are dips or other flaws—you can do some prior work to secure the subfloor and fix any imperfections in it. Your goal should be a subfloor that is perfectly flat and smooth and firmly secured to the floor joists. If the installers arrive to a well-prepared subfloor, the new wood flooring will go in smooth, tight, and flawless.

Some homeowners may choose to go so far as to tear out the old flooring themselves and lay an entirely new subfloor—or at least install a thin plywood underlayment to smooth over the subfloor. This might be something to discuss with your flooring installation contractor, since doing this work yourself should earn you a discount.

Prepare an Outdoor Cutting Area

Dust and debris can be greatly reduced if your flooring installers have a suitable outdoor location to cut flooring (and plywood, if they are also installing a subfloor). An ideal spot for cutting will have:

Access to an outdoor, GFCI-protected, electrical outlet
A hard work surface, such as a concrete patio or garage floor
Protection from the elements; a garage or carport is ideal
Good natural or secondary lighting
Close access to an entry door to the home

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Tips for Tiling Beginners

January 1, 2019

Posted by Christina Palmer

Originally Published By Footbridgemedia.com

Anyone who’s ever undertaken the task of a DIY home tile flooring project can tell you that there are many possible pitfalls that await you. As the saying goes, “you don’t know what you don’t know”. And this couldn’t be truer than when tiling your first room. If you walk into most home’s you can see a huge difference in the quality of tiling from the first project to the fifth. This is because tiling isn’t difficult once you get the basic concept down and learn a few tricks along the way. So here are some tips to help you on your freshman effort. Good luck!

Whole Is Greater Than the Sum.

No tile project is an island. You need to consider every element of your room as a whole. For instance, if you are tiling your kitchen, you need to ask yourself how the tile is going to match the cabinets, the paint, the appliances, and the toaster. Most rooms are the equivalent of a canvas in which all subject are creating a vibe.

Plan! Plan! Plan!

Do the math. Crunch the numbers. Take the measurements. You need to know within a given margin how much your project is going to cost and if it is within your budget. This will be determined by accurate measurements, number of pieces ordered, tools needed, all supplies, including additional items you might have to purchase such as quarter round trim along the floor. Will anything need to be pulled up, destroyed or replaced? Take into account the entirety of the project.

Take Inventory

When the day finally comes that you purchase your tile there are two questions that you need to ask your tile retailer: First question, Here’s how much I need, do you have enough in stock? Second Question, If I need to reorder down the road will it be available. The first question is usually a yes. The second question is usually a no. Tile is like fashion clothing. It comes in and out with the tide. For both questions, it is better to purchase some extra tile. Another reason for this is because you’ll probably mess up a few pieces since you are a beginner. You’ll need extra. Get it. Store it.

Design In Advance

Some people like horizontal, some like vertical, and some like diagonal. If you do not know but would like to find out, then try to draw a mock up of your room with the floor design. It doesn’t have to be a professional spec, just a scratch drawing of the room either from an angle or from the ceiling view. If your tile floor design is a little more complicated than the three options mentioned above, then sketching it out is essential.
Tools of the Trade

Here is a general list of tools you’ll need to efficiently and effectively do the job.

Snap Chalk Line – This guides the tile rows on the floor.
Carpenter’s Square – The insures that the intersecting chalk lines are angled correctly
Straightedge – this keeps the tile rows even. A long straight edge is preferred
Notched Trowel – This spreads the thinset along the floor. Make sure the notch sizes match tile manufacturer’s specifications.
Wet Saw – This gives you efficiency in cutting and gives you straight edges. It is also safe as it keeps sparks from flying during the cutting.
Tile Nipper – To make small cuts and trim away excel tile.
Rubber Tile Spacers – These are essential and very effective at making sure you tiles are evenly spaced. We recommend using 2-3 evenly spaced tile spacers on each side of the tile.
Rubber Grout Float – Apply enough grout to fill the spaces in between the tile without spreading the grout over the entire tile. This greatly reduces messy application.
Sponges – Silicone Sponges wipes away excess grout. A dry course sponge buffs away grout haze which can settle on the tiles.
Drill & Mixing Bit – This is not essential. It is efficient, however, and gives your thinset and grout a great mix. This is the equivalent of using a mixer instead of a spoon for whipping up your cake ingredients. It’s just easier.

First Layout, Then Install

It is best to pre-cut every piece and lay the entire design out on the floor before you actually attach it. This is especially beneficial if this is your first project. Sure, it creates a little more work, but it is worth it to see the finished product before you install it. This will save you possible future headaches. Once the tile is attached, there is no turning back.

Follow Thinset & Grout Instructions

Make sure you read the mixing and installation instructions on the back of the thinset or grout bag to the letter. Make sure the mixing ratios are measured and perfect.

Clean As You Go

It is always best to clean the thinset and the grout before it has a chance to dry. It is much easier to clean it while it’s still fresh. Be careful, however, not to use too much water to clean. Your sponges need to be damp but not soaking wet. Too much water can get into the thinset or grout and keep it from firmly setting. Too much water can also create water bubbles which lead to gaps in your mix.

Happy Tiling

Alright, there you go. This is a general rundown of how to undertake your first tiling project. Although this checklist is helpful, it is by no means, comprehensive. The key is to do proper research from experienced professionals and make sure you learn as much as you can before you launch. This will help you save money and create a beautiful floor from start to finish. Good luck!