installing hardwood flooring myself. should i do it? lol

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motoride777

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hi i live in a condo. it's about 650 sq ft. i'm thinking about installing hardwood flooring DIY style. i think with youtube DIY videos, some rented tools, and patience (i can take my time doing it slowly and carefully). i should be able to complete the job nicely.

BUT... i've never done it before, so if you've done it. any advice for me? lol

thanks!
 
Not as difficult as you think. Take your time and set up everything properly. Get the right tools and you're set. Cutting out corners, edges, and around objects will be the most difficult.

good luck.

OR

send me a private msg and I'll install it for you with my dad as we do this type of work.
 
It is very easy to do, If you are getting the tongue and groove, just make sure not to force it.
I went from a fully furnished room with carpet to hardwood and all set back up in less than a day by myself.
 
Check with your condo corporation if it's allowed, and what the criteria is to installing it, some don't like it because of the noise transfer, so you have to install it according to the rules of the corporation.

Get someone to do it, by the time you get the tools, the time involved, it will come out cheaper to have a pro do it and can they can probably do that in about 2 days, if that.....

are you really talking about hardwood flooring, or laminate.....
 
Since you're in a condo, be very careful with the underlay you choose. Some condos incorporate detailed specs in their bylaws, other are less careful. If you install without underlay, you can expect to rip it out and start again when the person below you complains.
 
Consider laminate too. The new stuff out there is great and it's not hard to do yourself. Like others mentioned, check with management first.
 
Go with engineered floating floor. Don't cheap out on the underlay - buy enough to safely cover the entire area with whole cuts. Don't cheap on the wood either for that matter. Have the wood sitting in the area you intend to install in a week before you install and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Some may say 1 or 2 days is good enough, but be patient. Tear out the current floor. Get every little bit out, scour for nails, tacks, staples etc. Scrape up anything stuck to to the floor. You want to be as level as possible. Check for level. Float out dips with self leveling compound. Look around at any jams and doorways you have to go through. Get a jam saw to cut those up (gently without ripping the whole jam out). The saws are cheap. Start your floor at the longest wall if possible. If not, stare at your floor plan for a while, imagine what you are going to do from the first wall through to finish. Make sure you start square and secure in any case. Small condo it's ok to leave at least 1/4" gap at every wall. If you aren't redoing baseboards, that's what 1/4 round is for. Have fun, take your time. You and a buddy should be able to knock it off in a weekend if you are prepped. Have a table saw and a chop saw, both come in handy. Jig saw might be handy too. Good blades made for hardwood are recommended.
 
I replaced the carpet with laminate flooring in my 3rd floor condo (mississauga) back in 2003. Looked very good for the two months until I sold, but not durable IMHO (under furniture casters, etc), I'll never use a cheap laminate for my own living space again. I just bought some engineered hardwood for my basement...

In my condo, I used a premium underlay - reduced noise but added to the springiness, and perhaps makes the laminate less durable. I would use a thinner (which is cheaper) foam underlay if I did this again. The condo rules are important though - they could make you remove/replace with carpet or required underlay if regulated.

Some other considerations:

- Disposing of the carpet. I was lucky enough being on the third floor and at the end of the hall that I could just take the scrap rolls down the few flights of stairs to a van and then off to the dump.

- Sawing noise - I ran a chop saw on the balcony to avoid spreading dust everywhere inside. I did this after work - stayed within a 5pm-8pm window to avoid the noise bothering my neighbors. You need a decent chop saw with a fine tooth blade.

- DIY - important to layout the pattern, calculate the end spacings, and determine the line you are going to run. I started with one main wall and once I ran this first strip across the main rooms and bedroom, everything else clicked into place. You should measure well to see if walls are parallel, etc.

- Door frames. The trim on most walls is easy enough to remove/replace or add a quarter-round to hide the gap to the flooring. Condo door frames are typically metal - a dremel vibratory cutter would come in handy to relieve some space to slide the wood under. Back then, I cut the wood as close as possible and used some wood-color filler to make it look good.
 
hard wood is nice and not horribly difficult to do, just depends on your capabilities and what tools you may have available already. If you have to rent/buy all the tools, unless you expect future jobs, its probably not work it.

Laminate is another good option is it is the higher end quality product, it is more durable than wood. just don't cheap out trying to use the $.79 Home Depot specials
 
I'm also going to agree with some of the posters here, the newer style laminate is VERY good quality and also resists chips/hits/wear very well. I've installed it in a few units/homes and it's a good alternate to traditional hardwood for a good price. Don't go to the HD $.80/sqft quality, but make sure you get a nice thick panel (I believe we usually use 12.8mm or so).
 
mimico_polak said:
I'm also going to agree with some of the posters here, the newer style laminate is VERY good quality and also resists chips/hits/wear very well. I've installed it in a few units/homes and it's a good alternate to traditional hardwood for a good price. Don't go to the HD $.80/sqft quality, but make sure you get a nice thick panel (I believe we usually use 12.8mm or so).
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Doing the main floor of the house, approximately 800 sq feet, going to use Coswick brand of hardwood, what's your cost per sq foot for install, you can pm me the cost. All old stuff has been removed hardwood/tile, baseboard as well, with 3/8 plywood on top so everything is level....
 
Have cheap laminet on the main level which has been laid too tight (came with the house), my 140lb dog plays on it all day. No issues.

My top level and basement has thicker wide plank laminet which I laid properly. Even with the dog playing , it is beautiful.

I' will eventually redo the main level.
 
+1 on the engineered hardwood. We have a higher end engineered floor in one room and it comes in up to 8ft planks that are 5-6" wide which you can't really get easily with solid hardwood. You can put a good underlay down and isolate noise really well. You can get tons of different finishes like the antique distressed type that look really cool.
 
subscribed - going to be attempting an install at the cottage once the summer busy season is done.
 
GateKeeper said:
Doing the main floor of the house, approximately 800 sq feet, going to use Coswick brand of hardwood, what's your cost per sq foot for install, you can pm me the cost. All old stuff has been removed hardwood/tile, baseboard as well, with 3/8 plywood on top so everything is level....
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PM sent
 
I have two rooms with full 3/4" solid maple flooring, its nice but really is overkill. Modern finishes last a decade before they look rough, 3/4 used to be required to allow a couple sandings and refinishes, not so much these days.
We put HD .79ft in the two kids bedrooms as a quick fix, got what we paid for and its complete crap. I put commercial grade laminate , $6.50sq ft in the basement and am very pleased.
Engineered wood floors I think are the future, great finishes and fairly easy install. It will be the product when I pull out all the cheapo lam and remaining carpets upstairs.
 
I think consumers get confused (by salespeople) about laminates. People looking for quaility want "real" wood which immediately gets translated to "solid" wood. Engineered floors are laminates for sure, like plywood is laminated, but thy are not the same laminate as the particle board with a Formica picture of a wood grain glued on. Once you understand that engineered floors are laminated but are "engineered" to outperform solid wood, you get the picture. The surface (the part that matters to your wife) is sold hardwood, possibly coated with something special; under that is something designed to last, reduce noise, not crack under stress, etc.

Solid wood has some serious drawbacks and requires a lot more maintenance. Laminates (the cheap ones) have similar drawbacks but instead of maintaining them you toss them. More labor. A properly installed engineered floor should last decades. The biggest drawback is getting some trendy color that doesn't survive the next fashion wave.

crankcall said:
I have two rooms with full 3/4" solid maple flooring, its nice but really is overkill. Modern finishes last a decade before they look rough, 3/4 used to be required to allow a couple sandings and refinishes, not so much these days.
We put HD .79ft in the two kids bedrooms as a quick fix, got what we paid for and its complete crap. I put commercial grade laminate , $6.50sq ft in the basement and am very pleased.
Engineered wood floors I think are the future, great finishes and fairly easy install. It will be the product when I pull out all the cheapo lam and remaining carpets upstairs.
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