What Constitutes A Bad Hardwood Floor Installation?
It’s no argument that hardwood flooring gives your space a more upscale look. But the upkeep hardwood flooring requires can get to be a lot at times. At ReallyCheapFloors.com, we want to make sure you know how to best take care of your flooring and avoid trouble. Here are 4 ways to avoid a bad waterproof hardwood floor installation.
1. Learn How Hardwood Works
Hardwood flooring, although no longer a tree, still acts like one in many ways. They still react to water and moisture the same way a tree in the ground would. Trees swell due to the amounts of water in them. Your hardwood floor is still a tree in a sense, just made into a finer product. They will react accordingly to the amount of moisture in the air or the amount of water dropped on them. When hardwood boards have too much water, they will expand. When the moisture in the air is lower, the wood floor will shrink. Both of these results are a type of the many problems that we may experience in our house when moisture levels are not controlled correctly. It is your job to limit or eliminate these problems.
2. Know Your Area’s Weather
Hardwood is greatly affected by the moisture in the air. If you live in an area that has more humid weather in the warmer months, then your floor will swell from the added moisture in the air, making it look like your floor is damaged. This works similarly to what happens to a person when they get too hot. Have you ever noticed your fingers swell when you sweat a lot or if it’s really warm where you are? Hardwood flooring does something similar when there is too much moisture in the air. An easy remedy for this is to keep the humidity and moisture in your home regulated.
3. Acclimate Your New Floors to Your Space
After you have checked out your space and made sure the climate is perfect for your newly chosen hardwood floor, then you need to acclimate the flooring to your space. The wood should be spread out and sit on the subfloor in the space for roughly 4 days. This will give the wood time to expand if it has to or shrink. After four days, the wood will know how it should act in your environment and be ready to install.
Also, make certain that your home is ready for installation of your new hardwood floor. Is there water standing in your basement or crawl space? This is a sign of poor ventilation, and will insure that you will have problems after your wood flooring installation. Concrete should be dry, and crawl spaces should be covered in plastic, with all joints taped. We want this project to be devoid of all types of issues. One of the quickest ways to have issues is to ignore existing moisture. Once the work is done it will be too late to work on any installation issues.
4. Follow The Manufacturers Instructions of Wood Flooring Installation
Installing hardwood flooring has not changed much in the last 50 years, so we all have a tendency to not read the installation instructions that the manufacturer will place in each box of hardwood. Maybe we feel like our hardwood flooring installation could not possibly go wrong? After all, you helped your cousin with installing hardwood floors at his house and everything went great. Right.
Reading the instructions will help us to discover aspects of hardwood floor installation that we were not aware of. Maybe most are not applicable, but some may be. Wanna guess who is responsible if you get a poor installation? Yes, You. The installer. And remember that you are responsible for inspecting all of the boards. If any bad hardwood planks make their way into your installed hardwood floor it will be difficult to remove and replace those boards.
5. Maintenance and Cleaning Tips
Follow these tips to keep your floors clean and good as new:
- Sweep your hardwood floor regularly. This will help keep your floor clean and will help keep moisture off your flooring.
– Vacuum your floor as often as you would carpet. The vacuum will pick up any debris or water you may have missed when sweeping.
– Use a lightly dampened cloth to clean your hardwood floor. Remember, hardwood reacts to water in bad ways. So to avoid buckling or cupping boards, use light cleaners and avoid using excessive amounts of water on your installed flooring.
– Consider purchasing a floor care kit that the manufacturer or retailer suggested. You can’t always count on home remedies to keep your floor clean and in perfect shape. In this case, the person you bought the floor from knows best.
– Different finishes call for different cleaners. Know what kind of cleaner your hardwood floor need by asking or looking it up.
For more care information, check out this hardwood floor PDF.
Where to Get the Best Hardwood Floors
We have a great selection of hardwood and rigid vinyl products for a better price than any other retailer. Our prefinished hardwood flooring is the perfect fit for anyone looking for a floor that won’t take too much work to install. Consider buying our engineered hardwood products if you want to go that route. Reach out to us with any questions and to start planning your remodel. We look forward to working with you on your next remodel!
