Are you adding new hardwood flooring to your home? As you get ready for hardwood floor installation, it’s important to remember that floor preparation is extremely important; if the preparation isn’t done well, the job will suffer. We’ve seen a lot of customers choose not to spend the extra money to have their floors properly leveled and then complain their new hardwood flooring is uneven once it’s installed!
As the age-old saying goes, “your final floor will only be as good as your subfloor.” You can have the highest quality wood and best installer, but if the floor isn’t prepared the right way, then there is no point in installing the floor. Although no floors are perfectly level, with our experience we can make a concrete slab or wood sub-floor very level. This makes floor installation much smoother as well because the installer doesn’t need to fight with each board as they put the hardwood flooring together.
About Proper Floor Installation Preparation
What can you expect proper floor installation preparation to look like? To sum it up, the subfloor needs to be clean, dry and flat.
- Clean. The subfloor needs to be swept and free from any debris that could affect the evenness of the floors you’re having installed.
- Dry. The house’s atmospheric conditions should be the way they will be or are when the family is living in the home. The hardwood flooring planks should also be in the space long enough to acclimate to the surrounding temperature and humidity. Before beginning work, the installer will check the subfloor for moisture and ensure a moisture-vapor barrier or retarder is properly installed to prevent too much moisture from rising up to the hardwood flooring.
- Flat. If necessary, the installer may grind, sand, repair or patch the subfloor to make sure it’s level, or flat.
Are you ready to begin the floor installation process? It’s worth the extra cost to do it correctly! Find out more by visiting our showroom, and remember you can always contact us with any questions or for a free in-home estimate.