How to Lay Engineered Wood Floors

By: Mark Feirer, This Old House magazine

Shopping List

Supplies You Will Need

1. ENGINEERED WOOD FLOORS

2. MASKING TAPE
for holding together glued-down boards until the adhesive sets

3. PATCHING COMPOUND
used to fill low spots in subfloor

4. 15-POUND BUILDER'S FELT
for use as an underlayment

5. RING-SHANK NAILS OR PHILLIPS-HEAD SCREWS
for securing subfloor, if necessary

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Tools List
Tools You Will Need
- Straightedge
- Handsaw
  for trimming door casing
- Pneumatic brad nailer
  for fastening the first courses of flooring
- Miter saw
  for cutting flooring strips to length(alternative: backsaw with a miter box
- Jigsaw
  for trimming pieaces to fit around vents and other obstacles (alternative: coping saw)
- Pnuematic staple gun
  for securing flooring to subfloor (alternative: hammer stapler)
- Notched trowel
  for spreading adhesive for glue-down installations
- Plaster trowel
  for spreading filler to level subfloor
- Combination square
- Utility knife
- Mallet
- Pull bar
- Plastic tapping block
- Hammer
- Hammer tacker
- Tape measure
- Drill
- Air compresor
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Photo: Kindra Clineff

Introduction
Overview
Steps:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9

4. Set the starter course

Start laying the floor in a corner, along the longest exterior wall, which is more likely than a partition wall to be straight and square.

Place 1/2-inch-thick spacers against the wall and adjacent wall. This will create expansion gaps that prevent buckling. Butt the grooved-edge of a long strip of flooring against the spacers.

With a mallet, snug together the ends of more long strips. At the end of the course, fit a strip (no shorter than 10 inches) 1/2 inch from wall.

When the first course is set, place a straightedge against the tongues. Slide the flooring in or out until the tongues line up with the straightedge.

Using a brad nailer loaded with 1 1/2-inch brads, facenail each board every 8 inches and within 1 inch of the wall. Adjust the nailer to set the brads slightly below the floor surface. Check tongue alignment as you go.