How to install hardwood floors, linoleum or tile.

Written by Bruce Contryman

Monday, 06 October 2008

by BruceContryman

The choices are many on remodeling, there are wood, tile, or linoleum flooring, and they come in many various styles, colors and designs. Each kind needs a different skill to place them but to get the floor ready is the same for any type of improvement. The type and tone you determine to use all depends on your inclination and wishes for your home.

Wood planks can come in thickness of 1/4?, 5/16?, 3/8?, 1/2?, 5/8" and 3/4" or (6 mm, 8 mm, 10 mm, 13 mm, 16 mm and 19 mm). They can be solid hardwood, or engineered wood. They can be tongue and grove or interlocking planks. They can be pre-finished wood floors or unfinished which means they must be sanded and finished after they are installed. The engineered wood will normally have a wear layer of 2 mm to 4 mm thick. They can be attached to the sub floor by nails, glue or floating, 1/4" thick planks cannot be floated.

You need to determine which method is recommended or required for the type of flooring you want to use. Is your sub-floor cement or wood? Cement sub-floors are typically on the ground level and need to be checked for moisture content, if they exceed the recommended moisture content then a moisture barrier needs to be installed over the cement. Check with the manufacturer for their recommendations.

You can install this flooring as a do it yourself project, learn all the recommendations, by talking with knowledgeable people. Decide which material you want to use and how are you going to fasten it.

If you glue the floor down, check to see if the manufacturer requires that you use their glue, they some times put a tracer element in their glue to verify that you have used their glue. They may require that a professional installer installs the flooring if there is a warranty claim.

Tile floors can be ceramic or vinyl. What is your application, is it in a high traffic area such as hall ways or entrance or high moisture area such as a bathroom?

Ceramic tile can either have a thin top layer or glaze that is very pretty but can easily be scratched in high traffic areas. Other types of tile will have the color clear through the tile and resist scratching very well. Ceramic tile can be installed over a cement or wood sub flooring. The sub flooring must be structurally stable. You may need to install a cement board recommended for wood sub floors and attached it to the sub floor per manufacturers recommendation.

Vinyl tiles can be the least expensive tile and easy to lay down. They can be placed over old vinyl flooring, over plywood on wood floors or on concrete. The sub flooring should be clean, dry and level, you need to remove all oil, wax and grease. Study all the rights and wrongs for the flooring material you have selected for the job.

Linoleum can be produced from environmental natural things such as linseed oil, wood or cork powder, resins and ground limestone. It can be made in many rich colors and patterns and comes in a sheet that is usually 2 meters wide (6' 7") A 2.5 mm thick sheet is suitable for home place use.

Linoleum can be placed over most sub floors but if placed over concrete, the moisture content must be below the limits set by the manufacturer. A pH level of 10 for the concrete can break down the adhesive and it may not bond if there is a sealer on the concrete. If two sheets of linoleum are butted against each other, they need to be sealed either with special seam sealer or a color coordinated linoleum rod that is heated with a special welding tool.

Linoleum may expand in width and shrink in length over time so this needs to be compensated for when it is installed.

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When you are ready to redo your old flooring see Bruce Contryman's excellent free report on How to install hardwood flooring. How to install hardwood flooring, and home improvements

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