hardwood floor refinishing yardley pa

In a way, installing a hardwood floor is like piecing together a puzzle. At first you have a bunch of random pieces, but once joined together, they reveal a work of art. Today I will go over the process and how it’s done while touching on important details the guys look for to ensure the installation is done professionally. The absolute first thing the installers look at is the quality of the subfloor. If installing hardwood flooring over a plywood subfloor, the guys confirm that the subfloor is level and dry. Nailing a solid hardwood floor over a faulty subfloor will only create problems with the new floor. So, a moisture-meter test is done and they look for any peaks and valleys in the plywood that could cause unevenness with the hardwood floor. Once that is done the guys will “set a line”. This line is the center line that every house is built around. This line is the guide the installers will use to align the hardwood floor with the other lines in the house (walls, trim, etc.) so everything looks symmetrical. At that point the installers will then open up the cartons of hardwood flooring and begin to lay out the boards. This is where they will organize the various lengths to ensure variation. Last thing anyone wants to see is a room or area of the house with a bunch of short boards grouped together. Once the boards are laid out and the lengths are varied, it is then time to nail them down! A pneumatic nail gun is used to secure the floor to the subfloor, spacing the nails 6″ apart. It’s important that this distance of 6″ between the nails is followed to avoid incurring problems with the floor. A gap of about 1/4″ is left between the floor and the wall or baseboard. This gives the hardwood floor enough room to expand as it will during the warmer seasons. Defective boards are discarded. Many times the installers will find ugly boards as well as boards that contain imperfections in the milling. This is why a 6% waste factor is used when placing the order. Once the floor has been installed they guys will then go around and look for any imperfections to address. Many times they will find boards that have split or cracked in certain places. This can happen when the nail is being shot through the tongue and groove. Those boards are replaced. They will then wipe down the floor with paint thinner or other cleaners so to remove and marks or excess adhesive. Many times they will fill any sizable gaps with putty to keep the floor looking tight. That’s pretty much the gist of it. Sounds pretty easy, right? Actually, it’s a tough job. Not only is it hard on the back and knees but it also works the brain as you constantly need to be paying attention to how things are transpiring so to avoid having to do repairs or, god-forbid, take up and replace a large section of boards you just installed. So let’s give my guys some credit, they work hard and smart and always get the job done right the 1st time! Try us out next time you or your clients have a hardwood floor to be installed.