Bootstrapping homeowners across the country are throwing on their tool belts and getting their hands dirty with DIY home repairs. But should they? There are tons of home improvement projects that are excellent for DIY. However, many homeowners underestimate how difficult jobs will be and end up overwhelmed with unfinished projects. Getting halfway through a …
Category: Installation
Five things you should do for every wood floor installation
You’ve heard it said: “follow the manufacturer’s instructions” when doing a wood floor installation. It is tempting to rely only on past experience when doing an installation. After all, you do this for a living, right? How different could this floor be from the last X number of floors you’ve installed? Installation is acceptance As …
Fix the Board, Not the Floor: A guide to wood floor touch ups
“I want this floor replaced!” As a flooring professional – whether you work out of a showroom or your own truck – you know that phrase is one of the worst things you can hear over the phone or in person. The truth is, there are a hundred things that can go wrong during a …
Stop Squeaky Wood Floors by Using the Right Fastener
If you’re involved in selling or installing hardwood floors, you have probably had to solve a “squeaky floor” problem for a customer. Nobody likes it when their brand new hardwood floors start squeaking. Prefinished flooring manufacture warranties do not cover noise issues because they are job site related, and it can be a difficult problem …
Wood Floor Moldings: Find the Perfect Match
Imagine this – you’ve just installed a gorgeous prefinished floor. Everything is looking great and your customer loves it. You start to install the moldings to finish the job, but the moldings you pull out of the box aren’t a perfect match to the flooring boards you are installing them next to. Now a $50 …
Wood Floor Moisture and Acclimation Guide
Moisture issues can affect hardwood flooring at every part of the installation process, from acclimating your wood floors to doing repairs after an installation. To guide you through the various moisture and acclimation issues, we’ve pulled together some helpful resources from our own experience and from industry experts. These resources will give you an overview …
When A Floor Doesn’t Stay Together
I love it when a floor goes together. Plank by plank, the steady beat of the mallet and boards snapping together and growing into a beautiful work of art. Nothing is worse than getting a complaint sometime after the job is finished that gaps are starting to appear between the boards. Today, we’re going to …
Rubber Mallets and Engineered Wood Flooring
I’ve recently handled a complaint regarding the uses of rubber mallets while installing engineered wood flooring. The dealer stated that it was industry standard to use a rubber mallet to install engineered wood flooring. Having been an installer for many years, I have used a rubber mallet on several engineered wood floors during installation over …
The Slab Truth
Even under the best conditions, there are few things more aggravating to a new homeowner than moisture problems in the home. Most consumers never really think about this until a problem has arisen. Your realtor would likely not be the one to point out issues with the poor grade of property or existing drainage issues. Problems such …
Gaps Happen
Gaps happen, but what exactly is normal movement of wood and what isn’t? It is common to see gaps show up in wood flooring during the winter time. As the temperature goes down and the need to warm our home increases, the relative humidity (RH) in our home lowers. With decreased RH, the moisture content …