As much as you can get excited when refurbishing your home or workplace, in the beginning of the process, you often feel as if you can do much of the work by yourself and even save some money (not time, though) throughout the phases.
Relying on themselves is how people often feel more confident or safe when undertaking projects that involve their living space. Painting the walls, carpeting, or floor installation are some of the phases in which people are eager to engage by themselves.
But of all of the above stated, floor installation requires the most experience and skills.
Tempting to DIY, but…
With so many materials online, in TV shows or videos, or even a neighbor who often shows his DIY skills, it may seem that installation is an easily doable task. However, the installation itself is not the whole process. After you pick the wood floor you desire, you need to check for the installation options and methods for that floor.
Depending on the subfloor, you should decide whether to go for a nail-down method, tongue and groove, or glueing down to the subfloor. Make sure the room (the subfloor) is absolutely flat to install hardwood floor on. Also, check that there are no moisture issues that could damage your new floor later on.
Besides the cost of the floor, unexpected expenses such as tool rentals, cleaning materials, or additional elements in the process often occur when DIY.
Proceed Carefully
Be prepared to do a lot of measuring, cutting, adding, and subtracting. Sounds like basic math, and sometimes it is – if you are installing in a simple square room. Anything with angles that are other than right, stairs, steps, fireplaces, or built-in closets does require an extra calculation, skills, and knowledge about how much space to leave for expansion gaps and other factors. Don’t forget patience! If you make several mistakes while measuring and cutting, you may end up short on the material and have to buy more of it.
You can go for pre-finished wood floors that will spare you from finishing or sealing the floor after you install it. This can add to the time factor a bit since installing by a professional will be done much faster than by yourself.
Skills and experience come first (for a top result)
In general, architects and designers would recommend contacting and hiring a skilled professional that will save you time and worries while providing you with beautiful and perfectly aligned wood floors.
