I want to install wood floors in my home and I was wondering what route you other woodworkers have taken. I’ve probably built 30 furnitire pieces in the past but have no experience fabricating or installing wood floors but the process dosen’t seem to be complicated. My question is should I mill the wood my self or buy it already cut, (if already cut, please give a suggestion of suppliers with good prices,)and if I buy the wood already milled, should I look for flooring pre-finished or finish it myself?
Thanks in advance for your response!
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Replies
Buy it ready planed and cut.
Unless you have free wood available the additional effort far, far outweighs the cost of having someone with a decent machine do it for you.
I have used both pre-finished and DIY finished. Pre-finished is way better for the same reasons - better gear gives a more consistent result.
DIY is best if the floor may need sanding or the subfloor is uneven though as you don't end up with unfinished gaps.
I have now owned 2 homes where I have installed hardwood floors throughout the entire home when purchased and both were not pre finished.
Pre finished is nice because the finish is extremely hard and durable and very consistent. The reasons I didn’t use it, and wouldn’t recommend it;
1. Limited selection of colors and widths.
2. Inability to match color in future renovations/ or when matching trim/ doors/ casings/ banisters/ railings
3. Expensive or non existent options for stairs (risers and treads)
My tips for installing:
Bigger is better. And more important it’s FASTER! My first house was standard 2 3/4”. My current is 3 1/4” and wow. What a difference. That extra 1/2” adds up fast over 2500sf.
Don’t stress about “good” pieces or different grains. The job is too big to get caught up with that and will never get done. Hardwood flooring is not fine woodworking. Sure you could use some tools and tricks you’ve undoubtedly picked up, but ultimately it’s construction and it needs to be fast. You’ll loose motivation and get bogged down easily if you’re not moving along.
Install the flush mount heating registers.
Have a miter saw on a rolling cart, or at least a small enough one to bring close to the room your working.
Have plenty of splines. You might run into a place where you didn’t realize you’d need em.
Don’t even think about finishing yourself. Installing is fine, but leave the sanding, staining and finishing to the pros.
Buy your floors from a hardwood flooring supply house. A local, single owned store. Not a big chain. You’ll get more and better options, better tools and better advice.
I would do my own root canal before I would mill my own flooring.
I don't care for pre finished flooring. It's impossible to get every piece the exact same thickness, and they get around this by having chamfers on the edges of boards. Some have tiny chamfers, some are quite big. But all of those grooves accumulate grime.
Lay your own unfinished floor, and sand and finish it yourself. Prices vary wildly based on location and type of wood. Check around.
Nowadays there is really no reason to buy unfinished solid wood for flooring.
I would disagree with the poster above in that sanding and finishing adds a HUGE amount of work for little return. Unless you are a pro, by the time you rent the tools, do the work, fill the house with dust, and possible plow a divot somewhere, engineered flooring is the only way to go.
I've never had an issue with unevenness. There are brands that have enough wood to allow for refinishing.
I can't imagine starting with rough lumber and milling it yourself will bring any return other than saying "I did it all".
Hire it out!!
I just did about 1500 sq ft in cherry. I got it for a little over 3 bucks a sq ft from flooring.org. I had some leftover, so I planed it and put it in my storage rack. Doing it from rough lumber would take forever. I bought unfinished and I think I'm happier with the finish than prefinished. I'm a newbie at woodworking. Building furniture is much harder than installing a floor. I'll add a pic tomorrow while I'm at my computer and and reduce the size of the pic file.
I am laying hardwood floors in a room of my house. I bought unfinished walnut from Hurst Hardwoods. Even with the pricey shipping it was better quality lumber for a lower price than I could find locally.
I think "I did it all" is the reward. And who knows, word may get around about your work. A bit of advice; consider the footing for your pets. Sliding dogs may be cute but not all the time.
Mikaol
In our current house we're doing hardwood floors a room at a time. I did the first one myself. Then we waited a few years, saved up money and paid a professional to put the next one in. All in all, it wasn't that much more expensive and it went a lot faster. I did get a lot of satisfaction out of doing it, but not so much I'd want to repeat the process. I also realized it wasn't nearly as satisfying as working in the shop.
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