DIY Tips for Installing Engineered Hardwood Flooring

Many people choose engineered wood flooring for its durability, lower cost, relative ease of installation, or as an environmentally-friendly alternative to solid wood flooring.

It can look the same as hardwood flooring, but instead of solid planks, it’s made up of layers of wood pressed together. This makes it an affordable yet elegant option for your home or business.

Thinking of installing it in your house? Here’s everything you need to know:

• Before you start…
• How to install a floating floor
• How to install a glue-down floor
• How to install a staple-down or nail-down floor
• Installation best practices
• DIY or hire an installer? Determining your best course of action.

There are four common installation methods for engineered wood flooring. But before we get into each one, let’s discuss some important pre-installation items to think about before starting your project.

Before you start the installation

After you’ve ripped up the old flooring with a pry bar and removed trim and baseboard, you’re ready to start laying down the new flooring.

…Or are you?

To help ensure the success of both the installation and long term performance of your new wood floor, here are some things that must happen before you begin.

Acclimation

Before you lay down the first board of new flooring—you have to wait.

All engineered wood flooring should sit for a while in the room it will live in, which allows it to acclimate to the atmosphere. Let it sit for a minimum of 3 days, unless the manufacturer says otherwise.

Like any other type of wood, even engineered wood will expand or contract to match the amount of moisture in the air of its surrounding environment. And you want this to happen before you install it.

Otherwise, you could end up with warping, cracking, or gaps between your floorboards.

Read the directions from your manufacturer—some will say to leave the wood in the box, others say to take it out.

To be sure it’s acclimated, use a moisture meter to take readings. Use the ¼ inch mode on the meter and set the species to the type of wood in the top or outer layer of the flooring planks. So if the top veneer is mahogany, set the meter to that species.

When the moisture level reading aligns with the EMC (equilibrium moisture content, or the point where wood neither gains or loses moisture), you know it’s acclimated and ready for installation.

Think about walkways

With some methods of installation, such as glue-down, you can’t walk on the floor for 24 hours after laying it down. You’ll have to leave a strip of the room without flooring so you can walk through it.

Then, after the newly-installed floor is ready, you can go back and finish the remaining strip of flooring.

So before you get started, determine the best places to position this temporary walkway strip if it will apply to your installation method.

Prepare the subfloor or underlayment

Whether your subfloor is plywood, concrete, or something else, you want to make sure it’s clean and free from any debris. Sweep up sawdust and bits of wood and paper, and chip off any dried globs of drywall mud. If carpet was there previously, remove the tack strips and any adhesive. Doing so will help prevent the new floor from squeaking and creaking down the road.

Also, if any joints between the subfloor (like where two pieces of plywood meet) cup just a bit, making a slightly high spot, sand it off until a level sits evenly on top.

If you are replacing the baseboards or want the floor to go under them, this is also the time to remove baseboards, quarter-rounds, and other trim. (Though you may want to do this before sweeping!)

Check the floorboards you’re about to install

Every now and then, after acclimation, you’ll discover a floorboard that is a little warped or bowed, or maybe slightly damaged on an end. If there are too many bad floorboards, you’ll want to return the whole box.

If there are only a few, see if you can cut off the bad part, and save the remaining piece to use during the installation. You’ll come across a spot that requires a smaller board!

Once the acclimation and preparation are complete, let’s get into what you really wanted to know: how to install the floor!

We’ll start with the easiest method.

1. How to install a floating floor

A floating floor is the easiest way to install a floor, and perfect for beginners. It requires minimal tools and skills.

Materials:

• Flooring
• Rubber mallet
• Tapping block (which can even be just a couple scraps of flooring nailed together)
• Spacers for holding the expansion gap
• Nails
• Hammer
• Matching wood putty
• Saw (like a miter saw) for cutting floorboards
• Measuring tape to measure expansion gap

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Lay down the first row. You want to be sure to leave an expansion gap between the first row and the wall, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Usually this is something like a ½ inch to ¾ inch. Then line them up and fit them together, tongue facing toward the center of the room. To secure them as a starting point, drive several nails into boards on the wall side. They can be filled with wood putty later to hide them.
2. Begin adding additional rows. Attach each new piece by gently fitting the tongue and groove in and tapping it with the mallet and block to slide it in snugly. As you reach the end of the walls, you will have to cut the boards so they can fit. Be sure to maintain the proper expansion gap between all walls and the flooring.
3. When you reach the last row, you may have to cut the floorboard lengthwise to get it to fit. Measure and cut, and then gently snap it in, leaving the required expansion gap.
4. Avoid heavy foot traffic or putting any furniture on top for 24 hours.
5. Install the baseboard, quarter round, and any other trim pieces, taking care to nail them to the wall, not the floor. These should hide any expansion gap.

2. How to install a glue-down floor

A glue-down floor, though potentially tedious and messy, is a common option for a concrete subfloor because it helps absorb sound and offers stability.¹

Materials:

• Flooring glue
• Gloves
• A trowel
• Flooring
• Spacers
• Mallet and block
• Saw for cutting flooring

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Set your expansion gap with spacers as required by the flooring manufacturer.
2. Apply a small amount of glue to the subfloor. It shouldn’t be a space bigger than two to three thicknesses of boards. Then scrape it with a trowel in a circular-type motion. The trowel’s teeth must touch the concrete to do this successfully.
3. Lay the first row of floorboards along the guideline you created with the spacers. Be sure the tongue side of the board faces toward the center of the room.
4. Fit the second layer of boards into the tongue and gently tap it down with the mallet and block. Continue across the room in that fashion, cutting the boards as needed and applying more glue as needed. Try to avoid sliding the floorboards on the glue too much as this can diminish the strength of the glue.
5. Periodically pick up a piece of flooring to check if the glue is sticking to the floor. If it’s not, then your glue has probably dried. Scrape the rest of that batch (or the dried glue) off the subfloor and reapply a new layer of glue.
6. If some floorboards are slightly bowed, use weights to keep them in place. Of course, if they are too bowed, you should not use them or cut off the bowed part.
7. As you near the end of the room, leave enough room to walk out of the area on the subfloor and let the floor dry for 24 hours. Then go back and apply enough glue to install the last few floorboards needed. If the last piece turns out to be less than an inch thick, apply the glue directly on the bottom of the wood and press it into place. Then let that last section of flooring dry another 24 hours before stepping on it or placing furniture on top.
8. Install any baseboards, quarter round, or other trim, being sure to nail to the wall, not the floor.

3 and 4. How to install a staple-down or nail-down floor

These installation methods are nearly identical, so we’ll cover them together. The only difference is in the tools used: staples and a staple gun, or nails and a nail gun.

Materials:

• A pneumatic flooring staple gun or nail gun
• Staples or nails for staple and nail guns
• Wood filler of matching color as the floor
• Flooring
• A plywood subfloor
• Drill and bits
• Hammer
• Air compressor and hose (if the stapler or nailer requires it)
• Gloves and eye protection

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Practice stapling or nailing on a sample piece. The staples or nails should be above the tongue of the board. It can’t interfere with the tongue and groove fit for additional boards.
2. For the first row, pre-drill holes through the flooring and into the subfloor. Then nail in the finishing holes one inch from the wall about every three to four inches. Use a nail punch to fill holes with wood filler.
3. In the following rows, staple or nail the boards in place at a 45-degree angle after fitting them into the tongue and groove of the previous boards.
4. Whether you’re stapling or nailing, the last two rows will have to be face nailed because it’s too tight to fit a staple or nail gun in the space. Face nailed is a fancy term for just nailing into the top of the board. If you wish, you can also countersink these nails so they are less visible. Countersinking simply involves cutting a conical hole in the nail hole so that the nail can sit flush with the floor.
5. Install the baseboard, quarter round, and other trim pieces, nailing them to the wall, not the floor.

No matter what kind of flooring installation method you use, there are some general rules of thumb to keep in mind during the process.

Best practices

Remember these tips as you progress through your flooring project:

1. Run boards parallel to the longest board in the room. It will make the room look bigger. So if you have a living room that’s 24 x 16, run the flooring down the 24-foot wall. It’s the same visual effect as stripes on a pair of pants. Running the stripes up and down the leg (the long side) makes a person appear taller instead of wider.
2. Stagger your floorboards. The ends should be at least 6-12 inches from the ends in the rows on either side of it. You don’t need to keep a particular pattern to the placement of the ends, either. Having random placement makes the flooring stronger.
3. Start on an outside wall, if one is available. Exterior walls are usually the straightest ones in a room, which will cause less headache down the road.
4. Before attaching the first row of flooring, use a tape measure to measure out how much space you’ll have left at the other wall. You can do this by dividing the length of the floor perpendicular to the way the floorboards are running (in our example above, this would be the 16-foot wall) by the width of one board. Make sure you’re measuring in inches for both! If you’ll only have a sliver of a board left, cut off some of the first floor boards to make them slimmer, giving that last space a more manageable-sized piece.
5. Mix planks from different boxes of flooring. Some batches will have a slightly different color, shade, or tint than others, which could result in a strange pattern on the floor. By mixing it up, you’ll keep an even look throughout the room.
6. When working around doors or walls, remember to leave the necessary expansion gap. The cuts don’t have to be perfect because they’ll be covered up by trim, but it’s important to keep that gap.

Should I DIY my engineered wood flooring?

Now that you know what’s involved for each installation method, it’ll be easier to determine if you indeed want to do it yourself or hire a flooring installer.

To help you finalize your decision, let’s look at the pros and cons of DIY vs. hiring a professional.

Pros

1. It can save you money. Doing something yourself means you only have to pay for the cost of materials, skipping the cost of labor that can make these projects so expensive.
2. You can schedule the installation whenever you want—you’re not limited by the availability of the installer, and you can work on it as quickly or as slowly as you’d like.
3. Add a skill to your resume. If you haven’t yet installed a wood floor on your own, this can be your chance to learn a very in-demand skill.

Cons

1. Even though your schedule is likely more flexible than that of a flooring installer with multiple clients, the project will probably take longer to complete if you do it yourself. So your house may be in upheaval for a while with project materials scattered about. Also, if you have unexpected complications in the installation, that will only add time to the project.
2. If you’re new at flooring installation, you may end up using more material than necessary. Knowing how much you’ll use of everything comes with experience, and it’s possible that some material could be wasted. So if material efficiency is a high priority for you, hiring a professional may be the way to go.
3. Quality concerns. If you’re following the instructions, in theory you should end up with a great-looking, successful flooring installation. But there’s always the chance for mistakes, miscalculations, or unforeseen complications. And that’s when training and experience can really make a difference.

Whatever you decide, always remember:

Whether you’re a first-timer or an experienced, consistent do-it-yourselfer, what can make all the difference is that ounce of prevention in the beginning: letting the flooring acclimate a few days until it reaches the appropriate moisture level for its environment. This will help ensure a beautiful floor that lasts many years, and will help prevent common problems like warping, gaps, or cracking.

If you’re looking for a reliable moisture meter to go along with that acclimation process, Bessemeter has you covered.

1. “Installing Engineered Hardwood on Concrete,” Villagio, February 16, 2024. (↑)