If you’re thinking of installing hardwood or laminate flooring in your home, you should definitely take the time to prepare your subfloor. A correct preparation will ensure a beautiful and long-lasting floor. We’re going to show you how to prep concrete, making sure that you get to enjoy your wood floor for many years. Then watch the installation videos at lowes.com/videos.
Before you start prepping your subfloor, read the flooring manufacturer’s instructions carefully and be sure to follow any local building codes. You can download printable instructions for this video at lowes.com/videos. You’ll also find a complete list of tools and materials you’ll need to complete the project.
Now, if you’re not confident installing a hardwood or laminate floor, see a Lowe’s associate. Lowe’s installs many types of flooring.
Here’s what you’ll need to get started. A hammer and a pry bar for removing baseboards. A concrete grinder—you may want to rent one. A long level, a tape measure, cementitious leveling compound, a trowel, a bucket for mixing the leveling compound, a back saw to cut the door casings, a circular saw, a moisture test kit for concrete, vapor barrier, a pencil, chalk line and chalk, safety glasses, dust mask, work gloves and knee pads.
Typically, subfloors are either concrete or wood. Concrete subfloors will only support laminate, locking, 5/16” solid and engineered hardwood. These types of flooring can be installed directly over vinyl or linoleum without an additional subfloor if you’re using a floating or glued on application. However, you should not install solid hardwood in a basement.
Determine how much flooring and materials you’ll need by multiplying the length times the width of the room. This will give you the square footage of the area. Add about 10% to this number to account for any possible mistakes in boards. You can also use a square footage calculator at lowes.com.
Now it’s time to get to work. Remove any baseboards to create the appropriate expansion gap. Now, since we’re dealing with new construction, we don’t have baseboards to deal with.
Next, you’ll need to check the clearance in the doorways. If a floor plank and underlayment or adhesive won’t fit under the door casing, cut the casing with the back saw, about 1/16 of an inch above the flooring. If a floor plank and underlayment or adhesive won’t fit under the door, remove the door and cut it with a circular saw about 1/8 of an inch above the flooring.
Before you install, your concrete subfloor must meet four requirements. It should be clean, level, dry, and structurally sound. Now, if you’re using a glue down application, a clean floor should not be coated with wax, paint, oil, sealers, adhesives or any other debris. The surface can’t be slick, heavily troweled or burnished. Use a concrete grinder to eliminate any coating and slightly roughen the surface so the glue will stick. A floating floor can be installed over any clean concrete surface.
The floor must be leveled with a variance of no more than 3/16” every 10 feet. Use a tape measure and a long level to check your floor. Grind down any high spots. Then fill any low spots with cementitious leveling compound. Test the subfloor for excess moisture, too. You can use a concrete moisture test kit for that. Just follow the manufacturer’s instructions to make sure the moisture in your floor is within the manufacturer’s recommended limits. If not, ask a Lowe’s associate for help.
Now, when installing flooring over concrete that has an additional wood subfloor, check the moisture of both floors. And when you’re installing a floating floor, you must use a vapor barrier. Your concrete subfloor will also have to be sound enough to support the floor. If you’re unsure about the integrity of your floor, call a professional. Now, you should allow the flooring to acclimate to the room’s temperature and humidity for at least 72 hours. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations regarding ideal room conditions.
Use the sight lines of the room to determine which way the planks will lie. Here’s how to start the project to make sure your flooring lies square. Mark the center of each wall. Snap a line between the mark to form a cross in the center of the room. Measure from the center point to the starting wall, the flooring will lie lengthwise along this wall. So track the manufacturer’s expansion gap from the measurement, then measure this distance from the parallel center line to each end of the starting wall. Snap a line between the marks to form a guide line along the starting wall.
Once your guide line has been established, your concrete subfloor is ready for flooring. To see how to install flooring in your home, check out the how-to videos at lowes.com/videos.
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