Installing Hardwood
Choosing the right hardwood or laminate flooring can sometimes be a daunting task! Fortunately, you have come to the right place to get it done.
Speak with your sales associate at The Carpet Warehouse and decide on the right type of wood or laminate (Red or White Oak Flooring, Cherry Flooring, Maple Flooring, American Cherry Flooring, Brazilian Cherry Flooring, Walnut Flooring, Laminate Flooring, etc.), ask about the different finishes available, and choose a stain color. Our expert staff can help you navigate every step of the way!
Once you know what will be installed, we schedule a day for the installation to take place. There are some things you will need to know to get ready for the big day: Installation of your new hardwood or laminate floor.
Hardwood and Laminate Flooring must acclimate 12-48 hours before installation in the area where it is to be installed. In the Spring and Fall when tempatures outside are very close to tempatures inside, the Hardwood Flooring Materials can acclimate in our warehouse and we can bring the Flooring Materials to your home and install the same day. In the Summer and Winter when it is very hot or very cold in our flooring warehouse we will bring the flooring materials to your home at least 12-48 hours prior to installation so that the Flooring Materials have a chance to acclimate properly. If not acclimated properly, after installation, with the changes in season your floor can separate or buckle.
On the scheduled day of dropping off the Hardwood or Laminate Flooring materials (depending on the season this might not be a necessary step) our Flooring Installers will call one hour prior to dropping off the Flooring Materials, arrive at your house, and put all of the Flooring Materials where you specify and let you know when they will be back for the installation.
On the Scheduled day of installation our installers will arrive at your house. Our installers will need to move the furniture from the rooms that are to have hardwood or laminate flooring, so we ask that you go through bookcases, tables, dressers, desks, and other furniture and make sure that books, magazines, and small breakable items are put away. Items should be moved off of the floor, and all furniture should be moveable. This is also a good time to detach any furniture that may be attached to the wall and disconnect all electronics. This is to make it easier for our hardwood floor installers to move the furniture around.
Our hardwood or laminate installers will then move the furniture and tear out the old flooring or carpet (if necessary), to make room for your new hardwood or laminate floor. Special care will be taken to prepare the sub-floor for your new hardwood or laminate (if necessary).
The installers will lay out an underlayment; exactly what this is depends on what type of floor is being installed and what you purchased. If you purchased a hardwood floor it will either be a dense hardwood flooring acoustical underlayment or red rosin paper. If you purchased a Laminate floor it will be Laminate Flooring pad.
This is when the true music of hardwood flooring installs begins to take place! Various saws will be set up to cut the hardwood or laminate flooring to fit. Please keep a safe distance, and ESPECIALLY keep pets and small children away from the hardwood or laminate flooring cutting area! If the floor being installed is a "floating" floor, then none of the pieces will actually be affixed to the sub-floor. However, most hardwoods are going to be nailed to the sub-floor using a special nail gun.
After the hardwood or laminate floor is laid out or “racked†(laid out to make sure that it fits properly; laminate flooring does not have this step) it will be installed. After the flooring installation process the installer will install a small piece of molding around the baseboard of all the rooms, to cover the small spaces around the edges of the floor (if you are doing construction on your house you can wait to have the baseboards installed until after the flooring is installed and eliminate this step). These gaps are necessary, because these types of floors expand and contract with the change of the seasons. The molding (called quarter round or shoe molding) will give your new hardwood or laminate floor a finished appearance; as it should - the floor itself is done!
Furniture is replaced, and your new hardwood or laminate floor is finished. Hardwood or Laminate Flooring is one of the easiest, quickest, and most beautiful way to make the most difference in the look of your home!
See how easy it is? Call today (410-318-8888) or visit our showroom!
