Installing a new floor can appear to be a simple project when you are just getting started on it. However, the project can often become difficult after you have completed half of the work. For example, you may discover that your subfloor are not level.
Or you may find that all of the plank that were delivered to you for the installation job are cupping. Additionally, if you have been installing the hardwood flooring with a hammer and a set of nails, your knees may be painful after you have spent several hour installing the wood floorboards. Good tools will not make you an expert in installing floors right away.
However, good tools will help you to avoid making mistake in the installation process that may be difficult to hide. If you have the proper tools for installing hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, or engineered flooring, you can ensure that your weekend project end up looking professional. On the other hand, if you use the wrong tools, you may find yourself having to cover your installation mistakes with a rug.
In the following article, we will go over the tools that will be most importance for installing hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, or engineered flooring. These are the tools that the experts use in flooring installations. They will help to solve the problems that you may experience while installing your floor.
Each tool will have a specific job to do within the installation process. However, knowing the job of each tool will ultimately save you time and money during installation. The first tool that you should buy for installing hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, or engineered flooring is a flooring nailer or a flooring stapler.
Essential Tools For Professional Flooring Installation
1. Flooring Nailer or Flooring Stapler
You can purchase a pneumatic flooring nailer or a manual flooring nailer can be purchased. The device will help to drive the fasteners into the tongue of the plank at the proper angle and depth to allow the floorboards to remain evenly and clean. Using a hammer and a nail set for a large area is not recommended.
A pneumatic flooring nailer will help you to complete your project more quick and with less fatigue. However, a manual flooring nailer is a helpful tool for smaller areas that do not require the use of air compressor to operate. When buying a flooring nailer, make sure that the tool is of the proper gauge and length for the hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, or engineered flooring that you will be installing.
Using the wrong gauge or length will result in the floorboards splitting or becoming loose on the subfloor. The next tool that you will need is a tape measure. A tape measure with a wide blade will help you to maintain the rigidity of the tape measure when it is extended to measure distances of ten or twelve foot.
2. Tape Measure
You will use the tape measure to find the diagonal squareness of the room. Flooring professionals will use the tape to ensure that all corners is square before they begin laying the flooring. If the starting line of the floor is even, the entire project may end up being thrown off.
Using a tape measure will prevent the need to later cut floorboards at odd angles. A second, inexpensive tape measure can be carried in your pocket in case you need to measure something quickly. A circular saw will help to cut the hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, or engineered flooring to the desired length.
3. Circular Saw, Miter Saw, or Jigsaw
However, a miter saw or a chop saw will make the cutting process more quicker. For detail work, use a jigsaw or a multi-tool with a wood blade. A jigsaw and a multi-tool will allow you to cut the floorboards around door frames, pipes, and floor registers without damaging the installed floorboard.
A jigsaw or a multi-tool will allow you to make the cuts that you need in the floor without losing your momentum in cutting the flooring sheets. A sharp blade on the multi-tool will make cutting the planks easier and create less dust in the work area. Another tool that will be helpful for installing hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, or engineered flooring is a flooring pull bar.
4. Flooring Pull Bar
After installing three or four rows of planks, you will need to use the pull bar to even out the planks by pulling them tight against the planks that is already installed and nailed to the subfloor. Using a hammer to tap the planks on the edge of the installed plank will damage the tongue of the plank. The pull bar will allow you to even out the planks by leveraging them into place.
A flooring pull bar may seem like a simple tool made of stamped steel. However, it will keep the planks even with no gaps between planks. If there are gap between the planks, both the floor will begin to accumulate dirt in those gaps and may feel bouncy under your feet.
Additionally, gaps may result in creaking sounds in the installed floor for many years. Tapping blocks and wedges will work together to even out the planks. Use a tapping block between the plank and the mallet that you will use to even out the plank.
5. Tapping Blocks and Wedges
Use plastic tapping blocks instead of the more expensive, dense rubber or composite tapping blocks. The more inexpensive plastic tapping blocks will crack after installing a few row of flooring. Use dense rubber or composite tapping blocks to even out the planks with a mallet without damaging the plank.
The tapping block will work with plastic shims or plastic wedges. Use these plastic wedges to hold the first rows of flooring against the wall in an even and straight fashion while the fasteners even out the planks. Without these plastic wedges, the floor may not be a rectangle when it is completed.
A moisture meter is a tool that you may not think you need when installing hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, or engineered flooring. However, it is a necessary tool if you are installing your floor on a damp subfloor. If you install flooring on top of a damp slab of subfloor, the hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, and engineered flooring may buckle up to six month later.
6. Moisture Meter
Wood products and vinyl products will react negatively to moisture. Using a moisture meter will allow you to test the moisture of the subfloor and the flooring before you begin installation. You can take several moisture readings in your floor in ten minutes.
These moisture readings will save you the time and effort of installing the flooring if you find that you are installing it on a damp subfloor. Another tool that you will need to buy is a laminate cutter and a pull bar. These two tools will help you to even out the planks.
7. Laminate Cutter
Use the laminate cutter to score and snap the planks of hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, and engineered flooring. Using a saw to cut the planks will create a cloud of sawdust. If you are installing your floor in a home that has live occupants, especially young children or people with breathing issues, cutting the floor with a saw will fill the air with dust.
The laminate cutter will produce cleaner edges and fewer sawdust clouds. You should not overlook the importance of purchasing knee pads. Your knees will hurt after installing a floor.
8. Knee Pads
Use knee pads that has thick gel inserts. The cheaper, softer foam knee pads will flatten out after a few rows of installed flooring. Additionally, the soft knee pads will leave marks on your knees.
Invest in a pair of quality knee pads so that your body is protected and you can install your floor quickly. The last tool that you should invest in is a deadblow mallet. Use a deadblow mallet when even out the floor with a tapping block.
9. Deadblow Mallet
Use the deadblow mallet to tap the plank that is evened with the tapping block. You may use the deadblow mallet with a pull bar to move a plank into place. The deadblow mallet will have a shot filled with the head that will deliver even force to the plank without it bouncing off the floor.
The strike of the deadblow mallet will be soft yet firm. This firm yet soft mallet will be the same strike needed when installing engineered flooring. Using the tool incorrectly by hitting the engineered flooring may crush the core of the flooring.
However, if you use a deadblow mallet with too soft of a strike, the plank will not even out. Protect your eyes and lungs by purchasing a pair of safety glasses and a dust mask. Cutting engineered flooring will produce sawdust.
10. Safety Glasses and Dust Mask
The sawdust will get into everything in the work area. Use safety glasses and a dust mask to protect your eyes and respiratory system. The discomfort of wearing safety glasses and a mask is much less than the regret of having sawdust in your eye or respiratory system.
Using these tools will allow you to install the hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, or engineered floor properly. While these tools will make the process easier, you must prepare the subfloor, acclimate the flooring, and install it with care. No tool will make you an expert in installing hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, or engineered flooring.
However, having the proper tools will save you from most of the frustrations that will otherwise cause you to abandon the project and hire someone else to perform the work. The next time you see a box of hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, or engineered flooring in your livig room, and you are thinking about installing it but are concerned that it may be too difficult, remember that every professional floor installer has once been in your shoes. What sets them apart is their set of tools and their knowledge of how each tool helps to solve a specific problem in the installation process.
If you take the time to gather the proper tools for installing hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, and engineered flooring, and if you use those tools in the proper order to complete each task, your newly installed floor will be installed by a professional installer. Use the tools that are mentioned in this article and you will be a professional installer of hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, and engineered flooring.
