There are some basic hardwood floor installation supplies that you will need if you are planning to install a hardwood floor in your home. Before you can even think of installing your floor, you will need to be sure that your subfloor is ready for the hardwood to be placed over it. The same is true if you will be laying your flooring over concrete slab. Wooden subfloors need to be prepared in a different way than concrete slab, but they both require some work before you can begin your main task.
It is absolutely necessary that your subfloor is perfectly flat so that the hardwood will sit properly on it. Any dirt, small pieces of wood, or other things will cause your new floor to squeak, which is something that you surely will not want it to do. You will need to do different preparation work if you are installing your new flooring over old hardwood floors or concrete slab as well.
You will need a flooring edger to prepare your subfloor. This tool flattens high spots on floors. You may also need to nail down any loose floor boards, and replace any that are weak or badly cracked. You want your subfloor to be held together as tightly as possible before you lay down your hardwood flooring. A hardwood moisture meter will be required to test the moisture in your subfloor. If it is too wet, you will have to find out why it is this way and fix the problem before continuing with your project. It is also a good idea to test the humidity of your subfloor with a hygrometer to be sure that it is not too moist or dry for installing your hardwood floor. A floor may look dry, but excess moisture can cause problems in the future. The final step is to put a layer of Rosin paper over the subfloor.
To prepare an existing hardwood floor that will be covered, you will need many of the same tools and supplies that you use on a plywood subfloor. The goal is to get the boards nailed down tightly and completely smooth and flat.
Preparing concrete slab will take some materials and tools that you will not need for wooden subfloor preparation. You will need a concrete demo hammer, a tool that removes severe high spots on concrete, to make the surface flat. For mild high areas, a concrete grinder will work. Concrete also needs to be tested for moisture with a moisture meter. If there are small uneven spots on the concrete, flooring scrapers will help you scrape the uneven parts off. You will have to buff the floor with a floor buffer to remove drywall mud and paint on the concrete as well. Any low spots must be filled with leveling compounds, using trowels and paddle mixers. Then it must be sealed with flooring sealer.
Now, you are finally ready for your next step, and you will need other hardwood floor installation supplies, such as a 10” miter saw to cut the strips of wood to their proper size. If you are installing the new floor over an old one, you will need a jamb saw which is capable of cutting under door casings. If you do not use this saw, your door may not be aligned enough to close like it used to do. You may need to re-groove some of your wood if you are using tongue-in-groove hardwood flooring. For this job, you will need a router. Other basic tools that you will need are a chalk line, carpenter’s square, hammer, tape measure, broom, utility knife, knee pads, and pencils.
It is very difficult to hammer all of the nails in the floor down by hand, so it is highly recommended that you rent a pneumatic nailer that will get your nails into the hardwood flooring as tightly and easily as possible.
