How to Install a Tongue & Groove Engineered Hardwood Floating Floor

Installing an engineered hardwood floor adds instant beauty and warmth to a room. Featuring particleboard under a veneer of hardwood, engineered hardwood flooring planks resemble traditional hardwood planks but are cheaper and easier to install and maintain. Unlike hardwood floors, engineered hardwood planks are not nailed to the subfloor, but attached by gluing their tongue-and-groove connectors. Before the installation process, thoroughly clean the subfloor and fill any low spots with floor-leveling compound.

Underlayment
Dovetail saw
Utility knife
Duct tape
1/2-inch spacer blocks or wood shims
Wood flooring adhesive
Tapping block
Rubber mallet
Handsaw
Floor molding strips

Instructions

- 1
  Trim the lower ends of the door jambs in the room to make room for the flooring planks to slide through. Lay a scrap piece of engineered flooring plank on a piece of underlayment and place it on the floor, flush against a door jamb. Cut the jambs along the upper edge of the underlayment and plank using a dovetail saw. Repeat the process at the other jamb.
- 2
  Unroll the foam underlayment on the prepared subfloor. Lay as many rolls of underlayment as you need to form a single layer over the floor. Trim the edges of the roll to fit the room using a utility knife. Secure the seams between adjacent rolls using duct tape.
- 3
  Place a 1/2-inch spacer block or wood shim next to each wall to provide an expansion gap. Lay a flooring plank next to the spacer, with its grooved edge is facing the wall.
- 4
  Spread a thin bead of wood flooring adhesive to the end of this plank. Connect another plank to it, sliding its tongue end into the groove of the first plank. Hold a block against the side of the plank and tap it gently to ensure the planks are connected. Repeat this process of installing full-length planks for the first row.
- 5
  Measure and cut a plank to the required length so it fits the space at the end of the first row. Repeat the process to slide its tongue end to its grooved end of the previous plank.
- 6
  Spread a thin bead of adhesive over the tongue and groove connectors at the sides of the installed flooring planks to connect the second row to them. Start the second row with the cut plank left over from the previous row for a staggered look. Use the tapping block to ensure the boards fit snugly. Wipe excess glue from the wood planks with a damp cloth.
- 7
  Continue the process to install all but the last plank over the floor. Cut the last plank to the required width so it fits the floor space. Use a pry bar to connect this plank to the previous plank. Remover the spacers and leave the glue to dry thoroughly.
- 8
  Set floor molding tightly against the edge of the floor and fasten it to the baseboard using 4d finish nails.

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