What Method Is Recommended for Installation of a Teak Wood Floor Over Plywood?

Flooring Products

• Traditional, solid tongue-and-groove boards fit together like a puzzle. They are blind-nailed into solid board or plywood subflooring with nails that are hidden under the groove of the adjoining board. Engineered flooring offers you more choices in teak flooring. Like plywood, engineered teak flooring is made from thin layers of wood with a pre-finished layer of teak on top. The end result is a strong board that uses a minimal amount of expensive -- and sometimes scarce -- tropical hardwood.

Traditional Floor Boards

• If you have solid tongue-and-groove teak floor boards, they need to be blind-nailed into the plywood subfloor. The heavy, square nails are pounded into the board's tongue with a hand- or pneumatic-powered floor nailer. Most tropical flooring comes with a durable clear finish, eliminating the need for sanding and finishing.

Engineered Flooring

• Engineered teak flooring is thinner than solid flooring and is not nailed to the subfloor. Some products have interlocking edges that snap together. Others have thin tongues and grooves that are glued together. The joined boards form a solid floor that expands and contracts with the weather as a single unit on top of the subfloor. This is why this type of floor is often called a floating floor.

Tips

• All of the equipment you need to install either type of floor is available at tool rental centers. A pneumatic floor nailer makes easy and quick work of nailing solid flooring. You'll need a miter saw or simple chop saw to cut the boards to length. Engineered flooring has sharply cut ends and only needs to be cut to size at the end of a run. Pre-finished boards eliminate the need for sanding and finishing and make installation faster.