How to Install Douglas Fir Flooring

Douglas fir flooring is a light-colored wooden floor product that is installed in strips. It is considered softwood and is installed in much the same way as any other solid wood floor, with one exception: It is finished differently. The do-it-yourselfer with little or no experience can install a Douglas fir floor in one to two days, depending on the size and scope of the project.

Felt paper
Staple nailer
Chalk line
Measuring tape
3/4-inch Douglas Fir
Wood floor nailer
Finish nailer

Instructions

- 1
  Set nails in the subflooring with a hammer. Attach loose plywood subflooring with 3-inch wood screws to prevent it from moving or shifting after the Douglas fir has been installed.
- 2
  Sweep the plywood with a broom, and vacuum all remaining debris from the floor with a shop vac. Remove stuck-on drywall compound or other materials with a putty knife.
- 3
  Staple felt paper to the plywood. Roll out the felt paper beginning at one wall. Staple the felt at 12 inch intervals along the paper. Trim off the excess paper at the wall with a razor knife. Overlap the paper by 6 inches at the seams.
- 4
  Snap a chalk line 3/4 inch off of one wall. Determine the direction of the floor joists by observing the nails in the plywood. Snap the line across the floor joist direction rather than along with.
- 5
  
  Wood flooring strips have tongue and grove connections at the ends and sides.
  
  Align the first row of flooring with the chalk line. Assemble the fir by sliding the tongue and groves together at each end, making sure that the tongue on the side of the wood strip faces away from the wall. Attach the row of flooring with a finish nailer, driving the nails through the surface of the wood.
- 6
  Install the next row by staggering the end joints so that no joint aligns. Slide the groove onto the tongue of the previous strip, and tap it in place with the rubber mallet that comes with the flooring nailer. Place the flooring nailer onto the flooring. The nailer has a slot on the bottom of the nailer that slides onto the grove of the flooring. When the nailer is slid in place, hit the top of the nailer with a hammer to force a nail into the front side of the flooring.
- 7
  
  A wood flooring nailer and hammer make Douglas fir installation speedy.
  
  Install the remaining Douglas fir, staggering the wood strips as you proceed along the floor. At the opposite wall, where the wood flooring ends, rip the last flooring strip if it is larger than the remaining opening, making sure you cut off the tongue rather than the groove. Nail the final flooring strips through the face rather than through the front since there will be no room for the floor nailer.

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