Hardwood Floors August/September 2025

FROM THE START How to begin the set-up process varies depending on the location, the size of the job, and the type of work being done. Preparing for a smaller project may take minutes, while a larger project could take a few hours. Jobsite setups range from basic to extravagant. “If it’s a small installation and there are no patterned floors, no custom milling needed, no mouldings or reducers, then it might be as simple as a table saw, a miter saw, a jigsaw, and maybe that’s all we really need for the entire project,” says Jason Elquest of Blackhawk Floors in Scottsdale, Arizona. “When you start getting into patterned floors or a project you’re going to be set up on for weeks, that is a different story.” One way to cover all of your bases before the project even begins is to use the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA)’s Jobsite Checklist. The comprehensive document can be used when conducting an estimate at a customer’s home. While it is detailed enough to cover substrate evaluation and moisture readings, sections on exterior and interior evaluation can help you think through the needs you will have on site. Once the sales process is complete, Mark Whatley of Amber Flooring in the Bay Area of California, walks a jobsite to see everything that is in the contract, to be sure they’re on the same page, and to address any concerns. “We want to look at the level assessment, take measurements, see that the

“Put the offset pieces in the garbage or away from the saws, don’t just drop them in front of you. It’ll get out of hand really fast, and when you’re starting to step over piles of debris or cut off chunks, it becomes a hazard. If you’re more organized, you tend to become more efficient in your work, and that goes for all aspects of life.”

— Mark Whatley, Amber Flooring

HVAC is on and there is proper climate for the house, check moisture content, understand the direction of the flooring, header boards, specialty items, transitions at doorways, or expansion joints,” he says are just a few of the things he is checking out.

Download the NWFA Jobsite Checklist or order custom copies by scanning the QR code or visiting NWFA.ORG BE PREPARED WITH THE JOBSITE CHECKLIST

“When stocking the job, we do not put material where we are starting our lines or where lines are going to be running through to make sure our floors are square, because nobody wants to move material more than once,” advises Whatley. “Stage your areas and think about where you are snapping the lines versus where you are going to stock all of the material, because if your material is right in the middle of where you are snapping your lines, you’re wasting crucial time just to get that first line snapped.”

SCAN HERE

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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