Hardwood Floors December 2017/January 2018

AT THE SITE

By Brett Miller

INSTALLING W I D E PLANK FLOORS Nearly 80 percent of homeowners agree that wood ooring in a home helps

discovered and restored on a daily basis. Plank ooring is de ned as solid or engineered boards that are 3” and wider. NWFA Guidelines for installation of plank wood oors were last updated in 2012 and are currently in the process of being completely overhauled. is overhaul includes the long-overdue updates to the plank ooring installation methods. is article will focus on some of the standard installation methods to follow when installing plank ooring. e second part of this article will get deeper into many of the common methods used to install plank ooring that may not be addressed in the current NWFA Guidelines. ere are many nuances when installing wide plank ooring that must be taken into account to ensure a successful installation. As with any installation, an essential rst step is to conduct a detailed pre-installation site survey. Guidelines that pertain to all wood ooring installations can be found in the NWFA Installation Checklist available at nwfa.org. Solid wide plank wood ooring installation methods can vary from one manufacturer to the next, but how it reacts to a gain or loss in moisture is universal. e extent to which a solid plank wood oor changes dimension (shrinks or swells) when it loses or gains moisture is directly proportional to its width. Engineered wood ooring installation methods also vary from one manufacturer to the next. It is always important to follow the manufacturer’s installation instructions with any product

increase the value of their home over any other oor covering. One of the current trends that homeowners are clamoring for is the look of wide plank wood. Wide plank wood ooring accounts for the majority of all new wood oors being installed today. According to a 2016 US FLOOReport, solid plank ooring accounted for 55 percent of the total ooring sold. Many would argue that this number should be even higher when you include engineered ooring sales, which account for 57 percent of total square-feet sales in 2017, the majority of which are wide plank products.

Photo courtesy of Smith’s Hardwood Restoration

in order to ensure their product is being put to use as it was intended. e manufacturer normally indicates which installation methods are appropriate for the ooring being installed, which may include which type of moisture tests are required, which type or brand of adhesives to use, which underlayments, which fasteners (length, gauge, and frequency), and any other requirements speci c to the product itself. ere are many required processes to take into account before installing a plank oor. If and when the manufacturer states, “follow NWFA Guidelines for installing solid plank wood oors,” proceed as the NWFA Guidelines suggest. In short, these are general guidelines:

Photo of historic floor in Vermont, taken by Brett Miller.

Today’s wood ooring manufacturers are staying in front of this timeless trend by continuing to o er wider widths and longer lengths. Standard widths being sold today have grown to 5”, and some producers are even moving up to 18” widths in boards that are up to 12’ long. Some of the oldest solid oors in many of the historic homes across the country contain board widths upward of 24”. ese historical treasures have been in place for hundreds of years and are being

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