Non-floating engineered wood flooring is either nailed down into a wooden subfloor or glued-down such as when installed over a concrete slab. Non-floating flooring is generally installed with the following steps:
- Acclimation:
Place open boxes of the engineered wood flooring in the room where it will be installed for at least 3-4 days so that it may acclimate to the temperature and humidity of the room. If the installation is occurring in a room with new drywall or plaster, the higher humidity of these rooms will require at least 7 days of acclimation. Do not store engineered wood flooring in basements or garages. - Remove baseboard trim;
- Clean, level and prepare subfloor;
- Trim door molding and casing so flooring slides under molding and casing;
- Install felt underlayment (nailed installation);
- Trowel floor adhesive in sections (glue-down installation);
- Install starter strip at exterior wall using spacer blocks (face nail or glue-down as appropriate);
- Install strip of flooring and randomly stagger end joints;
- Toenail subsequent tongue and groove strips using a special power nailing tool or glue-down flooring as appropriate;
- Snug the tongue and groove strips snug together using a wood tapping block and hammer;
- Trim and fit as necessary around floor obstructions;
- Install baseboard trim;
- Final clean floor.
