DIY Floorboards
- 1). Put down a layer of flooring felt over the whole room, stapling it in place with a staple gun.
- 2). Snap a chalk snapline alongside longest wall in the room and sitting 1/2 inch out from it. This will create an expansion gap between the floor and the wall that will allow the floor to expand with climate changes.
- 3). Set the first row of flooring on the line, fitting the boards together at the ends and positioning them so the sides of the boards with the grooves along them are facing the wall. Nail them down by shooting pairs of nails roughly every 12 inches. Use a miter saw to cut the last board to fit.
- 4). Set the next course of flooring alongside the first one, fitting the boards by their tongue-and-groove sides. Nail them through the outside edge of the boards, below the top surface and just above the tongue, at about a 45 degree angle, putting a nail every 12 inches.
- 5). Repeat for each course, working across the floor course by course.
- 6). Length-cut the boards of the final course on a table saw so they will fit near the ending wall with a 1/2-inch space there. Shoot the nails for the final course through the face of the boards, straight down.
- 7). Install floor trim around the edges of the floor to cover the expansion gaps.
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