How to install hardwood flooring, tile or linoleum.

The choices are many on remodeling, there are wood, tile, or linoleum flooring, and they come in many various styles, colors and designs. Each kind needs a different skill to place them but to get the floor ready is the same for any type of improvement. The type and tone you determine to use all depends on your inclination and wishes for your home.

Wood flooring comes in many thickness from 1/4″, 5/16″, 3/8″, 1/2″, 5/8″ to 3/4″ or (6 mm, 8 mm, 10 mm, 13 mm, 16 mm and 19 mm). It can be solid wood, or engineered. It can be tongue and grove or interlocking planks. It can be pre-finished wood flooring or unfinished which requires they must be sanded and finished after they are laid down. The engineered flooring will normally have a wear layer of 2 mm to 4 mm thick. They can be fastened to the sub floor by nailing, gluing or floating.

You need to determine which method is recommended or required for the type of flooring you want to use. Is your sub-floor cement or wood? Cement sub-floors are typically on the ground level and need to be checked for moisture content, if they exceed the recommended moisture content then a moisture barrier needs to be installed over the cement. Check with the manufacturer for their recommendations.

You can install this flooring as a do it yourself project, learn all the recommendations, by talking with knowledgeable people. Decide which material you want to use and how are you going to fasten it.

If you are going to glue the floor down, check out the process, does the manufacturer require that you use their glue, they may put a tracer element in their glue to verify if you have used their glue if there is a warranty claim on the installation. Do they require that a professional installer installs it?

Tile floors can be purchased in ceramic or vinyl. High traffic area such as hall ways or entrance or high moisture area such as a bathroom should be considered for tile flooring.

Ceramic tile can have a glazed top layer that is very pretty but can be scratched easily in high traffic areas. Other kinds or unglazed tile will have the color clear through the tile and are resistant to scratching. Ceramic tile can be installed over a sub flooring of cement or wood which must be structurally stable. A cement board recommended for wood sub floors can be installed and fastened to the sub floor per the manufacturers recommendation.

Vinyl tiles can be the least expensive tile and easy to lay down. They can be placed over old vinyl flooring, over plywood on wood floors or on concrete. The sub flooring should be clean, dry and level, you need to remove all oil, wax and grease. Study all the rights and wrongs for the flooring material you have selected for the job.

Linoleum can be produced from environmental natural things such as linseed oil, wood or cork powder, resins and ground limestone. It can be made in many rich colors and patterns and comes in a sheet that is usually 2 meters wide (6′ 7″) A 2.5 mm thick sheet is suitable for home place use.

It can be installed over most sub floors but if installing over concrete, the moisture emission rate must be with in limits set by the manufacturer. A high pH level of the concrete can ruin the adhesive and the adhesive may not bond to the concrete if it has a sealer on it. If two sections of linoleum are butted together, they must be sealed either with special seam sealer or a color coordinated linoleum rod that is melted with a specialized welding tool.

Linoleum over time will expand in width and shrink in length so you need to take this into consideration when laying it down.