Easy Process To Install Wood Floor Over Existing Hardwood
A brand-new hardwood floor can significantly raise the value of your house, but installing a new floor over an old one might be challenging. Differences in thickness, color, and pattern throw off what ought to be a consistent appearance between two rooms. A more seamless appearance can be achieved by taking steps before, during, or after the installation of the new floor to reduce the variances.
Step 1: Matching Profiles
- The profile—which varies—of hardwood flooring boards refers to their thickness. It shouldn't be difficult to link the two rooms with an even floor if the subfloor in both rooms is the same. It is not required to match the new materials to the profile of the old flooring boards; the new boards should be a little thicker.
- The profile is lowered by sanding to match the plane of the old floor after the new one has been fitted. Unfinished hardwood is an exception. The materials should match the profile of the previous flooring because it won't be sanded after installation.
Step 2: Transition Strips
- Narrow pieces of wood known as transition strips or T-moldings span the flooring gap between two rooms. They are most frequently used across doors with ordinary widths. Some wood floor transition strips are practically flat, resulting in a seam that is less obvious.
- Reducer transition strips have edges that are thinner on one side and thicker on the other. With this design, a gentle slope is produced between two floors with marginally varying thicknesses. Depending on the chosen style, several installation techniques are used.
- A metal or plastic track that is attached to the floor is a feature of some transition strips. The strip's top magically aligns with the track. While some transition strips fit into the tongues of the flooring boards, others are solid pieces of wood that are nailed into position.
Step 3: Finishing And Refinishing
- Even if the wood species and finishing materials are the same, a new floor's colour is unlikely to match an old one. Certain species of wood can brighten, but most wood darkens over time and exposure to sunlight. The best method to visually integrate the two rooms is to remove the current floor and finish both at the same time.
- If removing the old floor is not an option, you can finish the new floor with the same materials as the old and let it age naturally or stain it to match the old. A floor that has been stained may age differently from a floor that isn't stained that is older.
Step 4: Seamless Connection
- The straight, completed edge of the present floor that runs towards the doorway must be changed if the doorway or opening between the two rooms is too broad for a transition strip in order for the new floor to flow seamlessly into the following room. To do this, pry out each floorboard that stops at a doorway and cut the seams between the floorboards.
- The planks should be swapped out for longer, varying-length boards from the new flooring. The staggered pattern or arrangement naturally continues into the next room as a result of this technique, known as weaving in the new boards. The new floor can simply continue into the next room without removing any boards if the previous floor's direction crosses the doorway.