Choosing to install a new hardwood floor in one of the rooms in your home can be a great decision. However, you need to make sure that you have all the facts to hand before you decide on which type of flooring to choose. Over the next few articles we will dispel some of the frequent misconceptions concerning hardwood flooring.

Is it possible to lay the flooring myself?

If you are handy at DIY you can install hardwood flooring yourself, although some amount of experience will really help. If you are unsure about any part of the installation process you should always speak to a hardwood flooring expert or leave it to the professionals.

I’ve heard that I need to leave an expansion gap. How true is this?

This will depend on the type of floor installation to how big the gap. If you are having a new hardwood floor which is installed as a floating floor, it’s imperative that an expansion gap is left around the room so the planks can expand and contract. If solid planks are nailed into place using a secret nailing method, the size of the expansion gap is very imperative and normally 2mm to 3mm  per running meter.

Why do the hardwood planks need to acclimatise?

The solid hardwood flooring which will be delivered to your home may have been stored at a temperature and at a humidity which is totally different to the conditions in your house. It’s important that the planks are allowed to acclimatise to the conditions in your house before they are fitted to avoid contraction and expansion problems. This is not such a problem with engineered hardwood floors.