The installation of a solid wood floor is a task best left to the professionals. This is not to say that experienced DIY enthusiasts couldn’t do a reasonable job, it’s just that over the course of their work, specialist wood flooring engineers know how to solve almost any problem they may encounter quickly and effectively.

Plus, if you are having a floor fitted that you hope will last for many years to come, you would want total peace of mind it was worth the investment.

Over the course of their work, real wood flooring installers may call on a number of specialist tools and utilise equipment that ensures the process to lay the wood floor goes as smoothly as possible. Here is a selection of some of the most valued items a fitter will need:

A tapping block – A plastic block that provides protection to floor planks while they are hammered together. By using the hammer on the block rather than the edge of the plank, this ensures the floor is not damaged in any way.
Wedges and spacers – These are used to create the essential expansion gap around the perimeter of the room as the real wood flooring is being laid. They are also handy for giving you a straight edge, which can ensure your floor gets a good start.
Pull bar – This is a useful tool that is adept at driving glued planks more tightly together at the tongue and groove joints. It can also come to the rescue when working close to the wall in places where a tapping block is of no use.
Adhesive – This is what keeps the tongue and groove boards together, while it can also fix skirting or beading in place over the edge of the floor. It is important to use the right products for this, especially as you can now buy specialist glue designed to fix solid floorboards to a subfloor. As the adhesive dries, it expands, making it perfect for filling small gaps and minimising the hollow sound creating when walking on a floor affected by these voids.