1) Acclimate the wood to the humidity in the house - sticker it and leave
for at least a couple of weeks.
2) put a vapor barrier between the hardwood floor and the subfloor. I used
poly, despite postings not to. A local flooring dealer that I know well
said it is not a problem. Two years now and no problems.
3) If subfloor is not dead flat, put a 1/4" luan layer down
4) Buy or rent a pneumatic floor stapler. And whack it hard every time -
that whack is driving the boards together tight.
5) Speaking of whacking, make sure to get the butting ends of the boards
tight before you whack the pneumatic stapler
6) Cull out the ugly pieces of wood before you start laying the floor.
You'll forget to do this and lay a couple before the "oh crap" comes out of
your mouth
7) Hardwood flooring is always laid perpendicular to the floor joists.
8) Leave 1/4" around the perimeter of the room for expansion. Quarter round
will hide it.
9) Nail the quarter round into the baseboard, not the floor, so the floor
floats
10) Buy or borrow a Fein multimaster to undercut your door jambs - gives a
very professional job
11) When undercutting door jambs, don't cut the security system wires

Bob


"ississauga" wrote in message
m...
If you have installed hardwood what mistakes have you made? The
hardwood I am installing is the 3/4 inch thick type, about 2-3 inches
wide, oak and maple mostly, finished type.

I am installing hardwood flooring for my customers. There is a big
demand for it here, as many people want me to replace their carpets
with hardwood. I have being reading books and now work with a
professional installer but there is nothing like learning from
mistakes.