One of the most important things which will need to be clarified before installing wood floor over vinyl is the make up of the subfloor beneath the vinyl floor.  One of the key things stressed by all wood floor suppliers is that wood flooring should be installed over an appropriate subfloor.  Appropriate subfloors include existing wood flooring and concrete.  Such subfloors create a stable base for the installation of your new wood floor.

Once you have established that your vinyl floor has been laid over an appropriate subfloor for your new wooden floor, you will then need to check out is whether or not the vinyl flooring is properly and securely attached to that subfloor.  It if happens that the vinyl flooring is not well secured to the subfloor, then it could ultimately cause movement in the new wood floor.

Thereafter, if your vinyl flooring is laid over existing floorboards, it is important to establish the direction in which the old boards are running.  This is important because when laying new boards over old, it is essential that the new boards run perpendicular (or at 90 degrees) to the old boards for stability.

Whether or not the vinyl is cushioned is a further important consideration.  In some instances, a cushioned vinyl could cause your new floor to squeak.  While certain types of squeak can be minimised by the introduction of an appropriate underlay, it’s essential to make sure that you are installing your new floor over the right type of subfloor and not creating problems for later.  If you are in any doubt whatsoever, then it’s well worth asking the advice of a professional.

One final thing to bear in mind, particularly if you are thinking of installing new wood flooring over vinyl in a renovation project is that it’s not outside the bounds of possibility that there could be a really attractive original floor lurking under the vinyl!  For many years, vinyl was laid over perfectly good wood flooring to create a more ‘up to date’ (at the time) look.  The end result is that the original wood flooring (aka reclaimed wood flooring) could be waiting under the vinyl, just waiting for its renaissance.

The first method involves the re-heating of the wax in order to remove it.  The most effective and gentlest way of doing this is to use a hairdryer or warm iron to gradually bring the candle wax back to its liquid form.  If you are using a hairdryer, it’s a simple case of applying enough heat until you can see the candle wax becoming liquid again.  If you are using an iron, you’ll need a brown paper bag and a dry iron, set on low.  Simply iron lightly over the brown paper bag (which you placed over the candle wax stain) and allow the bag to draw up the wax.  If the candle wax stain is extensive, you may need more than one piece of paper to soak it all up.  If you use the hairdryer method of heating the candle wax, once you have the wax back to a liquid consistency, it’s a case of blotting it up until it has been completely removed (a number of people suggest ladies tights or stockings or a gentle nylon scourer as the most effective tools to do this job).

The second method of removing candle wax from wood floors is to chill it and then remove it.   What you need to be careful with when adopting this method of removing candle wax from your wood floor is that you don’t scratch the floor.  In order to chill down the wax, apply ice in a freezer bag to the patch of floor which has been stained by candle wax.  Once the ice is in contact with the candle wax, it will cause it to harden and become brittle.  When the candle wax is hard and brittle, you should be able to chip it away from your floor.  Remember to work gently in order to avoid causing damage.

If you do find that the surface of your floor has become slightly damaged after the removal of the candle wax, you may find that you have to re-sand, re-stain and finish that small part of your wood floor.

Top Tip - Place A Piece Of Rug Below Furniture When Moving It Around!

If you’ve installed wood flooring, the last thing you’ll want is to cause damage to your floor either by your day-to-day activities or with your furniture.  Wood flooring looks great and will withstand most wear and tear, but you do need to be careful when it comes to moving furnishings.

One of worst causes of damage to wood flooring is the moving of furniture prior to or during your cleaning process.  Unfortunately, it’s only too common for people to make way for their cleaning process by dragging their furniture around their room.  To stop furniture from damaging wood floors prior to and during your cleaning process, it is really important that you take time to make sure that you lift and don’t drag furnishings when moving them from place to place.  If, for any reason, you do find that you need to drag furniture, a top tip is to carefully place a thick rug or a piece of carpet under the item and then slide the item gently across the floor.  That said, there’s no doubt that it’s best not to drag furniture over your wooden floor at all if possible.

Another way to stop furniture from damaging your wood floors is to invest in protective cups, mats or pads.  Once you’ve bought them, make sure you place them under all table and chair legs which come in contact with your wood floor.  The introduction of these protective cups, mats or pads will stop your furnishings from having direct contact with your floor and will help stop your furniture from damaging your wood floor.

Particularly heavy items of furniture also pose an increased risk to your wood floor and need specific treatment.  The worst type of weight from a wood flooring point of view is any weight which is unevenly distributed and, or concentrated on legs or feet.  In order to demonstrate, imagine a really heavy sofa which distributes its weight on to six or eight, relatively pointed feet and you’ll get the idea.  If you want to protect your wooden floor from this type of furniture damage, the only way is to place rubber protectors or cups under the feet to stop the floor’s surface from being pierced by the weight or to place a board under the item of furnishing to help distribute the weight more evenly, thus reducing the risk of damage.

Discussions about leveling a washing machine to stop it vibrating on wood floors are really commonplace.   There is nothing worse than a washing machine which performs well for most of its cycle and then sends the whole room into chaos when it spins.  There are many reasons why a washing machine will vibrate, no matter the type of flooring you have.

Before taking any drastic action, you must make sure that your washing machine is completely level.  If not, it will vibrate irrespective of the type and condition of your floor.  Your washing machine will come with full instructions on the leveling process which you should follow, both when you first install the machine and at regular intervals if vibration appears from nowhere.  Furthermore, it goes without saying that you should make sure that your washing is equally distributed in your washing machine drum, as uneven loads will cause vibration.

Washing machines come with adjustable, front leveling legs or feet and a lock nut.  Each leg or foot needs to be adjusted to a level position and then locked in place using the nut.  Certain machines will also have rear adjustable legs or feet but in most cases, these rear legs are self-adjusting.  Either way, the aim is to make sure that all legs or feet are touching the floor and that there is no rocking or movement when you apply pressure to the machine. When leveling your machine, aim to leave it as close to the floor as possible as this will help minimise vibration.

If your washing machine continues to vibrate after you have thoroughly followed the leveling instructions, it may well be that your wood floor has warped or cupped through years of natural expansion and contraction processes.  If this is the case you may need to invest in shims or anti vibration pads in order to bring the machine back to a level footing.  Shims and anti vibration pads can be installed under one or more feet of the machine to help the leveling process and reduce vibration.

In a worst case scenario, it may well be that you need to call in a flooring professional to make sure that your flooring is on a stable base.  If the flooring seems level and the machine seems level, the problems could stem from your subfloor.  In this case, you will need to make the decision about whether to repair the root cause of the problem or move the machine.

Fitting Wood Flooring Around Corners Requires Planning!

No matter what type of wood flooring you’re planning to install, fitting that wood flooring around corners is likely to pose you a challenge.  If you’ve selected solid wood or engineered wood flooring and are planning a DIY wood flooring installation, you’re likely to be able (with a bit of skill of course) to rattle through the main part of the room reasonably quickly.  Like any DIY job however, the impact of the end result depends to a large extent on the finishing touches.

Fitting wooden floors both solid wood and engineered wood around corners,  calls for some planning, patience and skill.  In new houses, it is likely that corners, in most cases, will be neat, 90-degree affairs, but in old houses, or renovation projects, the corners are likely to be less uniform.

One thing that is important to establish is that the guidelines for inside corners and outside corners are unlikely to be the same.  It’s also essential to ascertain if the wood is going to run alongside the corner or if it’s going to go around it.  What’s more, with not all corners a exact 90-degrees, it’s of paramount importance that you take care when planning how you will fit your wooden floor around a corner.

So, once you’ve established whether you’re dealing with an inside or an outside corner, whether the wood should run along or around the corner and the angle of the corner, you should be in a good position to plan your attack.

If you’re taking your flooring through a passage way and looking to butt two sections of wood flooring together, you’re going to need to make two 90 degree cuts to envelop the corner and allow the planks to run in the same direction in each room.  On the other hand, if you are seeking to create a visual effect, you may decide to mitre the wood and butt it around the corner at 45 degree angles.

When it comes to dealing with any odd shaped angles, it’s a good idea to make a paper template of the corner you’re cutting.  A paper template will allow you to mark the exact shape on the plank and cut your wood with confidence.   A top tip when making your paper template is to tape the paper to your original floor so it doesn’t slip while you are making your markings.  Once you are confident that you have marked your corner accurately, remove the paper; make your cuts and double check that it’s a neat fit around your corner.  Working this way will help make fitting wooden floors around corners a much simpler task.

If you decide to install wood flooring in your flat or apartment and you have downstairs neighbours, it is your duty to take their comfort and wellbeing into account.  Blocks of flats and apartments are subject to building regulations and lease agreements, which can enforce tenants to respect certain conditions for the consideration of their neighbours.  They also have penalties which can be applied if people don’t respect their neighbours in this regard.

Generally speaking, if you have downstairs neighbours, then you owe it to them to take into account the amount of noise they are likely to over-hear from your apartment or flat.  If you are planning to remove carpeting for example and install wood flooring, without the right precautions the noise will be increased.  It is your duty to make sure you minimize the noise pollution that is transmitted from your flat or apartment to theirs.  Building Regulations Approved Document E (2003, with various updates since), outlines the technicalities of this obligation, but generally speaking you need to apply a good deal of common sense when thinking about installing wood flooring in flats or apartments.

A suitable wood floor option for flats and apartments is the installation of engineered wood flooring, using the floating method of installation over a sound-proofing acoustic underlay.  There are various types of acoustic underlay on the market and your flooring supplier will be able to advise you on the most appropriate for your project.

The Building Regulations Approved Document E (2003, with updates) refers to newly built blocks of flats and apartments as well as properties that have since been converted into flats or apartments.  It does not apply to blocks of flats or apartments which existed before the introduction of this legislation.  That said, If you are in any doubt about your noise reduction obligations you should check with the management committee or residents association responsible for the overseeing of your accommodation.

It may well be that your wood flooring is newly installed and your paint stain has come about during the final decoration or your room.  Or, it may be that you’ve inherited your floor from the previous owner of your house and have been unfortunate enough to either cause or discover a paint stain.  Either way, it’s important to ascertain (if possible) what kind of paint you’re dealing with.

Paints come in all different forms, and the most common include water-based, oil-based and latex-based paint.  Water based paint and latex based paint are the two easiest types of paint stain to remove.  If the stain is still wet, to be honest, a wipe with a damp cloth should do the trick.  Even if the paint has dried, and it is water or latex-based a very hot, wet cloth should still to the trick nicely.

In order to soften dried or hardened paint, rub the area lightly with a cloth moistened with really hot water.  Once the paint seems to have regained its liquid form, you should be able to remove it by rubbing with a soft cloth, or, in the worst-case scenario, using a wet scrubber.  It’s a good idea to apply vegetable oil to the scrubber before you attack your floor.  That way it will be less likely to damage the floor and cause the surface to dull.

Oil-based paint stains are slightly more complicated and once dry are pretty much impossible to remove.  An oil-based paint stain which is still moist will require an appropriate thinner in order to have a chance of removal.  The only option when it comes to dried in, oil-based paint is to either scrape it away or use a harsh chemical, such as nail polish remover to remove it.  Either way, you are more than likely to damage the surface of your floor, leaving you with patches which will need to be repaired.   Generally speaking floors can be repaired using specialist waxes, oils or pens, if the damage is not excessive.

If your paint staining is extensive and covers large areas of your wood flooring, it may well be worth considering a complete re-sand and re-seal in order to bring your floor back to its former glory.

To measure your room, you need three very basic things:

1. A tape measure (ideally 10m or 20m length)
2. A piece of paper and
3. A pen or pencil

To make the job easier, involve a friend.  Two people will do this job quicker and (probably) more accurately than one.

If your room is a square or rectangle, calculating the amount of flooring you’ll need is really simple.  In this case, it’s a simple matter of measuring both the length and width of the room and multiplying one by the other.  Once you’ve calculated the total surface area of your room, you should add 8% to the total to allow for wastage.

If you have an “odd” shaped room, try to split the room into square or rectangular “chunks” which you can then measure and add together at the end, remembering of course to add your 8% to allow for wastage (Find out more about how to measure your room)

Don’t forget when measuring your room, to include any alcoves, door frames, cupboards or small recesses as they will need to be included in your overall flooring project.  Forgetting these could mean that you don’t have sufficient wood to complete your project.  Once calculated, these areas should be included in your calculation for how much wastage you should allow when ordering wood flooring.

Most wood flooring is sold and priced in m², so it’s best to measure your room in m². M² prices are calculated on the cost of a square of wood flooring measuring exactly one metre by one metre.  That said, solid wood or engineered wood flooring is sometimes sold by the pack, which may or may not be exactly one square metre.  If this is the case, the wood floor company will list the m² covered by each pack, allowing you to make your calculation.

No matter the shape or size of your room, you should always allow 8% for wastage when ordering wood flooring as this will allow you to complete your project in the peace of mind of knowing you have sufficient flooring.

There is a whole range of different types of sub-floor on which you can install your new wooden floor.  When it comes to laying wood flooring however, no matter whether you’ve opted for solid wood or engineered wood flooring, there are several things that need to be respected regarding the sub-floor.

First and foremost, it’s essential that the sub-floor over which you’ll install your wood flooring is dry and will stay dry as the seasons change.  Secondly, the sub-floor needs to be stable, because there’s no point installing a nice new wooden floor over an unstable base.  Thereafter, it almost goes without saying, but you need to make sure that your sub-floor is free of dust and debris before going ahead and fitting your new floor.  Finally, if you’re planning a glue-down method of installation, the surface of the sub-floor needs to be free of any grease, paint or old glue.  You can get rid of these with a light sanding in most cases.

The two main types of sub-floor are wood and concrete, both of which have their own characteristics.  If you have a wooden sub-floor, then you’ll have the option to install your new floor using a nail-down method, a glue-down method or indeed a floating installation.  Nail-down installation is not recommended over a concrete sub-floor.

Wooden sub-floors may well be made up of old wooden floor boards or planks, or might be plywood, or Oriented Stran Board (OSB).  Either way, it’s important to rid the wooden sub-floor of any protruding nails or screws and to make sure they are level before starting your installation.  If your wooden sub-floor isn’t level, you should be able to remove any high points by sanding them away and level out any low points by introducing a specialist sub-floor leveling compound.  You should also take the time to make sure that any loose boards are fixed down to avoid the risk of squeaks and movement in the new floor.

Concrete sub-floors, particularly if newly or recently laid, must be thoroughly dried out before installing your new wooden floor.  There’s no point investing in a new wooden floor; solid or engineered, to then fit it over a damp sub-floor.  If necessary a damp proof underlay can be introduced to avoid the risk of problems in the future caused by dampness.

Other types of sub-floor include particle board and certain vinyls, as well as the possibility of laying wood flooring directly over beams and joists, all of which have their own nuances when it comes to installation.  Like all things flooring, if you’re in any doubt at all, it’s a good idea to seek the opinion of your wood flooring supplier who will be well positioned to help you.

If you’ve decided to buy your wood flooring online, it’s a good idea to select a supplier who offers samples.  Occasionally, but not very often, wood flooring suppliers will offer free samples.  That said, the majority, understandably charge for samples (even if it’s just to cover their transportation).  A good compromise is a wood flooring supplier who charges for samples and then either refunds the cost of the samples if they are either returned in their original condition or refunds the cost against the price of a floor which is subsequently ordered.  Either way, choosing a wood flooring supplier who offers samples online will enable you to have the “showroom” experience in the comfort of your own home.

Once you’ve narrowed down your potential online wood flooring suppliers to those who offer samples, it’s a case of looking at the range of flooring options they have available on their site.  A good online wood flooring supplier will have a broad range of solid and engineered wood flooring options in a whole host of colours, grades, finishes and prices.  An online wood floor supplier who’s serious about gaining a good share of the market, as well as a loyal customer base, will offer a good and growing choice of wood flooring.  It is likely that they will have a range of basic flooring options, complimented by perhaps new trends in wood flooring or innovative flooring solutions as well as a few “top of the range” solutions.  Either way, it’s worthwhile making sure that the online wood flooring supplier you choose has a range available to suit your needs both now and in the future.

Of course cost and service come into the equation when it comes to selecting your online wood flooring supplier.  A good amount of research will pay off when looking for value and you’ll be able to make a judgement about the service offered by making a couple of enquiries, either by telephone or by email to see how your requests are responded to.  If possible, seek out an online wood floor supplier who is happy for you to contact previous customers.  This will provide you with real reassurance.

Finally, warranty is an important part of your investment and is worth checking carefully when you narrow down your list of potential suppliers.