All my boards are in 3ft lengths. Do I need to cut them to various lengths before starting? What lengths should I cut them in? Does it look weird having a 3ft borad then a 8 inch board? Please help!
you dont want back to back seams looks bad just cut every other board in half
If you don't want glue(Chemicals,formaldehyde)in the house you can use a rubber membrane on top of the concrete beneath the wood. It will give you a more solid floor than just floating it.Home depot has a product its a green roll membrane.
start with the three footer, then start thenext row with a shorted board and so on you should try to keep the gaps at the end of the boards at least 4 to 6 inches apart to keep the boards locked together you should only have to cut the first and last board in every row. the board you cut off at the end of each row will probably be a good starter board for the next row.
You want to stagger the seam by at least 3 inches in neighboring boards and a greater amount in the third board, so that it creates a stronger floor. Rows of seams close together also looks worse than short and long boards in random placement. Mix it up!
First of all I am going to mention something that others probably won't. Moisture in the slab.- Many engineered wood floor manufacturers will not cover their product if installed below grade on concrete. You may want to check that first if a warranty on the flooring is important to you. To check for moisture in your slab, take 4 pcs. of aluminum foil about 12 long the full width of the roll. Duct tape down all 4 sides of foil to concrete slab 4 area away from each other. Let sit for 24 hrs. and then pull up. If there is any moisture on the floor or on the undside of the foil, then I would not put down this type flooring. If it's ok - then it's safe. You want to stagger your joints in the flooring. What you don't want is a small pc. on either end. You can start with full pcs. if it does not leave you a pc at the end of 12 of less. Lay out your first row of all full pcs. Now check how much your end cut will be. If it is 12 or less than cut about 12 off the wall end of your first full pc. of flooring, now shift the rest of your full pcs. against this first pc. Now your end pc. (cut pc.) will be at least 12 long. Now start your next row with a pc. cut to 16 or less - continue on with full pcs. - now measure your cut pc. If it is 12 or less -alter your first pc. longer or shorter to make your cut pc. to be 12 or more. Do not repeat a starting cut pc. length until the 4th row. Then you can repeat the starting lengths and follow your pattern if you want, or simply keep changing the length of starting pc. as long as you don't have any pcs. shorter than 12.
