Installation Guide

2.2 Job-site Conditions
• Wood flooring should be one of the last jobs completed in a construction
project. Prior to installing hardwood floors, the building must be structurally
complete and enclosed, including installation of exterior doors and windows.
All finished wall coverings and painting should be completed. Concrete,
masonry, drywall, and paint must also be complete, allowing adequate drying
time as to not raise moisture content within the building.
• HVAC systems must be fully operational at least 7 days prior to flooring
installation, maintaining a consistent room temperature between 60-75
degrees and relative humidity between 35-55%.
• It is essential that basements and crawl spaces are dry. Crawls spaces must
be a minimum of 18” from the ground to underside of joists. A vapor retarder
must be installed in crawl spaces using 6 mil black polyethylene film with joints
overlapped and taped.
• During the final pre-installation inspection, sub-floors must be checked for
moisture content using the appropriate metering device for wood and/or
concrete.
• Hardwood flooring must acclimate for as long as necessary to meet installation
requirements for moisture content in your area to avoid movement, shrinkage
or cupping. Always use a moisture meter to monitor the flooring and job-site
conditions as they acclimate, until the wood is neither gaining nor losing
moisture.
• Do not install solid hardwood flooring below grade
3 Sub-floor Preparation
3.1 Wood Sub-floors
• Sub-floor must be structurally sound and properly secured with nails or screws
every 6 inches along joists to reduce the possibility of squeaking.
• Wood sub-floors must be dry and free of wax, paint, oil, and debris.
Replace any water-damaged or delaminated sub-flooring or
underlayments.
• Preferred sub-floors – 3/4” CDX Grade Plywood or 3/4” OSB PS2 Rated sub-
floor/underlayment, sealed side down, with joist spacing of 19.2” or less;
Minimum sub-floors – 5/8” CDX Grade Plywood sub- floor/underlayment with
joist spacing of no more than 16”. If joist spacing is greater than 19.2” on
center, add a second layer of sub-flooring material to bring the overall
thickness to 1-1/8” for optimum floor performance. Hardwood flooring should