As with any big woodworking project, you can expect to have a mess as you go. There are such debris as saw dust, cut splinters, glue spots, and more. While you were trying to clean as you went, you should really do a final inspection and cleaning at the completion of the project. You don’t want any saw dust or wood chips scraping across your new floor before you even get to admire its smooth shine.

After your floor has had a day to settle you can clean it with a mildly wet mop to get everything else up that you might have missed. You need to dry the floor up right away after mopping, of course. Otherwise, your wood will swell and lumps will form.

-Hindsight Tips for Installing Your Floating Hardwood Floor

You do not need to be terribly careful with the cushioning sheets. Don’t spend all day trying to get exact measurements. As long as there are no major overlaps or separations between them, your floor should be just fine.

When you are working with your hardwood panels, it is important not to rush. You should not be moving on and placing another panel until the current panel is completely and firmly connected to the other panels. But be very careful when using the rubber mallet and other tools on the panels not to cause surface damage.

The surfaces are quite fragile when they are not yet anchored in place. It is very hard to go back and fix later if you missed a panel early in the installation process.

Be careful when measuring your panels for cutting at the end of the row that you are marking off the right part of your panel for cutting. One of the most common mistakes is to have the panel backwards while measuring it and then end up with the wrong pieces being the lengths you need. Save yourself some time and be careful.

You have saved a lot of money by installing a floating hardwood floor yourself. And, if you don’t like it, you’ve chosen one of the easiest hardwood floors to replace. But, of course you like it.

Hardwood floors look great. And, your new floating hardwood floor feels great too with its cushioning surface. Your neighbor ’s glued down floor may not creak much, but your neighbor ’s feet don’t feel like they’re floating when he walks on his floor.