Guide to Hardwood Flooring Installation on Uneven Subfloors (Toronto)

Guide to Hardwood Flooring Installation on Uneven Subfloors (Toronto)

If you install hardwood flooring directly over an uneven subfloor, your new floor will also be uneven. But when you first cover this subfloor with a self-levelling compound, then your new floor will be level and smooth. (Self-levelling compound is used to cover the holes or cracks in the subfloor without replacing a large area of the floor.) This compound sets quickly and may be sanded to produce the desired finish.

In this post, we discuss how to install hardwood flooring in your Toronto home and outline the causes of uneven subfloors.

Hardwood Flooring Installation on a Rough Subfloor & the Causes of Uneven Subfloors

As discussed, before you lay down new hardwood flooring, you must first level your existing floor. This and installing new hardwood flooring can take days. Plus, you need the necessary skills and tools.

That’s why your best option is to hire the professionals at AA Floors for a quick, hassle-free and flawless installation.

If you still want to do it yourself, here are the key steps to follow:

Levelling the Subfloor

First, cut two-foot by four-foot pieces of wood to fit in any doorway in your room. Hold it in place with duct tape. This wood prevents the self-levelling compound from leaking into other rooms.

Then clean the uneven floor with a damp sponge and let it dry to help the compound stick to the subfloor.

Next, cover up the seams between the walls and floor with duct tape. Moreover, seal the holes that allow pipes to pass through the subfloor with duct tape. This will keep the self-levelling compound from spreading.

Then paint the subfloor with latex paint primer and let it dry. This also allows the self-levelling compound to stick to the subfloor.

Pour the self-levelling compound onto the floor and spread it with a trowel. It will settle into the uneven areas of the subfloor, thus creating an even surface. If it leaks under the wooden barriers of the doorways, use sand to absorb it.

Allow the compound to dry. Then sand down the ridges caused by the trowel with sandpaper.

Installing the Hardwood Flooring

Use a notched trowel to spread floor adhesive on a section of the floor near the wall. Use these notches on the trowel’s edge to make grooves in the adhesive when spreading it.

Place the first floorboard on the adhesive with the groove side of the tongue and groove board facing the wall. In tongue-and-groove boards, the floorboards are fitted with concave (groove) and protruding (tongue) parts that fit together just like puzzle pieces. All four sides of the floorboards have tongues and grooves.

Spread the floor adhesive next to the first floorboard. Then apply wood glue to the groove of a piece of hardwood floorboard. Fit the groove of this floorboard to the tongue of the first; then press the second floorboard into the floor adhesive. Continue adding the floorboards in this way until the entire floor is properly covered.

Put concrete blocks or other heavy items on the hardwood flooring in order to press it into the floor adhesive until it dries completely.

What Are the Common Causes of Uneven Subfloors?

Here are a few reasons why a subfloor may become uneven.

Moisture Damage

Groundwater or leaky pipes may warp the subfloor or damage the wood beams.

Movement of Soil

Soil expands when wet and contracts when it dries. This movement may damage hardwood flooring.

Damaged Foundation

If your home’s foundation is poorly laid or damaged, this weakened foundation may lead to warped, cracked or uneven floors.

Poor Installation

An uneven subfloor may be caused due to improper installation. The only solution for this is to re-lay the subfloor properly.

Now you know the vital steps to follow for hardwood flooring installation on an uneven subfloor and the causes of this unevenness. The best way to go about this kind of flooring installation is to hire our experienced installers. They will lay the flooring fast and well so that you can walk on it as soon as possible. Whether you need basement flooring or any kind of floor coverings, we’ll be happy to help.