Install engineered flooring like a pro!

1. Hire a professional! Haha....while true, we decided to give it a go for the One Room Challenge ourselves.

2. Be prepared! Research and know what you need so that you can have all of the materials and accessories you will need for a complete and successful project.

Installing engineered hardwood flooring can be a great way to elevate the look and feel of your home. Engineered hardwood flooring is made up of multiple layers of wood that are compressed together, and topped with a layer of real hardwood. This type of flooring is durable, scratch-resistant, and can last for many years. In this blog post, we will discuss the installation process of Castle Bespoke Mainstreet Paradise Matte finish engineered hardwood flooring that we installed in our bedroom for the One Room Challenge.

The first step in installing engineered hardwood flooring is to prepare the subfloor. This means removing the old flooring, cleaning and leveling the surface if needed, and ensuring that it is free of any debris or imperfections. For our project, we removed the old carpet, pad, staples, and tack strips. We also removed the baseboards for the best install without any additional quarter round or solution needed to hide the edges. The baseboards were easy to remove and will be reinstalled this week!

Now it's time to install the engineered hardwood flooring planks. We started from one end of the room and worked our way towards the other end, using an adhesive from Bona, a mallet, pull bar, a tapping block, and a rented floor nailer to ensure a snug fit. It was very fun to pull special pieces and save those for the high traffic areas so we can enjoy them every time we walk into the room!

For the last row of planks, we had to cut them to size using a saw. We made sure to measure twice and cut once to avoid any mistakes. Once all the planks were installed, we went over the entire floor with a rubber mallet to make sure all the seams were flush and tight.

Installing engineered hardwood flooring can be a DIY project as long as you have the right tools and follow the installation instructions carefully. Our Castle Bespoke Mainstreet Paradise Matte finish engineered hardwood flooring has transformed our space and added a touch of warmth and sophistication to our bedroom, as they have every home we have installed them in.

Lessons Learned:

1. Our installers know us and know that we always want flush inset floor vent covers. I completely forgot to have those ready.....see Number 2 above....have all materials ready to go ;-) We will see how these fit in after the floor is installed! Should be fun. I'll keep you posted.

2. Have a GOOD pair of knee pads!

3. Be prepared to have some patience when your kids help. It's wonderful that they want to be with you and they want to be a part of the process. But also, they will probably step in the adhesive....twice. I have found a gazzillion reasons to LOVE L'AVANT Collective cleaning products....yes, worked here too!

Tools Used:

1. Chop saw

2. Jig Saw

3. Fein Tool or Multitool

4. Rented Floor Nailer

5. Table Saw

Follow along over on Instagram to see the progress and eventually, a finished bedroom!