Wood floor installation may be expensive. This makes people who may have never even picked up a screwdriver or hammer to seriously consider installing everything themselves.

Floor installation is priced on a square-meter basis, although flooring companies (either local or Internet) might offer installation as a part of the purchase on rare occasions. What most companies do is refer you to either a preferred third-party contractor or give you a list of
installers and let you decide instead.

You might want to consider the following issues if you're thinking of installing your floor yourself:

• Proper floor restoration sometimes involves staining or gap filling and these are both best left to experienced floormen.
• Do your own research on floor sealants and never fully trust customer assistants in retail shops, such as BnQ or Wickes. What is sold there will usually do, but most specialized products are higly specific and only available to professionals.
• Hire proper floor sanding equipment - 8" or 10" belt machines and an "edger". You need to account for hardly reachable areas like corners, skirting, stairs etc. as well as how to address dust.
• Find someone who has already done it and have a talk and preferably, have a dry run using mock flooring or samples, don't get your feet wet right away, allow for some time to get used to what it feels like and don't try to learn on your own floor, it's a costly mistake. This is not a rocket science, but you need to prepare and be successful at the first do, which requires confident toolset and equipment use.
• Remember to check all floorboards and fixed any that have worked loose before you get down to work. You might need to replace damaged and weakened boards and this is the best time to get rolling.