5 easy ways to install flooring yourself

Looking to upgrade the flooring in your home? Avoid the renovation nightmare and do it yourself with these five easy to install flooring ideas.

A new floor can instantly update and refresh a room, but installation can be expensive.

DIY projects can seem simple but turn into bottomless pits of work and mistakes, which is why we’ve selected these five foolproof methods to updating your flooring.

Engineered wood flooring is made from thin sheets of wood glued together like plywood.

• Solid wood may be a long-lasting classic, but engineered flooring offers a quicker, easier way to get a new floor.
• Another benefit is that it comes with a factory-applied finish that’s durable.
• Engineered hardwood flooring is more stable than solid wood.
• This engineered wood flooring is less susceptible to shrinking and expanding with changes in temperatures and humidity.
• Plus, the multiple wood layers in engineered hardwood make it very durable.

Though the name sounds like something from a science-fiction movie, floating floors are the quickest way to get new wood flooring.

• Unlike traditional solid-wood strips, floating floors aren’t nailed down.
• The plans are either glued down or snapped together, and they can be placed on virtually any material – concrete, plywood, even ceramic tile!
• They are made from wood veneer glued to layers of pine or plywood, and the finished result looks like solid wood and is very stable.

Although engineered flooring's thin veneer can't be sanded as many times as solid wood can, its thick factory-applied coating is more durable than one applied in your home on solid wood, and it will be ready for furniture in just one day.

On a limited budget, a simple painted checker-board floor is a great option to update a space in a pinch.

• All it takes is a little measuring and a few coats of durable floor paint. There are no limits to the colour schemes. You can do anything from understated colours to bright, vibrant ones.

Cork flooring is highly sustainable, affordable, and extremely comfortable to walk on.

• It adds warmth to any space and gives a little cushion, making it ideal for children’s playrooms or the elderly.
• Cork is also much easier to install than traditional wood flooring, and manufacturers now have options that snap together without glue or nails.

Tile floors are beautiful, easy to clean, and don’t require a lot of maintenance.

• Tiling also allows for a level of customization that isn't available with many other flooring types.
• You can choose patterns, colours, shapes, and designs to suit your taste. Tiled floors are durable.
• Though they do require special care and preparation, they can be installed in less than a day!