There are hosts of flooring options available now and this abundance of flooring choices has made installing hardwood flooring in your home by yourself a much more viable option. DIY hardwood flooring installation is one popular way to cut the substantial cost of owning hardwood flooring. But just because you’re not having hardwood flooring installed by a professional doesn’t mean you need to skimp on quality. There are two main things that a professional installer has that you don’t and they are know-how and tools. You can find out more about the process of how to install your own floors here. Right now I want to talk about the tools.

Chalk Line: These are great tools for marking measurements. You can use these over a longer distance than you could with a straight edge or anything else.

Nails: This all depends on what type of hardwood flooring you’re installing, but chances are, you’ll need nails in some shape of form or another. Usually any type of nail should be fine for use. They do make nails to be used specifically with hardwood flooring and you can also look for these are your local hardware store.

Power Floor Nailer: Then of course you’ll need a nail gun to drive the nails. There are a few nailers available specifically for hardwood flooring. They’ll make the going much easier and are almost a must due to the fact they’ll do a more efficient and safe job than most people’s arms. They’re a bit pricey and unless you’re planning on redoing all the floors in your home you may be able to find one for rent at a hardware store.

Hammers: You’ll still need these, just in case you have to nail some flooring down in an area where the power floor nailer may not be able to reach.

Power saw: You can opt for the manual kind if you don’t mind putting a little extra elbow grease into your work. Depending on what type of wood you’re working with you may need a special type of saw, especially when cutting some of the harder, exotic, trade woods.

Miscellaneous: These items may be miscellaneous but they are just as important as everything I listed previously. You’ll most likely need some sort of underlayment. Underlayment is vital to most hardwood flooring and provides cushion and moisture protection. You can also get underlayment that provides specialized soundproofing as well. If you’re opting to float your flooring or glue it down then you’ll need special flooring glue. And depending on what type of wood you’re working on you may need a breathing mask, goggles or even a full protection suit.

This is just a rough list of items that you will most likely need when installing hardwood flooring. I implore you to do even more research, especially after you purchase your flooring since installation instructions can vary greatly from product to product and from wood species to wood species.