How to Rebuild a Floor

Preparation

• The first step in rebuilding any type of floor is to remove or repair the existing floor. If you want to completely rebuild the floor, you will need to tear out the existing floor to make way for the new floor. However, in some instances, you may be able to use part of the existing floor as the subfloor or even repair and refinish the existing floor. All of this depends on various factors, such as the type of material the floor is constructed from and the condition the floor is in at the time that you rebuild.

Subfloor

• The subfloor is important in your efforts. If you're tearing out the entire existing floor, you will need to replace it with similar or better materials. This may result in the need to pour a new concrete slab or put in a new plywood subfloor over an existing slab. If you're rebuilding a wood floor over an existing crawl space, you will need to ensure that the floor is properly reinforced. Reinforcement may include the need to use floor jacks to level the existing joists and shore up the home's foundation.

Flooring

• Once the floor's foundation has been properly secured, you can begin installing the new floor. Wood floors will require that you cut each piece of flooring material to fit the room. This can be fairly time-consuming and needs to be done as meticulously as possible. Concrete floors can be stained or tiled. Tiling, too, requires a significant amount of measuring, cutting and attaching the flooring. Carpeting is usually simpler to install. After cutting the pad to fit on the subfloor, you can cut the carpet to fit the room.

Finishing

• Rebuilding your floor will also require that you use the proper techniques to trim and finish the floor. For instance, if you're restoring an old wood floor using unfinished wood to give it a more authentic look, you eventually will need to sand the floor, apply a stain and seal the floor with a polyurethane sealant. Hardwood floors and carpeted floors will require that you also replace the baseboard trim to give your floor a finished look.