Timber floors include the following products:

• solid timber tongue and grooved floor boards
  
  
• solid timber parquetry blocks
  
  
• timber-based engineered products, such as laminated 'floating floor' panels.

The methods used to lay timber flooring vary greatly, depending on the type of product being installed and the structure of the subfloor.

For example, tongue and grooved strip flooring is sometimes installed directly onto floor joists to form a structural floor.

This type of job is normally done by a carpenter or specialist floor layer.

Parquetry is also the domain of specialist installers, because the decorative patterns require special techniques.

Floating floors, however, are commonly installed by general floor layers.

Below are some of the main tools used by timber flooring installers.

General

Hand saw                                                                                                               
For cutting timber and board products to length.

Chisels                                                                                                               
For cutting notches and paring back the surface of wood-based products.

Utility knife                                                                                                               
For cutting plastic moisture barriers and other materials.

Drop saw                                                                                                               
For cutting floor boards and other timber components to length.

Electric planer                                                                                                               
For reducing the thickness of timber, and planing down the underside of doors.

Circular saw                                                                                                               
For ripping floorboards lengthwise and general cross-cutting.

Jig saw                                                                                                               
For shaping boards and cutting out profiles.

Multi-tool / undercut saw                                                                                                               
For cutting the underside of architraves and skirtings.

Belt sander                                                                                                               
For sanding back timber floor boards and wood-based panels.

Strip flooring

Nail gun                                                                                                               
For fixing timber boards into position.

Secret nail gun                                                                                                               
For fixing 'secret nailed' tongue and grooved boards into position.

Drum sander / orbital sander                                                                                                               
For sanding tongue and grooved strip flooring.