I have a contractor who is doing the majority of the work in finishing my basement. As we get closer to being done (they are currently hanging the drywall), I am trying to get a feel as the best way to time/stage the final things.

In order to save some money, I am going to be installing the flooring myself -- a 5/16" floating engineered wood floor. This will be my first time doing that, so I am trying to make sure I give myself enough time, without any pressure, to do the best job possible.

My initial thoughts where to have him finish everything, including the base moulding. Once he was done, I would go in and do the wood floor, and then the shoe moulding. Based on that, I was planning on having him hang the basemoulding 5/8" off the floor to allow easier install of the floor.

I am wondering if that is going to make it more difficult for me to install the floor because I won't be able to use the drywall to place spacers against -- I will have to use the base moulding instead.

Or, should I do the flooring first and then have him do the trim work (does that include door casing as well?). If I do that, how do I ensure that the floor does not get damaged in the process (paint, scrapes, etc).

In general, I am open to suggestion on how best to stage these final steps.

I only have a couple questions - if you do this finish work by yourself and somehow damage the work the contractor already did - are you out of any guarantee of the work already done? Does the contractor have to stand by his previous work? I would think not.

Also, since this is your first time doing this, do you have someone helping you who has done this before, so you can avoid the beginner errors?

I don't know the answer to the first question -- good one though.

As for the second one, I am do have a professional wood installer coming by to have help me with the first couple of rows to get me started.

Good luck to you! It sounds like you are doing the smart thing by having a professional come in and show you how to get started. Hope it all turns out well.