You spline the groove side of that first row and nail your merry way to the wall.
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Turns out the 1/16" gap is only a problem (plus it was only about 8" long.)if you are on your knees, so much ado about nothing. Last night went better, but still haven't gotten to going around the island yet. Jay was cutting and tapping, I was tapping and playing whack-a-mole with the nailer. Actually kind of fun. Interesting that I had both red oak and hickory tapping boards, the oak started shredding where hit by the dead blow, the hickory hardly dented after 4 hours of pounding. As far as matching up, I could narrow a board by taking as much as 3/32 off the groove side and the tongue and still get them to engage. Any more and I could rip off the groove side and drag the pieces home (10 minutes away) and use my router table and a slot cutter bit to make a new groove. Seems I have a plan. Thanks for all of your suggestions.
One problem I have is either of our Bostitch 18 ga brad guns (my old one or his new one) either curves the brad back up through the top or crumples the brad 60% of the time when trying to nail into the tongue at an angle in places where we can't use the floor nailer. Straight down through the top it is ok, as is the 15 ga nail.
I suggested that if he plans on continuing to do remodels, a small job-site TS would be useful so he doesn't always have to bring boards to my house to rip. I was surprised when he and his lady went out and bought a Kobalt (Lowe's $279) TS. It is not a Bosch but it seems to work fine.
When I put down my wide plank red oak flooring, I used the straightest long board I had for a starter board up against the entry wall to the room. But my long planks averaged 10-12 feet long.
I made 2 15 degree wedges out of 2x4 material and drilled a hole through the one wedge for a long deck screw. I then would put the wedges together against the board I was laying and screw the outer wedge into the sob floor. Then I would drive the inner wedge that was up against the boars to push the board up to the previously layed board. 2 sets of wedges at one time would push the board up nicely to the previous board.
You lay the planks groove to groove and insert a shop made spline. Today's project at home is to start cutting some splines and also to see if I can duplicate the grooves on my router table. And to tweak the pad thickness to match the top of plank-to top of tongue thickness exactly. Nailing 1/2" planks means you need to be quite precise when sitting the nailer on the edge of the plank. One nice thing about using engineered planks like bamboo is that all edges are straight, unlike milled flooring which can warp.
I would try very hard to remove the island and I would run new flooring under the dishwasher and even consider pulling cabinets and running under all or some of the cabinets if the cabinets are old or any chance they will be changed in next 10-20 years or the lifetime of the new flooring. Think what happens to flooring if cabinets are changed and when it is likely someone will want to change cabinets in the future. Old and new flooring can be woven together if flooring can be finished after installation but it is hassle.
We made it around the non-removable island last night without incident. Frustrating that: 1. too easy to ding the edge of the flooring even holding the floor nailer as carefully as possible 2. can't use the brad nailer at all in the tongue near the wall, have to drill and use 1.5" finish nails and a nail set 3. Wishing they would have chosen flooring with some relief so the dings wouldn't show. We have ripped up nearly a dozen planks so far that were dinged. Yes they are being very picky.
If this included a kitchen remod, we would have pulled all of the granite and base cabs as suggested. I did with my kitchen remod 3 years ago.
Probably too late for you now, but, it might save someone in the future.Quote:
One problem I have is either of our Bostitch 18 ga brad guns (my old one or his new one) either curves the brad back up through the top or crumples the brad 60% of the time when trying to nail into the tongue at an angle in places where we can't use the floor nailer. Straight down through the top it is ok, as is the 15 ga nail.
Drill a pilot hole in the tongue or the face (if face nailing the piece), then drive a good old fashioned 2.5" finish nail. The big head of the finish nail holds it nice and tight.
None of my nailers - 18, 16 or 15 did the job. I had to resort to drilling and driving by hand.
Generally brad nailers (brads) don't work on the hardness of bamboo. Older style finish nailers with heavier nails than brads are what to use for face nailing.