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Thread: Any tips for nailed flooring?

  1. #1
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    Any tips for nailed flooring?

    Last evening my son, his friend and I started laying 1200 sf of 1/2" T&G bamboo flooring. Got a HF flooring nailer using Bostitch 2" flooring cleats. I had to shim the foot (supposedly for 1/2" flooring) with a thickness of 2 washers to get it to sit properly and fire the cleats into the tongue in the right spot. Adjusted pressure to 65-70 psi to get a proper cleat penetration of the tongue. So far, so good. We anchored the first run up against the wall with my 15 ga finish nailer. Snapped a chalk line out in the room just past the underlayment padding to make sure the first run was in alignment. An obstruction projected two feet into the first run. When we made our first run past the obstruction, we were off by a strong 1/16", so there was a gap we couldn't close and everything behind us was nailed down. We all just sat there for 5 minutes thinking "dang, this isn't going to be easy". Looking back it appears we just weren't careful enough to get a good strong chalk line (probably close to 35 feet long) and didn't measure carefully enough off that line to get started.

    I am used to click style flooring where you can "scootch" everything around to line up. No can do with nailed flooring. I am dreading going around the six foot long island, and really dreading going around the closet/base cabinets/fridge as we circle around from room to room.

    Any tips on how to deal with the alignment issues as we move to our next obstacles? We could rip one side to match, but would loose the tongue. Please, those with experience doing this, not armchair answers.
    NOW you tell me...

  2. #2
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    When I laid my bamboo flooring (continuous throughout a whole floor of my house with no transitions) I used these flooring clamps from Bessey; https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-SVH400.../dp/B0000224PR They allowed me to get, and keep, all of my seams nice and tight. If you've only laid a half dozen or so rows you should be able to coax everything back into alignment with some determination and persistence. I did use staples though which are probably a little more forgiving than cleats.

  3. #3
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    Probably a bit too late but it's best to mark your chalk line in the centre of the room and work out to the edges. Going with where you are up to, cut and dry fit your boards around obstacles before nailing down. 6 gaps at 0.5mm are better than one gap at 3mm if that is what will make it fit. Also see if you can invent some clamping system. I have when all else failed pulled sash cramps apart and reversed them to push against the opposite wall. I'm sure there are better ways than that but see what you can create. Cheers

  4. #4
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    "off by a 16th" out of square with the wall? 1/16th from a full board? I laid about 1400 sf of 3/4 solid pre-finished hickory in our house. It came out pretty darn good. used cleats and a kobalt branded nailer. after the first few rows, just go for it. cut the pieces at an angle at the wall and cover the gap with the base. if there is no base, use shoe. The biggest thing i learned is that its not going to be perfect everywhere, and only the installer is going to notice. second biggest is that you don't want to end up with a 3/4 wide strip along the longest wall in the house. (though i am the only one who is annoyed by it)

    I did not use clamps. I could have used them in a few places but its probably good to have a small gap here and there for expansion and contraction. Over the past year i have noticed it even out a bit with the seasonal changes.

    I would take out the island and floor under it. Most the the island i have delt with are not really attached to anything, including my own. I gutted the entire main floor and went under everything.

    Do not floor in you dishwasher so that it can only be removed by ripping out the counter-top.

    there is only one transition strip in my whole house as well, a t strip from the master-bath tile to the bedroom. i cut transition pieces out of flooring and groved or splined for direction changes in our bedrooms that are cantilevered and have joists going 90* to the rest of the house.

    get rid of all the squeaks first. I put about 200 screws in the subfloor and spent a good amount of time making sure all the nails were tight, the sub-floor was perfectly clean, and the ply was not raised up at its joints. i used 15 lb felt paper to build up low spots.
    Last edited by Adam Herman; 02-14-2017 at 1:30 PM.

  5. #5
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    Do not floor in you dishwasher so that it can only be removed by ripping out the counter-top.
    That should be inscribed on the door of every dishwasher.

    I would take out the island and floor under it. Most the the island i have delt with are not really attached to anything, including my own.
    As would I....but...I'm also the guy that always wants to take the wall down to the studs also...
    My granddad always said, :As one door closes, another opens".
    Wonderful man, terrible cabinet maker...

  6. #6
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    The 1/16" gap was where two boards either side of the wall were not coplanar. Everything else was as tight as can be, so the gap was noticeable. You are right, can't expect perfection. Just need to convince my son as he is trying to keep his fiancee (her house) happy. She does all the painting so it is done to her expectations. We will have a discussion tonight about floor expectations, she is a reasonable person. The island has had a base cabinet added to it so it is not one piece and of course it has a granite top added after. I have removed as much facing as possible and can't see how it it attached to the floor. I suspect 2x4 cleats (but no screws or nails to the cabinet) so the whole thing including 3'x6' granite top would have to be lifted up and that isn't going to happen. Floor is quite squeak free, that was my first question to them. Leaving the existing 3/4" oak under the dishwasher, did remove it under the stove.
    NOW you tell me...

  7. #7
    Agree with Adam. Time is running out on islands .

  8. #8
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    Haha. I am that guy too... we started by wanting to put in new flooring, face lift the kitchen. Ended up taking out the entire kitchen, a partition wall and a structural wall and moving around all the dang appliances!

  9. #9
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    Both Wayne and Adam are right on. During my carpenter career I spent a lot of time laying floors. One always starts from the center and works toward the walls. Any mistakes should be corrected over many rows rather than all at once. The shimming is necessary because the nailers are made for 3/4 inch standard strip floors. Pros use a straight slot screwdriver to force the planks together for nailing. Re kitchen cabinets and dishwashers, the floor needs to go under them for the aforementioned reasons.
    Bracken's Pond Woodworks[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

  10. #10
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    Sorry. I have no help for you. I wouldn't have laid it out the way you did. But since you've started and nailed one edge, there is little to do except adjust the best you can short of ripping it up and restarting.

    I laid mine out with a carmelized border around the natural field. That was a layout pain - calculating upon the floor plank dimensions. All planks against the wall were ripped or scribed depending upon wall straightness and parallelism. I did pull it off though.
    Shawn

    "no trees were harmed in the creation of this message, however some electrons were temporarily inconvenienced."

    "I resent having to use my brain to do your thinking"

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ole Anderson View Post
    Any tips on how to deal with the alignment issues as we move to our next obstacles? We could rip one side to match, but would loose the tongue. Please, those with experience doing this, not armchair answers.
    Lose the tongue and PL Construction Adhesive the tongueless boards down if that gets rid of the gap. I had to do that when going into a small closet that was kind of in the middle of the room. Not a big deal although it was in a closet and not in normal view. YMMV.
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  12. #12
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    How do you start in the middle of the room when the tongues all run one direction and you can't nail the groove side? With click style that is sometimes possible, but even there you need to start at a wall and run out. Marking from the center and working back to a starting point to even up the edges, I understand. Is that what you are suggesting?

    And we are doing the whole first floor, 5 rooms opening into one another (no doors). So even if I got one room even, who knows how the next room would work out?

    And they are freshening up the house for sale.
    Last edited by Ole Anderson; 02-14-2017 at 6:38 PM.
    NOW you tell me...

  13. #13
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    How about a spline? Biscuits? Dominos?
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  14. #14
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    I laid it all out from one wall and worked across. everything worked out fairly well. if you start in the middle you glue a spline in the groove side and go from there.

    i measured from the wall to each obstical, a short wall, the hallway, my stairs (split level house) and the far wall, divided each measurement by the flooring width, 3.25 for me, and found that i needed to start about 1.25 inches from the first wall. laid a chalk line and nailed the first course. built the rest of the house off that first course and came back later to fill in the gap between the wall and the first course.


    as for your gap. i don't understand why you think you need to line up that board with some imaginary line. if it is against a wall just cut it to the wall. you do not need a full width plank, cut off whatever is in your way. it is actually better to have a full piece notched around a wall or floor vent than it is to try to piece it around. if it is the chalk line you are talking about, if its close who cares? just keep nailing it in tight.

    there is a main area and a hall leading off of that parallel to the direction of my floor. i started at one wall and worked across the room to that point, the first course down the hall i laid a chalk line but paid almost no attention to it, i used an 8 foot level on the previous couple pieces to line up the next one. worked out great all the way down the hall, about 20 feet. Its about conforming the layout of the floor to the house, not making sure all your joints are perfectly parallel. you can fudge here and there and make it up as you go. i did have to backlay a couple closets, but i just used my 16 ga finish nailer and nailed right into the groove. easy peasy.

    one more: don't nail into a glued in spline, the spline will explode. nailing one side of that board is plenty. I found it hard to use the flooring nailer sometimes because of the pressure you create when wacking it. it's great when you are running regular rows and want to tighten up the joints. I used my finish nailer on pieces i needed to get in the right spot.
    Last edited by Adam Herman; 02-14-2017 at 7:00 PM.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Ole Anderson View Post
    How do you start in the middle of the room when the tongues all run one direction and you can't nail the groove side?
    Cut a spline twice the width of a standard tongue and use it to butt two grooves together. Then you have tongues on both "outsides".

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