Cutting Wood Floor

[Bernie Hunt]

I need to cut a wood floor between two rooms so I can replace the floor in one room. Normally I would use a circular saw and stright edge, but what do I do near the wall where the shoe of the circular saw will get in the way? I need a nice straight cut because this will be in a very noticeable location.

Is there a special saw for this or any suggestions?

Bernie

[DanG]

You do not say what the old floor is. I assume it is hardwood based on your reference to using a circular saw.

This is one of life's no-fun jobs. Cut as much as possible with the circular saw. The remainder of the cut requires something different. Choices: Dremel type tool Roto Zip type tool Sawzall Utility knife and sharp chisel. Bosch makes a straight blade finish saw. See:

Kett makes a great trim saw, though it won't go the whole way either:

(top posted for your convenience) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) [e-mail]

[Pop]

HTH, Pop

[Duane Bozarth]

Didn't say which way the cut is in relation to orientation of flooring nor what is the end objective/need for cut so can't comment much on exact solution.

However, removing baseboard should allow to get close enough to wall w/ above suggestions to hide the joint under the baseboard when replaced. Adding a shoe mould when done is another trick.

[Bernie Hunt]

Whopps! Yes it's a hardwood floor.

Bernie

[Joey]

Bernie,

I good recipicating saw with a good blade will cut right up to the edge but I would still use the circular saw to get the rest. They make a thin pry bar that is flat and about two inches wide which will save you a lot of time getting those boards up. Also consider getting a good nail puller that sorta looks like a pair of pliers. You'll be glad you have that when pulling nails in hard to get to places.

Joey

Bernie Hunt wrote:

[Bernie Hunt]

Duane,

I need to cut the floor into two section at a doorway to seperate the room's floor from the hall floor. It will be a cross cut at an angle, due to the positioning of the door. Unfortunately the trim that I would have to remove is the actually door jamb, so that not real practical.

Basically I need to cute across the saddle of the doorway seperating the floor into two pieces, that inside the room and that outside the room.

Bernie

[jjfxcfc]

What I've done in this situation: if the cut is near the baseboard, OH SO GENTLY pry the baseboard up and loose. Then use a variable speed jig at the 2nd lowest speed with a 0-clearance blade, almost score the floor surface by rotating the jig into the floor. The ending of the cuts will be hidden by the baseboard (channel out the hidden edge if necessary). Use a straightedge or mitre hand saw to complete the cuts. Good luck

[RicodJour]

Yes to both.

The special saw in a Japanese version is called an Azebiki:

version is simply called a floor or flooring saw: One tip is to weight down a piece of straight wood on the _good_ side of the cut so that one edge is directly over the line to be cut. Use this as a straightedge to guide the handsaw. Use a good bit of weight so it doesn't move and pull slow and straight. Let the saw do the work. You'll need to cut the extreme corners with a sharp chisel.

The biggest part of this job is avoiding the nails that are holding the strips in place. Encountering one nail can make a simple cut into a big chore. I use a rare earth magnet (very strong and salvaged from an old hard drive) to locate the nails prior to cutting.

R

[Bernie Hunt]

Unfortunately I'm cutting up the door jamb, so I can't pry that out, hahahaha. At least the plan wasn't to also replace the door.

Bernie

[Bernie Hunt]

Thanks R!

Bernie