Hi,
I have a suspended floor which I am intending to lay hardowwd floor on the existing boards - should I lay anything in between for isulation? Is it common practice to do this ?
Also - is there any specific tools for nailing the wood in - I know that they must be nailed at an angle through the tounge ?? Any good web pages with advice on this ?
Cheers
Joe.
Just been there and done that. In my case, however, I didn't want to raise the floor level so I took the old boards up and fixed the new ones to the joists.
I put polystyrene insulation in between the joists, leaving a gap for air circulation between the insulation and the new boards (I was worried about minimising cupping and twisting due to uneven moisture variations). The combination of the insulation and the fact that this stuff is T&G as opposed to the old square edged boards has made a big difference in the room (well, it seems like it has anyway).
The tool that you want to fix the boards is something called a PortaNailer. It's a frame thing with a piston that accepts lightly glued together rows of cut floor nails. You hit the head of the piston with a (supplied) mallet and it knocks the nail through the tongue at a 45 degree angle in 2 to 3 strikes. If you want to be really flash you could always hire a compressor driven nail gun for the task, but it's really not necessary.
To buy they're £200 to £300, so the local independent hire shop is your friend (phone around - hire prices vary).
Good luck!
-- Richard Sampson
email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk
In reply RichardS wrote: [snipped]>
PortaNailer.
I did this on a solid floor over existing boards, and put a type of compressed fibre sheeting between new hardwood and existing boards. It evens out any imperfections and reduces noise, but you may not need it.
I hired a Portanailer for about £30/week: on a large room it takes some time to do this job and get it right. Do check they have supplied the correct nails with the device: my hire shop didn't first time and it took me a wasted hour to work out why I couldn't get it to work. There is a certain knack and rhythm to hitting the thing which comes quickly after doing a few boards, and it is important to get it lined up correctly and firmly pressed against the edge of the board with your foot. The finished result is IMO well worth it. HTH mutley
Hi,
I guess first point is - make sure you either know where the joists are so you can nail into them or make sure your existing boards are thick enough to properly hold the nails (and the new floor) down.
As for nailing the wood, I found that my solid maple floorboards (18mm) were prone to splitting so I pilot drilled every hole before nailing (by hand) - a nailer wouldn't do this for you. I needed a drift to drive the nails fully home. Needless to say, it took a while but it is a lovely job.
As for insulation - no idea, I was straight on to joists. And finally, invest in some knee pads!.
Alan.
Gel ones are good.......
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
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