Need tips on installing hardwood

[ississauga]

I have started installing 3/4" hardwood for my customers on a daily basis.

Since the first and last boards cannot be stapled with the big angular machines like the Bostitch MIIIFS how do you do this? Manuals I read say nail to the face of the hardwood strip and countersinking the nails/screws. While I saw a seasoned installer affix 18 gauge brad nails because I guess that is much faster. Are there better methods and what are they?

One method I tried is to put brad nails to the tongue. But when I try to put 18 ga brads to the tongue the brads only go in properly half the time, rest of the brads don't go in all the way.

Another question is, what tool to use to cut off the 3/4" vertical gap at the bottom of door trim so the hardwood strip can squeeze in under the trim?

[mgg]

and what are they?>>

Face nail anything you can't blind nail, and fill with a matching color. Since they are on the perimeter of the floor, it's hardly noticed (if at all).

the trim?I have started installing 3/4" hardwood for my customers on a daily

[dadiOH]

Believe the manual. Nicest way IMO is screws, fill the hole with a face grain plug made from the same stock as the floor. Be sure to fasten the first board FIRMLY so it doesn't deflect when you fasten the next (I screw down the first three boards). Also make sure that they are dead straight...they determine how all the rest go.

Any thin bladed saw without set teeth like the small Japanese saws meant for cutting off plugs and the like. Less than $10 at Harbor Freight.

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[willshak]

If there is going to be a baseboard and shoe installed, which would cover 1" to 1-1/2" of the flooring up to the wall, face nail the first and last board within that allowance, so that the baseboard and shoe will hide the face nail heads. Don't forget to leave the flooring recommended expansion gap at the wall.

They make a special saw to cut off the bottom of trim. The blade lays flat on the floor material and the handle is doglegged so that your hand is off the material. Just lay a scrap piece of the floor material up to the trim so that you get the proper height of the cut, and saw off the trim flush with the floor piece. __________ |_handle__| \_________________

[Eric Ryder]

The first board gets facenailed and tongue toe-nail with an angled-magazine

16 gauge finish nailer (or Tee-nails aligned with the grain) with 6d nails. Succeeding courses get toenailed only with the finish nailer until the Bostich gun shoe has room to play. On the other side of the room, the finish nailer can reach a few more courses after the gun is done. The last few get face only - you can pry them nice and tight with a bar and a few scraps of flooring without damage. The 18 ga fasteners are too weak for angled nailing in hardwoods IMO. Try borrowing or renting a gun before you buy. Pop the rubber nose protector off - turn the gun to get the closest angle of attack when toenailing (this will eliminate most unsunk nails). FWIW, I've used the Bostich gun: many times for this.

For the occasional job, a Japanese pullsaw and a scrap of flooring will work on those casings. The pros prefer to cut casings, jambs and sometimes baseboards. You need a jambsaw for clipping casings in a production installation environment. Here's one option:

check out the toekick saw on this page.

Good luck, Eric

[Nova]

If you're installing hardwood flooring on a daily basis you might want to consider purchasing a jamb/undercut saw. An example can be found at the following URL:

Novak Buffalo, NY - USA (Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

[willshak]

find a link earlier.

[Ba r r y]

You don't need a special saw if you use a scrap. It dosen't matter if the scrap gets gouged.

Any dovetail, Ryoba, gent's, or small back saw that will fit will undercut trim.

Barry

[mark]

If you do a lot of it, Bosch makes an electric version.