If you have installed hardwood what mistakes have you made? The hardwood I am installing is the 3/4 inch thick type, about 2-3 inches wide, oak and maple mostly, finished type.
I am installing hardwood flooring for my customers. There is a big demand for it here, as many people want me to replace their carpets with hardwood. I have being reading books and now work with a professional installer but there is nothing like learning from mistakes.
I'm hardly an expert, but I would say a mistake would be to not make sure the paying customer understands that humidity related shrinkage gaps are to be expected. Maybe a mockup showing what it will look like in the winter is in order.
Is ississauga related to Mississauga?
-> I'm hardly an expert, but I would say a mistake would be to not make sure
-> the paying customer understands that humidity related shrinkage gaps are to
-> be expected. Maybe a mockup showing what it will look like in the winter is
-> in order.
Or maybe it should be installed in the winter? Or would that lead to buckling in the summer?
Im no floor pro but wood has to stabilise to interior humidity and be dry to a specific %. Get a moisture meter and call the mnfg for specs. Do it wrong and you may be paying later to redo it.
Or take the opportunity to sell them a furnace humidifier as well. It has worked wonders for our house and furniture, and an added benefit is that you are less susceptible to colds. FWIW,
Greg G.
My mistake was to use the wrong fasteners, get a proper flooring installation tool and my experience would be to recommend staples. There are
2 or 3 brands of flooring staplers available out there.
Assure that your first courses are dead straight and very firmly fastened.
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Not really a mistake, but remove the base trim before installing the flooring, unlike all the TV experts I've seen. A piece of 1/4 round chunked onto the last board looks tacky to me.
Build in the time to remove and re-install the trim, or maybe upsell them to a nice oak trim that matches the flooring. Either way, yank the old stuff.
The key to avoiding seasonal shrinkage is, as said above, moisture content. Buy it from a supplier where you know it hasn't been sitting around picking up moisture in warehouses or conatainers. If it's dried right, there should be no problems. If the supplier says this is normal...go somewhere else.
Is such 3/4" thick flooring like this tongue and groove, or just straight sided? Do you use those hammer type floor nailers? I'd think Oak would be pretty hard to do with those big flat floor nails.
John "gots a lot of rough sawn oak and a carpet that needs replacing"
Yes (normally) _________________
That or one using air _________________
Not if you avoid the Bostich nailer and use the Porta Nailer one...it has a ratchet that holds the ram down until the nail (serrated cleat, actually) is totally seated. That means you can whack it more than once; with the Bostich, one whack is all you get, terrible tool.
-- dadiOH _____________________________
dadiOH's dandies v3.0... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at
A-men!
JSH
Use glue (Liquid nails subfloor or similar) and plugged screws for thresholds and stair nosing. These boards get torqued and the nails or staples will loosen over time.
Mitch
I prefer to do both, remove the base and install the 1/4 round. I like a three piece base, consisting of a flat board, the 1/4 round, and a moulded trim on top of the flat piece. In some rooms, the flat board looks great if it's 6-8 inches tall.
Barry
My biggest mistake was using a trigger-activated air stapler rather than a mallet-activated air stapler.
I rented a pnuematic flooring stapler that required the big hammer swing. It helps tighten up the wood as you are nailing. I have used the old fashion non power assisted where you wack the heck out of the nailer. The pnuematic assist is much easier but you still get a workout.
All the floor>Is such 3/4" thick flooring like this tongue and groove, or just
I hope you don't mean directly under the hardwood. I wouldn't want a vapor barrier between the hardwood and the subfloor. The usual thing is to use rosin paper between the hardwood and the subfloor.
-al sung
basement/crawl space.
too.
wouldn't want a vapor
thing is to use
a basement slab is not a sub floor... untreaded wood against concrete with no vapor barrier rots
Phil Scott
Uhm.. How many concrete slabs have a crawlspace beneath them?
: )
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