laying T&G oak floorboards through a doorway.....

[RichardS]

Right, having abandoned the idea of widening the double doorway between the two downstairs reception rooms I am currently getting on with the job of actually laying the new floor.

They're 145mm wide T&G oak boards that are going down, and I've started from the primary reference wall in the first room.

When I reach the doorway, these boards will be laid through it and into the next room so that there is no disconnect.

However, the second room will then have an area between the doorway and the wall.

Now, as I'm nailing through the tongues I cannot lay the boards in reverse order.

Any ideas how I can ensure that the boards are laid tightly together working from the wall in the second room towards the doorway, so that there isn't an unsightly gap of a couple of mm that would inevitably ensue from loose-laying, marking and measuring, etc?

Don Bollinger's book on hardwood floors suggests reversing the boards and inserting a slip tongue in the joining section, but in this caase what do I use as the slip tongue? Some ripped-down ply?

Any suggestions gratefully received....

cheers Richard

-- Richard Sampson

email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

[M. Damerell]

[snip]

Sooner or later you will need to raise some boards to reach (e.g.) pipes underneath.

Maybe a local timber yard would agree to cut a board with 2 tongues?

or maybe lay 2 boards groove-to-groove and cut a double tongue from hardboard?

[Nick Finnigan]

You will, of course, find that 'start' wall in the second room does not align with the reference wall in the first room.

I would lay and nail first room to the doorway, then lay a row or two without nailing. Line up and back-fit in room two (without nailing). Now nail down the boards in room two, until they meet up in the doorway, almost.

[RichardS]

Yup, I can guarantee that the wall in the second room doesn't align with the first room....

I had kind of envisaged doign as you suggest. The one thing that puts me off doing this is that with the best will and most carful laying out and fixing in the world, they're still going to move by the odd millimetre whilst I'm fixing then down.

Couple of cumulative errors along the way with the 4 or 5 lengths that need to be laid between the door and the second wall, and there is an unsightly gap running along the length of the floor in the second room.

I'll give it a dry run tomorrow and see that the outcome is...

cheers Richard

-- Richard Sampson

email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

[jerrybuilt]

Something like that, yes. It's the best and simplest solution!

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