I've cut out about 1 metre square of floorboards at my front door after water had been getting in and had rotted the original floor boards. I've replaced them with new ones which are a tight fit!
Should I cut off a couple of mm to allow for expansion?
Is it ok to screw these boards in as apposed to nail in?
Cheers.
Your boards are more likely to shrink than expand as they dry out inside the house.
I always use screws as you can remove them without smashing the wood. Buy an electric screwdriver and a good selection of cross point screws. I only use nails for things like door facings and skirting boards.
Drill a pilot hole through the floorboard first, make the size very slightly smaller than the shank of the screw. If after you've removed the screw several times the hole in the joist is too big, then plug it and re-screw as before. Far better than nails.
Chris.
|I've cut out about 1 metre square of floorboards at my front door after=20 |water had been getting in and had rotted the original floor boards. |I've replaced them with new ones which are a tight fit! | |Should I cut off a couple of mm to allow for expansion?
Yes they may get damp again and swell.
|Is it ok to screw these boards in as apposed to nail in?
Much better to screw flooring, with Posidrive heads, drill hole on the board, countersink, and power driver, than to nail. You are sure to = want them up again, even if you can never see it happening ;-)
--=20 Dave Fawthrop
17,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg!
No.
Yes. If they're at all subject to damp, use rust-proof screws (not BZP).
Presumably you've cured the water ingress problem? It's moisture in the wood that will cause it to expand, so assuming a normal warm dry house, the boards are more likely to contract than expand. So, no.
Yes - opinions vary but IMHO it's usually preferable anyway because (a) they are less likely to loosen off with time and start creaking (especially in a high-traffic area like this) and (b) screws can easily be undone to lift the boards if you ever need to.
David
Thanks all for the advice. The water was caused by a bad fitting old wooden front door. When it is wet and windy the rain tends to batter against the door and was obviously just running down it and soaking in to the floorboards.
We are about to change the door for some UPVC number so that should hopefully cure the water problem.
Sounds like a good idea but screwed down boards eventually become much harder to remove than nailed ones. They rust in unless you use brass , the slots get rounded over or filled up, they get jammed tight due to board movement etc. Also screws look messy. Neatest and easiest to remove are boards nailed with round lost-head flooring brads, if you cut the boardtongues off before you put them down. You wont need expansion gaps unless the area is very damp in which case you've got problems anyway. New floor boards are usually cramped as tight as possible but they always shrink a bit unless exceptionally dry to start with.
cheers Jacob
PS basic rule of good woodwork anywhere; never use a screw if a nail will do. Nails are cheaper, neater, quicker and can be easier to remove
- or the item easier to pull apart.
Jacob, pardon me but WTFlip are they? If they're round nails beloved of '60s construction, they don't hold, if they're ovals, then I cannot remenmnber what I was going tro say.,
Yup.
And.
They look like ovals but they are round in section with flat small heads which end up neat and flush with the surface. Suprising how lots of DIYers have never heard of them but they are used a lot and are best for floors IMO.
cheers
Jacob
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