Install hardwood flooring
TV ClubHouse: Archive: Install hardwood flooring
Bob2112 | Monday, October 21, 2002 - 08:25 pm     Hey Weiner! When you eventaully get that wonderful new molding, can you get some extra for me and then come over and install it? Seems pulling off the old molding is both easier and cheaper than buying and installing new molding! I've been trying to sell my wife on the idea that the floor looks good with out molding or quarter round, but she's much smarter than me. |
Sia | Monday, October 21, 2002 - 08:46 pm     Weiner, you want to let the flooring lay flat in its boxes, unopened is fine, for at least two days on the floor where it will be installed before you begin the installation. This allows the material to flatten out if it's been stored on-end (which, imo, it should NOT have been) and to gradually come to the temperature of the flooring where it will be used. The moisture content should NOT need to change dramatically, as it should have been stored indoors in a heated building and not in an unheated warehouse for optimum results. Lay the pieces out before you actually begin fastening anything together. You want to make the knotholes, if any, appear randomly and not all in a bunch. Likewise, you need to stagger the ends like you lay rows of bricks so that the ends don't all fall at the same place: __________ ___________ _____________ _____ __________ _________ _________ __________ ___________ _____________ Of course, you already knew that! Oh, and make sure the supplier has other boxes available of the color you selected in case you need more unexpectedly and have to finish the job; plan your installation around the hours the store is open, LOL! I bought three boxes of "champagne oak" on close-out, as the color had been discontinued. Had the installers mis-cut or miscalculated the number of boxes I needed, I would have been in a world of trouble and with mismatched colors to finish the job!! There were two narrow strips and a handful of short scraps left over from my hallway job. They cut it close! |
Loppes | Monday, October 21, 2002 - 11:08 pm     Karuuna, Couple of things. It sounds like the black underlay used between the wood floor and plywood isn't the best. Probably cost too much to take the floor up and replace it. Prior to the underlay, the actual plywood floor should have been sanded and all nails retacked to ensure they don't "pop up" over time. Part of your probably may be resulting from the plywood having been wet thereby loosening some nails, which will cause the planks to rise. From what you post, the moisture triggered the problem. Why does it buckle? When a professional installs a hardwood plank floor, he will leave an approximate 1/2" gap between the plank and the walls. If the previous owners self installed the floor, they may have abutted the planks right up to the wall. Walls are exposed to the outside, they move in and out through the different temperatures and seasons. It sounds like a combination of these have occured with you. When the plank is butted right to the wall, there is no "breathing space" for the wood which expands and contracts. It also depends on whether the planks were glued and nailed. If they are only glued, this has added to the buckle. Someone mentioned you should try screw up from the plywood. This isn't a good idea, simply because the screw tip cud drive itself up through the planks. Its best to screw down, and fill the top indention of the screw cap with a special wood filler. A key recommendation to anyone installing a wood floor, is the purchase of a humidifier to maintain a stable moisture level in the house. Wood breathes, if its too dry it will contract, if too moist it expands. I don't think I've offered solutions, but indicators of what the combination of problems may be for you. Sia, In fact when installing a hardwood floor, the planks should be climatized in the home for 10 days and not 2 days. I know its cumbersome but that is the general rule a good professional installer goes by, because it creates a more realistic marriage between the wood and the home climate. The overall key to a good solid installation of any hardwood floor is to be meticulous about a glass like sanding of the plywood underneath, and to get the best underlay between the plywood and the hardwood. Second, to ensure you leave that gap between the flooring and the walls. When the floor is installed, your floor to wall mouldings should cover that space, so it looks finished. Third, any tongue and groove is best nailed in addition to glue. There are special nailers you can rent to do this. Eventually just glue alone can cause further gaps between plank floors. Fourth, to repeat again, ensure the moisture content is stable by using a humidifer attached to either a furnace or as a "stand-alone". This is key to ensure the planks don't move as much. Lon |
Sia | Monday, October 21, 2002 - 11:19 pm     Loppes, would you please consider coming to my house to live here as my personal handyman? We could have a relationship kind of like the one that existed between Murphy Brown and Eldon, LOL. I want you on-staff full-time. You are very well-versed in flooring, fella, and I'll bet you're good at lots of home repairs! The installers told me to put my laminate flooring in the room where it would be installed for only two days before they came out to put the stuff down, but I think it put it there right away. Oh, does it make a difference that what was put in my hallway is just that plastic-laminate stuff that LOOKS like wood but isn't nearly as expensive? This is man-made stuff, not real wood. I have hardwood floor in the bedroom and need to get it refinished. That's going to be a major job. The bedroom is about 20 x 30 feet and is FULL of furniture! What type of sander would be best for preparing the bedroom floor? Thanks in advance. |
Tess | Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - 12:03 am     Sia, I would recommend a sander which comes attached to a handyperson. Who the heck wants to get all dusty? |
Tess | Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - 12:06 am     Weiner, you're going to need a chart or spreadsheet or something pretty soon to keep track of all these floor installing rules. |
Sia | Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - 04:14 am     ROTFL, Tess! Right! I know I need a sander, but I don't know if a person would want the disc-type that is operated while standing or a belt-type operated while standing or a belt-sander that is operated by hand (hence, on hands-and-knees, which would prevent me from doing it). I'm certainly not doing a room that big with a hand-held pad-sander!! I love your suggestion about the sander attached to the handy guy. That's what I was suggesting to Loppes! The flooring company gave me the name of a man who refinishes wood floors. I haven't called yet; we're not ready for that--too much other stuff to do first. Weiner, you may want to throw up your hands and contract the job out after getting all this advice, LOL!  |
Loppes | Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - 01:43 pm     Sia, Lol, if you can reprogram my 7 year old daughter from being a tomboy into liking dresses once in a while, we have a deal. By the way speaking of sanding. Anyone out there who has those Parquet floors, with 4 blocks to a 1' square. You've probably been told they can never be sanded and refinished. Not True! Take a belt sander to remove the polyurethane coating initially, then sand to the wood. Recoat with 4 coats of Diamond quality urethane and it will once again look like a million bucks. If you are resanding hardwood floors, to try contain the dust, just plastic off your door entrances and floor vents. I learned in detail about installation of hardwood floors when I had a professional install 3/4" oak planks through my main floor. His name was Juan, he had installed various wood floors in South America prior to moving to Canada. Juan talked lots, I had no choice but to listen. Lon |
Abbynormal | Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - 03:11 pm     Lon, thanks for the parquet tips. We have that in our foyer, hall and 2 bedrooms. I would love regular planks, but can't justify taking all that up just to put another wood down. The bedrooms look great, but the hall and foyer have had 10 years of skateboarding, inline skating, and any other abuse 3 boys can come up with. My DH has always freaked but I just go with, hey people live here! Adds character I think. |
Sia | Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - 03:20 pm     You have a deal, Loppes. You and your daughter are welcome any time!!! My little girl just LOVES dresses and wore one Sunday outdoors just to play in, barefoot, and the temperature felt below 50 degrees. We are girly-girls here! |
Loppes | Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - 04:53 pm     Abby, If your parquet in foyer isn't a great space, you can easily do it yourself. Go to HomeDepot, (well maybe now is a bad time to go there in the USA), but pick up a Makita Palm Sander, just get rough grid sandpaper to begin then as u continue go to finer sandpaper. The great thing about the Palm Sander's is a little bag which sucks up the dust/debris as you sand. Its electric works like a dream and under $100 or $50 dollars. p.s. I assume this part of your floor did not receive any damage from the infamous Sock? Lon |
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