Hardwood floors

[leftfield6]

Anyone out there tackled a hardwood floor on their own? We want to rip out the carpet and replace it with pre-finished Bruce flooring, but not the laminate. It's the regular 3/4 inch stuff, not the snap-together floating style.

We had our dining room done about a year ago, paid someone to do it, but when I watched them do it, it didn't seem that hard. Seems like pretty basic carpenter skills.

I'm no professional carpenter, but I'm pretty handy around the house. As an example, I just finished rebuilding our elevated 12X24 deck, including new decking, rails, and joists. Came out great! Building inspector said it looked better than many professional jobs he looks at.

To do our downstairs, it would be one large room (14x22), one hallway, one 1/2 bath, and two closets. The materials are going to cost me about $2500, and I've been quoted around that same amount for labor to have it done by the same guys who did our dining room. Would like to save those dollars by doing it myself.

Sooooo, any advice from someone who has tackled this??

[RnEmOvr]

ive helped my dad, and if you can do the deck you should be able to do the floor, go to home depot or lowes and get a how-to book on flooring

[leftfield6]

Originally Posted by dzntzhellfire

ive helped my dad, and if you can do the deck you should be able to do the floor, go to home depot or lowes and get a how-to book on flooring

Yeah, I got a couple of the books, just looking for some real life experience. The problem with the books is that it sometimes looks like stuff is easier than it really is.

If Home Depot is involved in writing the book, my opinion is that OF COURSE they want it to look easy to do, since they want you to load up your cart with materials, tools, etc, and make their cash register ring!

[Glass]

I found it very easy. Make sure you get the first row straight. If you dont, the further you go the more it will be off. Buy your own nail gun, that way you can go at your own leisure and not worry about rental time. We chose Harris Tarkett pre-finished. Good luck!

[LandRover]

I installed over 1000 square feet of Bruce 3/4 inch pre-finished hardwood in my house last summer. Let me know if you have other questions...

Are you doing the 'plank' (3 1/4 inch wide) or the 'strip' style floor? I did the planks.

I had done small hardwood jobs before, but never solid wood or nail-down. I had only done the glued, free-floating, pergo type stuff. I think the nail-down is easier.

The biggest part of the job is the floor prep. Make sure you're totally level. I used a monster scraper to get any imperfection off of the subfloor (3/4 inch plywood), especially along seams. Small dents are OK, so don't be afraid to hack up the subfloor a bit at the seams. Anything is better than an uneven seam, so scrape, sand, or whatever to even out the seams. I used red rosin paper as a moisture barrier over the subfloor. You can also use roofing felt. You can double up the paper/felt to compensate for minor changes in subfloor height.

Figure out which way you want to run the floor, and then take into consideration if the room you're doing attaches to the hallway, etc..you want to run the planks length-wise down the hallway probably, so that will dictate how it will run in the other rooms/closets. The first row is key...slap a chalk line that looks parallel to the wall you're starting on, and then measure out from that chalk line towards the opposite wall and snap another chalk line at that wall...see if that chalk line is truly parallel to the second wall...most houses aren't really square. Adjust both lines until they are exactly parallel with each other and as close as you can get to parallel with both walls. You don't want to have to do any weird angled ripping of the final row of planks. Remember that baseboards will cover at least a 1/4 inch gap along the walls. You want to leave about that anyway, to allow for expanding/contracting of the wood.

On the first row, take your sweet time and make sure you are exactly on that chalk line. You have to face nail the first row by hand, most nailers/staplers won't reach that close to the wall. You'll get really good with a nail set/punch by the end of the project . The nailer may not be able to get the second row either, but you can angle nail this row by hand into the tongue of the wood. Did I mention that you have to start with the groove facing the wall and the toungue facing out? The nails go through the tongue at an angle, which you probably knew if you watched someone do it. Anyway, you can hand nail through the tongue with finishing nails, until you get far enough away from the wall for the nailer to work. Same thing on the opposite wall, my nailer couldn't do the last two or three rows...had to do them by hand. The strip right by the wall has to be face-nailed, just use the punch and don't miss.

Otherwise it's pretty self-explanatory...use the scraps you cut to start or finish rows, and make sure to stagger your seams at least 6 inches or so. Those boards come in various lengths, so it's easy to find a way to space your seems out. Close seems just look funny.

Now this is the most important part: tell your wife that this job will be impossible if you don't purchase a new air compressor, tons of air hose, and a floor nailer. I got a huge compressor out of the deal, and it still saved us thousands over having someone else do it.

I also bought this nailer from harbor freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93197
It uses the 2 inch staples as opposed to the nails. Worked like a champ and was way cheaper than renting one. A year later and the floor is holding up great. I was a little nervous about the staples instead of nails, but once you see those suckers you will have no doubt. You just have to space them a little closer together than you would nails. Every 6-8 inches or so.

You definately want an air gun and not a manual one...way too much work with the manual.

have fun.

Edit: I was advised not to do wood in the bathroom because of the moisture. I wasn't doing a bathroom anyway, but you might want to take that into consideration. I would be hesitant to put it in front of a bath or a shower, a half bath with a toilet/sink should be fine. I did put it in the kitchen and have had no problems with moisture...If you need to put it in front of a shower, I'd use a serious bath-mat.

[greenmachine99]

I work for a contactor and have done alot of hardwood floors. If you can put a puzzle together, you can lay a hardwood floor. Make sure you start on a good square wall, lay down the red paper you can find at homedepot or lowes in the flooring isle. Dont put down tar paper as it will dry out and squeek over time. Go rent, or buy a bostich flooring nailer. Make sure you get the nailer because they make a stapler but the nails are ring shanked and hold alot better. Get a backsaw to do all the door jambs and the casing around the door jamb. Lay a piece of flooring face down so you dont scratch it and use that as a guide to cut the jambs and casings so the flooring slides under them. Lay the floor, install any transition pieces you may need, and put down the 1/4 round and your done! Oh, yeah you'll have to hand nail the first 2-3 rows and the last 3-4 rows because you cant fit the nail gun close to a wall. Good luck!

[leftfield6]

Cool, thanks for the info. I've already got a compressor, so that battle won't have to be fought. A complication I do have to deal with is the subfloor. It's Oriented Strand Board (OSB), which doesn't hold nails/staples very well, from what google-searching told me.

Bruce (the floor manufacturer, not the Boss from Jersey ) says OSB is "acceptable, but not recommended" whatever the hell that means.

In this case I beleive the spiral shank nails are a better bet to hold without squeaking, right??

[LandRover]

Originally Posted by hiram6

In this case I beleive the spiral shank nails are a better bet to hold without squeaking, right??

Definately. Don't do the staples in that stuff. Nails will probably be fine. From what I read before I did mine, that stuff is fine to use...it's particle board that's a major no-no.
I'd do the nails for sure though...plywood has held the staples fine with no squeaks, but better safe than sorry...

[greenmachine99]

Alot of nails are actually glue coated also.

[Matt Gertsch]

My dad and I did their kitchen and dining room in Bruce hardwood. The glue is sort of a pain in the butt, but other than that, rent a compressor and a floor nailer and it's a piece of cake.

[Rule303]

I've done a whole house of the 3/4" unfinished stuff, which basically goes down the same I think. Shouldnt be hard. Just lay it all out in your mind first. Think everything through. And use the proper tools. If you can build a deck you can do that stuff. How much a foot you paying for that Bruce? I'm going to be adding on to my current homes Bruce flooring sometime. Depot and Lowe's seemed high.

[leftfield6]

Best quote I've gotten is $4.85 sq/ft for the Fulton Strip "Butterscotch" to match what we have in our dining room. We'll need about $2500 worth of the stuff, I'm placing the order later today. I've got to calculate how much 1/4 round I need, how many and what type of transition pieces, and order all of it at the same time. We'll starrt moving furniture around tomorrow. That'll be fun, we have an entertainment armoire/bookshelf thing that is freakin' huge, and a piano. Yea!

[PKariher]

I just looked at Ineternetfloors.com. I bought my last set from them. They were listing the price at $2.53/SF.

[stilltippin]

i put this hardwood in the back of the jeep, i have put down laminates in a house too- and they dont look nearly as good as the real thing