3/4 hardwood flooring

[jim sauterer]

any flooring guys out there.i have installed hardwood flooring before but only in one room.i have a friend who wants her whole first floor done in 3/4 tongue and groove oak.my question is layout.there is living room dining room that runs to a stairway and hall.off the hall is 3 bedrooms.where would you start laying the main room.any help or direction appreciated.thanks jim.

[Jim Rimmer]

A rough sketch of the layout might help.

[Al Burton]

It really depends on the layout but if possible I would choose the larger room with an exterior wall. If you need to reverse the direction you are laying or have a backfill area glue a spline in the grove, nail through it and you are reversed. Exterior walls are usually straighter than interior walls making them a good starting point if you can get a long run in.

From my understanding if you are doing very wide areas it isn't a bad idea to reverse the tongue either since wood moves across the face in width the boards also have a tendency to follow the tongue side.

Here are a couple of good sites and forums for hardwood:
http://hardwoodflooringtalk.com/forum/

http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwoodinstaller/diy-pages.htm

I'm not a flooring expert by any means but I have put quite a it down. That is what got me more interested in woodworking actually. The sites above were a big help to me the first time I did it,

[jim sauterer]

jim not computer savvy kind of guy to do a sketch.my big concern like al stated i have a big room that meets the hallway.how square the walls are in the house.i have no idea yet i am going to chalk some lines off both the outside wall and the hall wall to see how square it is.i like your idea al about reversing direction that might be my fix.thanks jim.

[Charlie Gummer]

Hi Jim,

I am also not an expert by any stretch of the imagination but I am just in the final stages of laying 3/4" maple in the upper floor of our split level house. ~1100 S.F. includes the living room, dining 'room', main hall and three bedrooms.

I don't have a sketch handy, I'll try and describe my layout. We have a traditional split level: the front door opens onto a landing with a stairwell leading up to the main floor and one leading down to the daylight basement. At the top of the upper flight of stairs you face the dining area with the living room to your left and the hallway to your right. Turning right (into the hallway) you see that the hallway terminates in one bedroom (nursery). The master bedroom is on the left side of the hallway, the third bedroom on the right.

I had a couple of design goals in mind when laying the floor:

1. No thresholds. I wanted continuous runs of floor throughout the living room, dining room, hallway and bedrooms. This usually means starting in the middle somewhere.

2. Since I was planning to put wood on the stairs I wanted to lay out my first row such that I would have a full width board to meet the bullnose at the top step.

Here's how I met these goals. There is a straight shot from one end of the living room, down the hallway, to the far wall of the nursery. As this is my longest continuous run of floor I chose this line as my starting point. I measured from the exterior wall (usually the best chance of square) of the dining area and master bedroom and snapped my chalk line. Again, this line ran through the middle of the the hallway, from the living room to the nursery.

I started my first row by jointing one edge of a 1x6 which I then temporarily screwed down along my chalk line. The 1x6 gave me a solid support surface to nail the first few rows against.

I first worked towards the stairwell and the third bedroom. I found that 1/4" ply worked perfectly as 'loose tongues' to switch directions and work towards the dining area / master bedroom.

Hopefully this is helpful, if it's at all confusing I can try and dig up some sketches I made before starting.

However you decide to layout make sure you do not skimp on flattening the subfloor. Specifications vary somewhat depending on the flooring manufacturer but it's common to see a requirement for 1/8" over 6' or 3/16" over 10'. Remember; FLAT, not level. I found the harbor freight 6' level (used as a straightedge) to be very valuable. Also remember to insure that your fried has the proper subfloor material.

Hope this helps.

Charlie

[jim sauterer]

thanks charlie sounds like we have same layout.were you able to meet the stairnose to the flooring.this floor is prefinished that is my concern.i dont want to rip anything and ruin the finish.this was very helpful.thanks again jim.

[Charlie Gummer]

thanks charlie sounds like we have same layout.were you able to meet the stairnose to the flooring.this floor is prefinished that is my concern.i dont want to rip anything and ruin the finish.this was very helpful.thanks again jim.

No problem Jim. I am also using pre-finished flooring. I was successful with the bullnose. The bullnose was the first piece I installed on the upper floor. I temporarily clamped the bullnose and then (also temporarily) laid in rows until I reached the middle of the hallway. I used these temporary pieces to take my measurement from the exterior walls in an attempt to insure the floor would be as square as possible with both the bullnose and the long walls. The bullnose gives you some flexibility in squaring it to the rest of the floor.

[jim sauterer]

charlie this is bruce floor is the stairnose tongue and groove also.i have not seen it yet.thanks again jim.

[David Helm]

I have been a professional floor installer in my past life. I would definitely run a line parallel to the longest living room wall that goes down the center of the hallway. Start laying floor on this line and go both directions, splining as the previous poster stated. This way, any rips to make up for unparallel walls happen at the wall and not in the middle of any run. You'll always have to face nail as you get close to walls. Incidently, be sure to rent an air nailer (angle) rather than a manual one. Your body will thank you.

[Charlie Gummer]

charlie this is bruce floor is the stairnose tongue and groove also.i have not seen it yet.thanks again jim.

I'm using Artisan but I doubt it makes a difference; the stairnose is grooved to accept the tongue of the regular flooring.

I'll second the air nailer. I knew I'd be taking longer then would be economically feasible to rent, a coworker recommended the Central Pneumatic 2-in-1 from HF which I picked up for $130. Best investment of the project...not a single jam.

Cheers,
Charlie

[jim sauterer]

i have a manual porta nailer but there is 900 sq. feet of flooring.will see if my old bones can handle it if not i will try to find one on craigslist.thanks again for the info.