Hardwood Flooring questions

[Colin Williams]

I'm installing a hardwood floor for my folks, and have a few questions. The flooring is 3/4" unfinished fir flooring. Since I've never installed a hardwood floor, I've been using this http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/flooring/hardwood/wh_oak1/stapled.htm as a reference. In the guide they mention that I should leave a 1/2" gap around the perimeter of the boards to allow for expansion. However, there are two entryways in the room at the perimeter.

Is it absolutely necessary to leave this gap? I believe it would look strange at the doorway(s), where I cannot cover with molding. Can I instead just leave a gap at two ends? Should I crank the heat in the cabin so the boards expand before I lay the flooring?

In the reference they also use counter sunk deck screws to secure the end boards, and cover the sink holes with wood plugs. Is this a common practice when installing the flooring? My friend is recommending that I borrow his crown stapler, and put some staples or nails in instead, as he says they won't be as noticeable, but I'm not sure if they would hold as well.

Finally, What method do people employ to mark a perpendicular line to begin laying the flooring? I was trying to use a carpenters square and mark straight line by "extending the L", but I'm not so sure that I'll end up with a perpendicular line. The cabin walls are not too straight themselves.

[Dan Rude]

I faced nailed my floor on the edges, I'll do the plugs next time if I lay anymore. The nail holes can be filled, but the putty doesn't take the beating of the rest of the floor and I have gotten wearing around the nail locations. Mine was prefinished engineered oak. Use cleats for 3/4 remove the baseboard and slip it under the drywall and put the baseboard back on, it looks better than shoe molding.
On entry ways and door ways you have to look at the flooring height. I have made the board go through the opening and put a roundover on the edge with thicker flooring or I made my own molding with a rabbet to make the transition. Good Luck!

[Andrew Nemeth]

Colin,

Don't crank the heat to expand the lumber, you will probably shrink them if anything. Let the wood acclimatize to the environment that it is going to be installed in. As for the gap around the edges, it is a necessity. It should go the entire way around the floor. Just leaving a few spots without it can lead to binding of the strips (or planks) and cause problems. To properly install flooring through a doorway you need to undercut the jamb and slide the flooring in underneath. If the gaps your concerned with are in front of a door, especially an exterior door, the threshold is likely higher than the finished floor and a piece of small quarter round can be used. Face nailing or plugging is up to you, it's an aesthetic choice. I prefer face nails with filler with unfinished floors. I don't care for the wax used with prefinished floors, so I might be tempted to use plugs with prefinished, but it will be a lot of extra work, and I'm not sure it will be any less noticeable or wear resistant.

Good luck,
and welcome to the creek,
Andrew

[John Toigo]

Rooms, even in new houses are rarely square. So you have to lay your floor for the best appearance. I usually take the longest view angle & use that. For instance, wherever you enter the room m,ost often is usually where you have the longest view of the floor so you want those lines to look straight. Anyway - I pick what I think or assume to be the straightest wall - usually an exterior wall and measure into the center of the room from each corner & get two marks. I snap a chalk line on the two marks & then measure to all four corners. If the #s are the same you're lucky. If they differ that tells you how out of square the room is. if it's 1/4 or 1/2" or so that will barely show. If it's an inch or more it will show against the wall because the piece next to the wall will taper. So you have to pick the least obtrusive place for that to happen. Like.... behind the couch or entertainment center etc. I don;t face nail wood floor. I actually prefer a glued installation because i see fewer problems. If I nail or staple I just shoot it in the tongue on an angle so nothing shows. You have to face nail the first row but that gets covered by the molding Dan said.

[james glenn]

You need the gap at walls, for the expansion. The flooring should run perpendicular to the floor joists. Basically, you pick the longest wall after that and start running parallel to that wall. Check the room first to see how out of square it is. If it is out of square more than a little, try to have your ripped pieces placed where they would be covered by a bed or couch or something.

Best way is to measure the 1/2" from the wall in a few spots, then run a chalkline and mark it straight that way. This gives you a reference.

I face nail with finish nails, but do them so they will be covered by the base trim. Then I use the finish nailer to nail thru the groove and you won't have any nails showing this way for the first course. The next few rows just finish nail thru the tongue until youget far enough from the wall.

At doors, undercut the jambs just enough to slide the flooring under. then you won't see the expansion gap. At the threshold, they make transition strips for depending on what the adjacent flooring is. (carpet, vinyl, tile, etc...) If it is more wood flooring, just continue laying straight thru the doorway.

Be sure to use red rosin paper or some form of underlayment, it helps prevent squeaks later on between the subfloor and wood flooring.

Also, get the flooring into the room/house and let it sit for at least two weeks if in boxes, or at least one week if taken out of boxes. Keep the heat normal and the wood will acclimate to the house.

[Ole Anderson]

Finally, What method do people employ to mark a perpendicular line to begin laying the flooring? I was trying to use a carpenters square and mark straight line by "extending the L", but I'm not so sure that I'll end up with a perpendicular line.

Not sure why you need a perpendicular line for flooring, tile yes, but the most accurate way is to measure out a 3-4-5 triangle or some multiple of 3-4-5 such as 6 feet for one leg, 8 feet for the second and 10 feet for the hypotenuse.

[Colin Williams]

Thanks for all the feedback! I started installing the flooring today, I'm about halfway finished. Somebody came by the house looking for work, who had experience laying flooring, a floor nailer and a compressor, and so I hired him. He wanted me to put the wood against the drywall, etc. He looked at me like I was crazy as I removed ~7/8" of the drywall to leave an expansion gap for the flooring. I hope I'm doing the right thing, but I think all that could go wrong is that I'm giving myself a little extra work to do.

One final question, the flooring seems to have some bright orange and or dark purple marks on it. I think it was from some kind of crayon or marker. Maybe they marked it to show which end to cut off? However, the marks are at various places around the boards. I've been having a hell of a time removing the marks before I lay the boards. I tried acetone and a rag, and it wouldn't really remove the stuff. I then used a the rough side of a kitchen sponge and after quite a bit of scrubbing, and some water and vinegar, the stuff comes off. I'm not sure what they used, I'm guessing it's been on the wood for quite awhile. Does anybody have any suggestion on what would make removing the marks less time consuming. The acetone doesn't seem to have any more effect than the water and vinegar solution.