Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 16 to 27 of 27

Thread: How to decide between nail down and floating floor?

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Granby, Connecticut - on the Mass border
    Posts
    350
    Steve sold me on nail down; it just seems like more of a sure thing.

    Any thoughts on staples vs cleats inn the 18 gauge recommended for this strand bamboo stuff? Models?

  2. #17
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Highland MI
    Posts
    4,511
    Blog Entries
    11
    Can't give you a direct answer as I used the HF gun which is 16 ga, but staples gave us less problems on bamboo than did the cleats. However my 18 ga Bostich brad gun couldn't consistently face nail in the very hard stranded bamboo, they just crumpled, had to use my 15 ga gun.
    NOW you tell me...

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Western Nebraska
    Posts
    4,680
    I think you'll be happy with that decision Ken. I use several guns, The prefered one is a standard Bostich 15 gauge stapler (that hammer shown is priceless for flooring, you want it even when you aren't using the stapler), but it won't get close to the end wall, so you need a few more, like the little Senco stapler, and a finish nailer for that last one to be face nailed. I use a 15 gauge Senco for that. I've never had trouble with staples, so I don't use cleats. Use the hammer gun to get ridiculously tight seams, it'll even straighten moderately warped stock if needed. Senco flooring stapler if you don't need the extra force.


  4. #19
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    SF Bay Area, CA
    Posts
    15,332
    Those fir planks are going to move a lot more than some decent plywood if you're going the nail down route. Someone else mentioned replacing it with plywood--I would strongly second that even thought it is a lot more work, time, effort, and money. Otherwise, the floating would be better over the planks.
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Western Nebraska
    Posts
    4,680
    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Padilla View Post
    Those fir planks are going to move a lot more than some decent plywood if you're going the nail down route. Someone else mentioned replacing it with plywood--I would strongly second that even thought it is a lot more work, time, effort, and money. Otherwise, the floating would be better over the planks.
    I disagree Chris, it's a proven system over 100s of years to nail flooring over planks. Everything in a house moves around, it's OK.

    I wouldn't replace the plank subfloor unless it's going to tile, then you need to decouple the wood from the tile, but it doesn't matter for wood flooring. I would put a bit of rosin paper or flooring paper between the subfloor and the new floor, but that's really it.

    I've never seen any other pros do it differently either, unless there is some structural issue.

  6. #21
    Only thing I’ll add is with regard to sanding bamboo.

    And my experience is not with flooring but with bamboo sheet stock.

    I’m just thinking your floor is not level or has some humps and depressions as i thinkk you mentioned?

    I imagine the product you have chosen is pre finished?

    Regardless if you ever need to refinish it and plan to have the floors sanded the traditional way you are going to sand through the layers of the bamboo at unefer rates resulting in a real mess.

    I would also second pulling up the old sub flooring and putting down some advanctech. Pay now or pay later.

  7. #22
    Curious what is the problem with fixing the subfloor?

    Seems like that would be a must of course, depending on how uneven it is.

    Maybe you can put down a laminate floor barrier or else you may be some creaks?

  8. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Platt View Post
    For those with "click-lock" floors - when you walk on them, is there any loose feel, or "give" that you don't find with a nailed down floor?
    Neither the Pergo or CoreTec click lock floors I've installed had any loose feel or give to them. But the Pergo floor bothered me because there was a slight gap that water could easily penetrate. With the CoreTec floor, the joints are so tight you can leave water on them and it will stay there until it evaporates. There is no difference in the feel of walking on nail down vs. click lock related to movement that I've ever noticed.

    You mentioned a preference about which direction the planks should lay. With floating floors, you can lay the planks in any direction.

    As for installation, I found CoreTec to be much more difficult than Pergo, mostly because the joints are so tight. My SO works for a flooring company and told me their installers do not recommend trying to reuse CoreTec flooring like one can with standard click lock flooring. I know from personal experience it's a lot harder to take up CoreTec planks that have been locked together than Pergo. Pergo almost falls apart. With CoreTec you can do it but it's a challenge.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    2,758
    We have mostly 3/4" nail down but I recently installed a floating floor. Will never do that again. It was a lot of pounding and cursing and even a little unevenness in the subfloor caused creaking at the joints.

    It's really not that hard to trim the bottom of a door.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Highland MI
    Posts
    4,511
    Blog Entries
    11
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Bender View Post
    It's really not that hard to trim the bottom of a door.
    Especially if you have a track saw.
    NOW you tell me...

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Bellingham, Washington
    Posts
    1,149
    I come down on the side of the "nail-downers" and the plywood folks. Forty years carpentering and laid lots of floors including floating. For my own place, when I laid bamboo in the upstairs, nail down was the only way I would go. One other consideration for the floaters; if there is to be a permanent solid object placed on top of it (i.e.island) the movement of the floor will cause separation of seams. That which is under the island cannot move. The whole point of floating floor is to accommodate movement. I learned this the hard way when a (then) boss ordered me to lay the floor prior to installation of the island (against my strenuous objections). When the seams later opened up he blamed me.
    Bracken's Pond Woodworks[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

  12. #27
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Granby, Connecticut - on the Mass border
    Posts
    350
    I appreciate all the continued suggestions and comments. For those who've mentioned pulling up the current floor and putting in plywood, while I appreciate that this is perfect way to do it, it's just too much work for a room that we don't use all that much and are just looking to improve a bit. Should I even suggest it to my wife, she'd probably have a rug (which is the alternative plan to reflooring) purchased before I finished my sentence. Same, pretty much, for trying to alter the doors, which are large and heavy due to being almost entirely thick glass. Were this room a central, "showpiece" room, might be different.

    Also, much of the rest of my 60 year old house is built with the strip flooring nailed down to solid wood subfloors, with the subfloors running at a 45 degree angle to the flooring, so putting a floor over solid wood doesn't seem inherently incorrect.

    Great discussion, much appreciated.

    Ken

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •