thicker pine flooring question

[Mark Warburton]

I am about to install 700 sq. Ft. of pine 2x6 tongue and groove pine planking in a loft of a log cabin. The flooring is being installed on 4x10 doug fir beams on 43" centres. What would be the best way to fasten them down and should I use any adhesive. I'm wondering about small head screws, two to a beam. I also have a Paslode stapler but i question the ability to set them. Any ideas. The planking is V groove down so visible as the cieling below. Thanks<Mark

[Richard Coers]

Screw through the tongue to make it invisible. Of course you have to face screw the first on down. Don't glue it, the wood needs room to expand and contract with seasonal wood movement.

[Cameron Wood]

The planks will need quite a lot of persuasion to lay up tight- little screws won't hold well enough. You'll need a beating block with the groove profile, a 3 lb sledge or larger, & a very large screwdriver to pound in to the joist and lever against the block. There are special tools that clamp to the joist and jack the planking over. Screwing blocks into the top of the joists and cutting large wedges from scrap to drive between the block and the planks is an option. The point is, it's not a delicate operation.

Use an 8' level to check the flatness of the joists, and take off the high spots with a power plane- don't try to get too perfect. Snap a line to get the first course straight and don't assume the starting and ending walls are straight or parallel. Check progress as you go so the planks stay roughly parallel and straight. Lay out many courses ahead and look from below for appearance. Trim off factory ends and be careful with butt joints- the ends can be narrower or wider than average and meeting pieces can be different widths. They can also have different grain or color that looks bad from below.

Two #10 X 3 1/2" face screws at each joist would be good if the look from above is OK and will make a quieter and flatter floor than toenailing/screwing. Snap lines on the joists to guide screw placement. Putting in enough screws to hold and adding the rest to snapped lines at the end also works well. Glue could theoretically reduce squeaks but would likely become a hateful mess.

Good luck & have fun.

[Jim Becker]

I personally would do this as Richard suggests...screws at an angle through the tongue so they are covered by the next board and invisible. No glue for the same reason he mentioned...wood movement. You will need to use fasteners on the face at the outer rows. I'd probably drill/countersink and then use plugs unless some form of trim will cover enough of the edge to hide the fasteners directly.

[Tom M King]

I've put down thousands of square feet of 2x6 T&G V-joint no.2 YP. I used it a lot on porch roofs that I built mostly on 4x rafters spaced on 32" centers. We have two rooms with that as flooring and one bridge across the living area in the original part of our house that I built in 1980.

I always just nailed it with 16d cc nails above the tongue, but I'm pretty good with a hammer. I have one Estwing hammer that I flattened the face with a belt sander so I could hit the nail all the way home with the near edge of the hammer face on an angle. It's a lot quicker for me to just hand nail it because when you have a crowned board you can just hold up the tongue side so the nail catches the beam farther under the board and will pull it home without bothering with clamps or pry rigs.

I used to be able to buy that as regular stock from local building suppliers that also milled their own lumber, but the last one of those went out of business in 1992. Here's a picture I just took of the bridge in our house. It's unfinished except for 44 years of age on it.

[Bradley Gray]

I bought this tool about 15 years ago and have used it for T&G as well as decking boards. Once you get used to using it a flip of the handle straightens the plank and holds it in place while it is fastened:
The Bow Wrench.

BoWrench.jpeg

https://www.amazon.com/Cepco-Tool-BW...0000224UP?th=1

[Cameron Wood]

It may depend on location somewhat. If it has sat around any length of time, a stack of western pine 2x6 T&G will have very few straight or flat pieces.

[Warren Lake]

floors ive put in boards were straight. I did buy two of those tools for a friend who did an abaco deck and they helped to get the 16 foot boards in to tight. Two could work at the same time.

I bought a senco stapler 1/2" crown years ago that can fire up to 2".When I took it in they told me that it was past used with a knocker to fire it and that it had put Ben Johnsons Jatoba floor down. I tried it without buying the add on knocker and it worked well. There is so much kick from the gun it it helps make things tight. Fire through the tongue at an angle.

[Mark Warburton]

floors ive put in boards were straight. I did buy two of those tools for a friend who did an abaco deck and they helped to get the 16 foot boards in to tight. Two could work at the same time.

I bought a senco stapler 1/2" crown years ago that can fire up to 2".When I took it in they told me that it was past used with a knocker to fire it and that it had put Ben Johnsons Jatoba floor down. I tried it without buying the add on knocker and it worked well. There is so much kick from the gun it it helps make things tight. Fire through the tongue at an angle.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I appreciate all of them. I spent yesterday shopping for fasteners and after trying the expensive trim screws ($20.00 per hundred)’ composite fasteners($65.00 per four hundred) I settled on good old yellow deck screwwhich seem to hold great at two per beam and i Can sink the head nicely hidden with the next plank. I have about a hundred planks requiring 18 screws per plank. Not being one to skimp and cut corners I think the common cheap alternative will work fine.