Have some 5" wide, 3/4 solid to install, after the wood finished acclimating. Which fastener woudl you use. cleats or staples? thanks

I have not had the pleasure to install any of that yet. But what I can remember reading is that cleats work the best.

Steve:

Did one with cleats about 10 years ago before I knew pneumatics existed. The stuff is really brittle with tongues breaking off often, knots popping out, you name it. Maybe staples would work better, I don't know. Let us know of your findings.

Pre drill and hand nail!


LOL!!

Yet, to play with it, so I'm clueless.

This product is 5" wide, solid and made by our good buddies at LL. I'm going to take a look at it this weekend, and make a decision. I've heard a few things about that wood, (not to mention the supplier) that I'm approaching it like a big snake.
I've heard its brittle, can crack it the face, after installation, has twisty grain with lots of knots. I've also heard its on the endangered species list, so maybe its an engineered, and the customer doesn't know the difference. My plan at the moment, assuming I do it , is to staple and glue the butt joints. Using somes dabs of a ureathane adhesive under the boards is another thought. Not full spread, just little ribbons perpendicula to the length. What do you think of this method? Any reason that the glue under the boards is a bad idea? It's an unstairs room, with heated space, (living room) underneath. Thanks for the help. I'll check back in after I look at the wood.

I looked it up in my manual, says the wood is brittle like BC, splits tongues easily.

Guess that means you may have to adjust the angle of the fastener.

Excellent stability. "However, actual installations have demonstrated significant movement".

I have about 500 ft of aussy cypress in my own home, bought from lumber liquidators had lots of tongues split or missing before i installed it, used a stapler and split a lot of tongues, if i had to do it over i would use cleats.

contrary to everything i have read on this stuff, it dings and dents easy, it cups, it gaps, but it looks good in my rustic home. After 4 years i have creaks and pops all over this floor, but i live on a lake, in a high humidity area, with a crawl space, and i heat with wood.

Some experience with it ...... HATE IT! Overrated.

Thought I'd Love it because it is so unique ... I was wrong.

A very soft wood in spite of what I'd heard. Must be because it is from the Cedar family. If you are site finishing WEAR A RESPIRATOR. I got a splitting headache and I've heard (now since) that some guys pass out sanding the stuff.

Knots were very oily and the finish took 3 days to dry in them just in the first coat!! (Using OMU Fabulon)

I have gone to bid a few refin jobs for folks with ozzie cypress and most have been dis-satisfied with the floor and hoped a refinish would somehow change thier mind.

Just one mans opinion ....

Hope it helps

YIKES! That stuff sounds like a nightmare to work with. Thanks for the heads up!

Character hickory is a similar looking but better choice over Australian cypress.

Good Call KLS, We work with #1 and # 2 Hickory all the time. It isn't a perfect match at all, but people who like the look of aussie cypress are receptive to the hickory as well.

Just remember with wide planks that hickory has some stability challenges. Truly recommend strict acclimation, trowel glue as well as fasteners, and post install acclimation (let it set at least 10 days after install before sanding) if you are site finishing.

Have fun Mate

I am old school, I won’t touch wide plank unless it is a face nail job which gives me plenty of fasteners per sq ft. All the historic cracker shacks in Florida (except for some of those darn 1904-1940 Sears & Roebucks homes) where installed this way so it help out a lot that it is the only method for true restorations around these parts. If I am not doing a restoration, I still recommend face nail for wide plank but suggest filler for the holes, it looks as good as blind nail but gives the stability of a good top nailed. I know some guys will run PL-400 caulk in 3 rows down wide plank and then blind nail. I have heard no complaints from them, but I see no need to change as of yet. I really, really hate working with glue.

thanks for the added info, it is a prefinished product, and has been acclimating inside the customers home since 12/11. I ordered a cleat conversion kit for my bostich stapler; hoping I can install it fairly easily, and switch back and forth when the need arises. My area has a pretty dry climate here in the sierra foothills, so I doubt I'll ever see the movement you see in florida. I am planning to gluewith ribbons of adhesive, Gary suggested liquid nails, and kls the pl-400, how about the chemrex ureathane tack strip adhesive?? Not sure how immovable it is after hardening.
How you been william? You sent me quite a bit of info and pictures on handscraping flooring. Haven't tried it yet, but will sometime soon!

I'm for the Chemrex or PL-400. Did I say Liquid Nails to glue flooring down? I use that for trim but not flooring. If I said that, my mistake. Don't use Liquid nails for flooring. PL-400 or a urethane.

You mean the Heavy-Dity Liquid Nails is not urethane?

I sure won't clean up with water.