I have decided on the BR111 Triangulo Tigerwood and will be installing it over a Dricore subfloor material. The flooring is 3/8" and the subfloor is 5/8". Now the sticky points:

1) BR111 requires that I install a 6 mil poly vapor barrier on top of the plywood! Do you think this is really required since I already have a vapor barrier under the plywood? I would rather just use rosin paper as recommended by Dricore. (I am waiting for answers from both but this is what I have read on their websites.)

2) When face nailing the starting row, BR111 recommends 6d or 8d finish nails. However, all I have found in these sizes are 2" in length at least, and this would puncture my subfloor material. Could I get by with 1" brad nails instead?

3) BR111 recommends a fastener (I will be using 1.25" staples) every 4 inches for the boards. When blind nailing the starting row through the tongue, would it be ok to use 1.25" brads or would it be best to still use staples?

(I'm trying to decide if I should go ahead and get a brad nailer to help with this project since I'd rather not have to predrill hundreds of holes when hand nailing - I'll be doing 800 sq ft total. I already have the floor stapler.)

Thanks,

- Ari
PS. Or maybe I should be looking at a 16ga finish nailer instead?

I don't trust the DriCore alone as a moisture barrier. It is not sealed in any way at the joints. I always put a poly moisture barrier, under the DriCore. Well, that is my take on that.


Now to the fasteners. Thin 3/8 engineered gets stapled. But not with a hammer acutated gun. It is a trigger operated gun, that shoots 1" staples.
When using any fastener, you don't want it to penetrate the subfloor.

Do you really think it would be the same thing to put the poly sheet under the Dricore instead of on top of it? If that is so, the would be my preference.

As for the stapler, I already have one - Bostitch SX150-BHF2 floor stapler. This is what I will use for the blind nailing.

I was wondering more about the face nailing since standard 6d or 8d nails seem to be longer than what I'll need. I was hoping to use a finish or brad nailer for this.

One last point, then I'll let this one go: we have children and pets, so spills are a part of daily life. It seems to me that putting a moisture barrier immediately under the wood planks would only make matters worse! Any liquids would just form a puddle on top of the poly film and then soak into the porous plywood substrate of the engineered planks. I don't think my floor's worst enemy is the moisture in the concrete but rather my wife's cats and our kids!

After reading this board and the web, it seems like there are many ways to do things and everyone is going to have a different opinion. Perhaps I should just adopt this well known motto : "Don't worry, have a home brew!"