What actually constitutes a board that should be culled? Other than spotting bad tongues or broken grooves, how bad does a board have to be so that it should not be installed? I've been looking at each board as I rack the next row, checking for straightness along the edges with a metal straight edge and checking the end joints for matching widths. Some are obviously worse than others.

I've kinda' developed my own jargon for the different defects I'm finding in my prefinished Bruce 3/4 x 3.25 HW. Boards that are "bent, bowed, or hooked" beyond what I think can be easily levered or wedged straight and nailed into the previous row, I've been laying off to the side upside down and labeled with one of the foregoing descriptive terms. I seem to be amassing quite a large pile of upside down boards; much more than the 10-15% waste I was expecting and planned for. How bent is too bent to force in straight and install? Could it be that I am being too picky, too selective and simply "overculling"?

Many of the boards I haven't been using are marked on the backside with black, red and purple crayons. Apparently indicating some defect or other. Does anyone know if the colors are random markings or might the color indicate a specific defect?

When a joint width doesn't match exactly, I've been trying to match up whole rows of boards that are a little narrow or a little wide to avoid the BUMPS that inevitably lead to spaces in the beveled edge joint when the next row is laid. You can only lever or wedge the next board in as tight as the widest board at any particular end joint in the previous row. For me, this has been very tedious and time consuming. Is this normal and what needs to be done? How much difference in width at the end joints (and resulting gap in the next row) should I be willing to settle for?

What exactly is an "H-Joint? When racking the next row, I've been trying to stagger the end joints in adjacent rows with a minimum of 8" and always trying for more. I'm also looking two rows back to avoid lining up the joints in every other row. So far the layout appears (to me anyway) to be pretty random. After reading all I have been able to find on this, I still haven't figured out just what "H-Joints" are. Can anyone explain this term so I can be sure I'm avoiding them?

As always, I appreciate your replies and apologize for the long read!
ZT

Man, that is about par for the coarse, for Bruce!!!

I have pulled over some bowed boards., but I do have a powerjack, and before that I actually fabricated a bar to mount on my carpet pole stretcher.

An H joint is Basically H H. Or lets see if this works...


_H_
H H
_H_


The second line with the two H's side by side. Imagine the pattern of the H's are boards.

Hi AFG, thanks for your reply.
That's Bruce for you, eh? I was afraid that would be the answer. The last floor I put in was Bruce about 30 years ago. I don't remember this much variation in width or this many bent boards. I think their quality must has gone downhill after being bought out by Armstrong.

I am sure I will use many of my upside down boards now that I am back in the field and not along a wall but I'll need my screw down block & lever and/or wedges to make them work. Do I run the risk of these bowed, bent boards springing back out and opening up in the future?

Still not sure about the H joint. Is the "H" created across three rows? That is with two equal length shorts on either side of an end joint in the middle?

H joint is where an end joint is almost exactly in line with the row that is 2 up.

I wish i could post a picture directly to this site, instead of having to link it.

Thanks AFG!
I think I have it now. ZT

Manufacturers expect the installer to cut out defects and still be able to use some of the board that contains the defect. So let's say a board's end is milled a little narrow but just mostly at one end. One just cuts the section off that is not up to par and uses the board to either start a row with or end a row with. The same can be done for a board damaged in the middle. Say a board has a big, unsightly knot right in the middle. Simply cut the knot out and now you have two boards that are fine, one you can start with and one you can end with. So when I'm culling out boards in a floor and racking, I set aside boards I can cut and still use as either starters or enders. Then I cut them and utilize them before I attempt to rack the entire floor. Because if I attempt to rack the entire floor without using these boards in the process, I'll have go back and re-rack and re-layout the floor. Or I'll not have enough wood to rack the floors. One needs to cull out and cut up as you go to make it work.
These are what H joints look like across a floor.
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_______________________________l___________________________
___________l_______________________________l________________
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___________l_______________________________l________________
_______________________________l____________________________

Thanks Gary! I appreciate your reply.

I've been doing what you suggest. Maybe not as much as I should but have been trying to start and finish rows with good sections of bad boards or the cutoff from the end of the previous row.

I've only been racking out one row at a time; not the whole floor. Slow and steady seems to work for me, checking each board for straightness and matching end widths, trying for 8" or more in end joints of the previous row and trying to avoid similar joints two rows back.

Thanks too for your drawing of the H joints. That pretty much nails it down for me.

ZT