I'm nailing down 3/4" hardwood on 3/4" plywood floated on concrete.

The floor level is going up, in comparison to the previous carpeted floor.

I have a few questions:

1. What should I do with the 5' x 5' marble entryway? If I leave it as it is, I could leave the doorway also alone, but it seems like a big step up, a bit weird. Is there any way to dissolve the glue and reuse it? Think they charged me about $500 when I bought the house. If not what do I use to remove it?

2. The front door and garage door have a kind of black metal plate attached to the bottom, to cut down the draft. I will have to move it up, else it will bump against the wood when I'm done. I'm wondering if metal next to wood is the right thing? Was probably ok for carpet... Is there another similar "thing" you use for wood floors?

3. With this plate, there is also another sloping threshold plate that is screwed onto the outside of the house. I think its purpose is to close the gap. Would I need to raise that as well? It is currently built into the doorway, looks like the jamb and trims were put in after the threshold plate was installed. Guess I would just undercut the trim, remove the plate, run the plywood up to the end, install the plate on the plywood so it is higher?

4. How far do you undercut when you get to external doors? Worried I might create a big hole for a lot of draft/insects etc.

5. The flooring will be starting from the middle of the house going towards the front and back of the house. The planks will be parallel to the doorways. What kind of piece should I use at the doorway? Would it be a piece that has an edge that goes above the floor allowing it to expand underneath it? If so I would have to undercut higher...

6. I have a sliding glass door leading to the backyard. How do I transition to that? Can I stop the floor a bit before it and put a shoe down to the lower glass doors, leaving them alone? Would cost me a lot of bucks to replace that door. Think I'm going to have to replace my dish washer too.

7. There is a solid wood fireplace, I think the piece on the floor will end up just a bit higher than the hardwood, if I floor around it. The planks will come to it perpendicular. Should I just remove it, plywood everywhere, install hardwood and put something else on top instead? It will probably look cheap (white painted wood) in comparison to the hardwood floor. It is glued to the concrete.

8. Finally what should I use to remove the 3/8" glued down engd floor in the kitchen?

Lot of questions that I've been saving in my head all these days!

Man, Anand, your brain has been working overtime !

1) What is the height difference at the Entry? Usually marble is at a descent height to deal with. Sometimes it's possible to mill up a a profile for a threshold type transition. This can look good, and at the same time ease the height difference.
2) Are you talking about the "sweep" on the bottom of the door? If so... Sometimes you can get away with adjusting them slightly. But obviously you still want a nice seal at the threshold. If adjustment does not provide an adequate seal, you can either do one of two things. Possibly replace the sweep with a different sweep, that will seal, or,most likely, raise the threshold and adjust the sweep, ( this probably will involve trimming the door ). Oh, and,... Yes metal next to wood is typical. But if you dont like the look, something can usually be figured out using wood.
3) Well, I should have read 3 before 2. Yes, I would do that. It's all engineered to act as a unit, to weather seal. Just make sure when you re-install to seal everything good, with 100 percent silicone.
4) Undercut far enough to allow for expansion. On the "ends", you dont have to be concerned with expansion. If your concerned about creating a "big hole"...You can shoot silicone in there , before you slide the wood under, ( this will seal the hole, and still allow movement).
5) What type of surfaces are you meeting in the doorways ?. You shouldnt have to undercut higher.
6) You can always transition to a slider. There are numerous ways, depending on the situation, a picture would help.
Why do you have to replace the dishwasher? Are you wanting a new one ?
7) I think we need a picture of this, for different options.
8) I use a prybar and a hammer. If the wood is down really tight, I will take a circular saw and cut the floor into a grid pattern.

( Hey Keith, For some reason that "cool face" is coming up when you hit the number eight . Is that my keyboard taking a dump ?)

never seen that one Howard, but fixed it for ya. It was the "8)" combo that did it.

Howard, you deserve a raise for posting all that. I thought about it but then I didn't feel like writing a book.

I thought about it last night myself, but I was too tired.

My father always told me..."Ya kid, I'll give you raise, tomorrow your working on the 2nd floor'

Thanks Howard.

1. Height diff between marble and top of hardwood will be 1.25". About half the plywood will stick up above the marble. 3 corners of the marble are right angled, but the inner corner (the one that doesn't touch any walls) has a cutout at 45 degree. So the hardwood will meet it parallel, perpendicular and at 45 degrees at different places .

2 and 3. Yes it is the "sweep". Thanks for naming it! Ran over to HD and found a few replacements, wood and combo. Thanks for your tips, should be able to figure the rest of how to take it out and put a new one in.

5. I meant, how do I end the planks going up to the exterior door (inside doorways no transitions, all one continuous floor). I was guessing I need some kind of a threshold transition piece that allows the hardwood to expand under it?

6. Photo of sliding door uploaded at http://www.hardwoodflooringtalk.com/gal ... m=13&pos=7. The floor you see there is the existing 3/8" engineered in the kitchen that will come off. Sorry for the poor photos, regular camera's batteries are still buried somewhere in the garage. Not much clearance above dishwasher (granite countertop). Don't want to bury the fellow in there, it's 10+ years old already.

7. Photo of fireplace uploaded at http://www.hardwoodflooringtalk.com/gal ... m=13&pos=5. The white painted wood floor area in front of the fireplace (the hearth?) is glued down. It's about 2.25" thick, so will be 3/4" above the hardwood. The hardwood planks will be coming into the fireplace perpendicular. I'm thinking I should undercut the hearth enough for the hardwood to go under it (say 7/8"), say about 1/2" deep at the front and maybe 3/4" at the sides. Lay out the plywood leaving 1/2" gap, so hardwood will overhang a bit as it goes into the undercut. Does that sound OK?

1) Well ofcoarse you can tear out the entry and raise it. I would say the odds of saving the marble are slim, ( but then maybe it's not down tight , I dont know). I dont know if you want the expense, or the other issues replacement creates ,ie front door. Also it's common to see some type of wood transition around the marble. Although 1 1/4" is substantial, and would take a wide wood transition, and in IMO a possible trip hazzard. That's a tough one my friend. How big is the Entry? If it was my home , I would probably replace the entry, and border it flush.
5 ? ) Well I may be gunned down by some guys on this one , but I feel comfortable "tight fitting" certain areas. IMO some places transitions dont look good. I know, expansion. But my decision is based on the product, type of install, layout, & RH kept within recommended range, ( never a floated install ). But on a solid I will tight fit certain small areas ,that cant be undercut, and leave extra expansion space at "opposite areas". If you only feel more comfortable allowing for expansion at the threshold...It's a matter of what type of transition looks best to you, ( a reducer on top of the wood, a t-moulding, a t-moulding ripped in half ?), whatever you like and come up with . Personally...tight fit is a clean look , and I've never had a problem, knock on wood
6) Right now there's a reducer on top of the engineered. Hard to tell without the wood up, but I would guess that perpendicular slider edge is Approx. 1 1/2" tall ( from the slab). I would say the best way to finish that off is with as reducer, on top of the wood, sloping down toward the slider. Another words turned around 360 degrees, from the way the existing reducer sits. AND, you would be able to leave your expansion .
7) You can very well do the fireplace the way your talking about. I dont know if I would like that 3/4" white edge of wood showing,( just a matter of taste). Fireplace hearths can look good bordered. I would consider taking a 3/4" reducer and slope it down toward the hardwood. Bordering the hearth & eliminating the edge. Also it may be a good look going with your plan, but bordering with the plank. Maybe that's what's bugging me about the look of that 3/4 edge is that it needs a border in front of it, and not just the ends running into it.

Awesome my friend! I really appreciate your patience in sitting and visualizing all this and giving such well considered implementable solutions. Will do my best and hopefully will have some good pics to show you in a couple of months.

Here is my plan, would appreciate a quick review for possible goof ups:

House looks like:

All areas except those marked tile need to be floored. Subfloor is concrete, with 15lb asphalt felt + 6mil poly + 3/4" plywood floated on that to provide a nailing base (same subfloor throughout), 3/4" solid hardwood to be nailed down using 1.5" cleats (another layer of 15lb asphalt felt between the ply and hardwood). No fancy features, borders etc., just simple hardwood flooring laid out in a continuous flow.

I want to lay out the planks parallel to the front door. Upstairs is in the same direction and stairs will also be the same. I've installed (some of) the plywood at 90 deg i.e. 8' lengths left to right, 16" width up to down.

Left to right the house measures about 42'; other dimension about 37'.

Here is my plan: First put down the starting line right at the foot of the stairs and go left; then use a spline to reverse, and finish the right side of the house. Does this sound OK?

While going towards the right, I have an issue in that the planks at the corridor need to stay in synch with the living/dining area. When the two l lines meet again in the family/kitchen it needs to be a single line perfectly aligned. So I'm thinking of putting down another parallel line as a reference along the middle wall. And basically keep repeatedly measuring every row. Will this work, are there any better methods? As a fall back, I might put down a feature border at the living/kitchen doorway and adjust any problems.

I'm undercutting only those walls that run up to down in the diagram. The undercut is about 1/8" higher than the wooden beam at the base of the wall. Do I need to seal the gap between the wood and the bottom of the drywall? If so what should I use, is there a spray or a tape like caulk? Do I need to caulk the edge between the concrete and this wooden beam as well?

There is a rail post at the foot of the stairs. I'm assuming I should leave it alone (no undercut), just get the plywood about 1/2" to it, and butt the hardwood flush with a slight bevel. Is that OK?

Transitions to front and garage door through threshold transition, allowing hardwood to expand underneath. Threshold transition looks like this:


Question on the threshold transition piece: I see that it is just 1/2" high towards the hardwood side. I thought it would be 3/4" to cover the wood completely. Do I need to put a strip of 1/4" plywood under the threshold?

Front and garage jamb to be undercut on the inside only; doors to be removed and undercut as well; threshold/sweep to be removed, threshold i.e. the one that sits between the door jambs, re-installed (maybe new ones) higher, at or slightly below the level of the hardwood floor.

Transitions to fireplace hearth will be through reducers (hearth is higher). Reducer transition looks like this:


Initially I was thinking of using reducer transition for the sliding doors but that will give me no expansion gap along the width of the planks. So now I'm wondering what to do?

Anand, I have to tease you first... By the time your floors done, you'll be a "Prized Contributor" !

Your plan of attack on the layout looks good. The measurement for your "starting line" should come off the outside wall, at the Family RM./Kit. Then I would measure off that line to see how all the other areas look for straightness.

Your method sounds good for wrapping around the island,( Clst, Stairs, Shelf ). Use as even pressure as possible and continuously measure. You shouldn't need a "feature border", that will look funky.

Re: Undercutting walls- I would seal the gap your talking about. Not so critical on inside walls, but wouldn't want to take a chance on compromising the insulation properties on the outside walls. There's this stuff at Lowes or HD, ( can't think of the darn name ), comes in a can with a straw that plugs into the spray nozzel. It's a spray insulation that expands to fill spaces like that . I would shoot that stuff along that 1/8" gap. The edge where the base plate meets the concrete should be sealed. But on the outside walls it couldn't hurt to run it along that edge as well.

Re: Rail Post- Tight fit sounds good. Why the bevel ? Are you beveling the bottom side of the wood because the post sits on a plate with a rounded edge? Or are you cutting out the under side of the wood to go over a plate, and tight fit the post?

Re: Threshold- Yes, Build up the leg with 1/4"
Re: Slider- For expansion at the slider, you can use the "endcap threshold" your using at the garage door, and build up the leg 1/4".

Hi Howard and all, howdy!

I've almost completed the floor, just a couple of finishing touches. I do have questions for you (what would I do without you):

I'm at the end of the run going into the front door, where I'm going to put an endcap/baby threshold for the hardwood to slide under and expand. The front door is sitting in the middle of a short bay, so there's about 6 inches of wall on either side of the door. My question is, how long does the endcap have to be:
A. just the width of the door
or
B. all the way wall to wall

If A, then there will be a small vertical drop (3/8") right next to the door, as the encap is not bevelled on its sides. If B, I'll need to undercut the baseboard. Both are do-able, just wanted to know what the professional method would be.

Secondly I have a creak problem in one location that I'd like to fix. What happened was, I began a run from the stairs towards the front of the house, and later put in a spline piece to go towards the back. I forgot to glue the pieces on either side of the spline to each other (or to the floor), they are only nailed down on their tongue sides; so on their groove sides, these pieces rub against each other where there is a tiny gap. It's right in a heavy traffic area so I should probably fix it. I was thinking maybe just replace the board but wondering if there are any tricks to prise up a bit and squeeze some adhesive in, as the creaking area is close to one end of the run. (This is prefinished wood.)

I looked all over but could not find this info.

Thanks!

Hey Anand, Great to hear from you!

I usually dont install endcaps at thresholds, (usually raise the threshold and trim the door). But in your situation being that you can go wall to wall, ( sort a speak), I think that would look o.k. Never did like any kind of trim that just ends at both ends, ( strange explanation, hope you got it), or vertical drop as you say.

Question 2.... Tough to say without seeing it but...Depending on the wood and situation. Sometimes you can drill a hole in the seam, get yourself a horse syringe at local feed store, fill it up with glue, shoot it in there, weight it down overnight, and putty the hole.

Thanks.


I did trim the door and the casings so the floor can go underneath, and raised the threshold as well. But I was thinking if the last plank butts up against the threshold there won't be any expansion space. (I think I need expansion space because even at the far end goes to the stairs if you see the pic above, where there isn't too much space, just about 1/4").

The threshold is currently a little higher than the plank but I think the endcap is going to be higher even in which case the sweep will be too tight against the endcap ... so I may have to raise threshold + undercut door again. That's why I'm looking for ways to avoid the end cap if I can. Plus there won't be a distinct 3/8" bump.


Horse syringe -- now that's an interesting idea! Think I'm going to give it a try just for fun . Drill the hole in the seam along the length of the plank or at the end?

If you can do without the endcap, so much the better, IMO it's alot cleaner look.

Yea..Pony syringe, ( watch out for lumps, gets clogged easily) . My general rule of thumb is to drill the hole at a good strategic location to fix the problem, at the same time looking for the best place to hide a hole.