We're installing prefinished nail down hardwood.

We have a long corridor about 28' x 5'. At one end of the 28' length, there is a doorway leading into the master bedroom. About 4' from the same end, there is another doorway at the side, leading into another bedroom (BR2).
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ W [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
[[[[[[[[[[ …BR2…[[[[[[[[[[ W [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ W [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
W W W W W W DDD W W [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
………………………….. D [[ Master [[[[[[[[[
………Corridor……….. D [[ Bedroom [[[[[
………………………..... D [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W

(D=Door, W=Wall, [=hardwood, 4" width left to right and tongue facing left)

I finished BR2 first. End to end, the boards run down to up in the figure above, first row was at right wall. So if you look in the room the boards will be leading from the doorway to the far wall (perpendicular to the direction of the corridor).

At the time we thought each room is supposed to have its own direction. The corridor was going to be installed with the boards running from right to left, so 28' long rows with width spanning 5'. So at the doorway to BR2, I screwed a scratch board and lined up all the boards to that, end cutting when I hit the far wall.

Next I finished the Master. It so happened, the boards are same direction as BR2, perpendicular to direction of corridor, first row at right wall.

Now I realize it would be much better to have the whole thing flow in the same direction. So I would like to continue from the Master into the corridor, i.e. 5' long rows with the width spanning 28'. Good news is, from my measurements, it seems I will be just about 1/8" off from the already installed line in BR2.

Bad news is, the boards in BR2 doorway are already cut in a straight line at the doorway, i.e. no staggered joints!

Is it OK to put a piece at the doorway, along the doorway (perpendicular to the flow of the boards in BR2 and the corridor)? So it would look like a 3" transition piece except no tripping over it. This would solve the problem in case the boards in BR2 and Master are not perfectly parallel.

Or should I pull out some boards in BR2 and redo them, before I end cut the boards in the corridor?

Or should I just continue the previous idea of running the boards as 28' long rows in the corridor? Would I need to put a transition piece between the corridor and Master?

Another question: At the bottom edge of the corridor, there is a balcony that looks like http://www.diyornot.com/imagebin/diy188.gif. The bottom plate has a rounded edge. The hardwood will probably be the same height as the top of this plate. I'm planning to butt the hardwood right up against this plate. Will that be a problem, should I leave an expansion gap?

Thanks.

I must admit I've never encountered a diagram like that, I still dont think I quite have it figured out

But, by everything you have explained, if I'm getting the picture right in my head, I would run the hall long direction, and use a border , or feature strip plank at the bedrooms. Normally, ofcoarse you found out, you wouldnt install a floor in that sequence, with that type of "insert".

I would normally scribe fit that plate, cutting the plank on a 45, to go over the round edge. Hopefully the top of that plate is a little higher than the thickness of the plank.
(Planks expand & contract in the width, not the length). If Im scribing the ends of the boards, I would have nothing to worry about. If Im scribing the length, I will leave more expansion space at the area opposite the tight fitted area.

I have also heard of installers coming up with some type of trim that looks good at the plate.

Thanks for the quick reply. I also noticed that the line of hardwood in BR2 under the doorway is not parallel to the doorway (that wall is not parallel to the far wall). So if I close the door, on the left you can see a bit of the wood but on the right you cannot. If I used a feature strip it might bring more attention to this.

Should I fist find a way to cut the ends under the doorway to be parallel to the doorway? If so what kind of a tool would I use? The wood is really hard.

With feature strips, is it OK if they are just laid down next to the planks without being locked tongue and groove?


What kind of a tool do I need to do the scribing? I have a table saw, basically I've only done end cutting and ripping with it. I guess I just set up the blade at 45 deg. and cut?

Anyway you can post photos? Having a tough time picturing the layout & that doorway.
I probably should have requested that at the get go

Any of you guys get the picture, feel free to chime in !

Posted some pics at http://www.hardwoodflooringtalk.com/gal ... p?album=12.

Flow_1.jpg: Shows right end of corridor (subfloor) with BR2 at left and Master BR at top.
Flow2.jpg: Shows the line in BR2 almost matches the line coming from the Master BR. If I attempt ripping out a few boards in BR2 and inserting the line coming from Master BR, there's probably 1/8" that I would have to make up between the threshold and the BR2 doorway. The line may be off by a couple degrees, need to measure and verify this.
BR2_Doorway.jpg: Shows that the flow in BR2 is slightly not parallel to the doorway (the wall was added on by a contractor later and is off a bit).
Balcony_1.jpg: The balcony is at the right end of the Master BR doorway. This pic shows how the plank would butt onto to the rounded edge of the balcony plate. This is the one which Floorologist suggested to bevel the bottom at 45 deg.
Baseboard.jpg: I have a problem in that the balcony seems to have been jammed on top of the baseboard, so I can't take the bb off. Thinking it might be better to undercut the baseboard here rather than destroy the baseboard completely. Does that sound reasonable?

Would appreciate some advice on how to proceed with the flow in the corridor, and how to manage the doorway transitions.

Thanks!

Thanks for the pictures. Looks like Bellawood over Insulayment.


Well let me throw a few things at you to consider. IMO your going to run into problems trying to tie those 2 rooms together, they dont line up as you said, and their not parallel to each other. I'm trying to make this problem go away and make it look like things were done on purpose.
That looks like a 4"plank, and I cant tell if the room is not installed straight, or the door jamb isn't square to the room. I would consider installing a 2 1/4" feature strip in both doorways. You could go down to LL, they always have open cartons, and pick out a couple nice & straight 2 1/4" planks in another specie that will look good with what you have down. You can glue the feature strips down, directly to the OSB and not worry about getting into T&G. You will just have to play with it so it's nice and flush. It looks like your going the short direction down the hall???? Will the ends be cut to the feature strip that will not be square??? If this is the case you can cut the ends of the planks to tight fit that strip in the doorway that is out of square. You may want to trim that strip just a little to adjust the squareness ( without it looking like it's cut on an angle).

The Balcony plate looks a little higher than the plank & insulayment, which is good. You CAN use a table saw on a 45 to cut the ends .It's may be a little difficult for someone that doesnt install wood for a living to use a table saw for this. The best tool to use would be a compound mitre say, if you have one. You can dial in the degree to tight fit the base, and the angle to get over the rounded edge.

Thanks Floorologist.

Re: direction of flow in the corridor, I simply laid down some small pieces to connect the two floors just to see how they will fit. It would be nice if I could continue laying the corridor short way. Example everything will be same direction, stairs, landing, corridor etc.

I like your idea of feature strips but the lack of square with the door jamb could still be a problem which I will need to discuss with you. Let's get to this later.

First I wanted to explore the possibility of redoing some boards in BR2, "extendig" the flow into the corridor.

Posted some more pics at http://www.hardwoodflooringtalk.com/gal ... p?album=13.

BR2_Redo_1: I added asphalt paper (1/32"?) to some rows to space them out a bit.
BR2_Redo_2: The resulting fit at the doorway was amazing.
BR2_Redo_3: My proposed plan is to fix the straight line ending at BR2 doorway. X = I remove that board. White line = I chisel the board up to that place (no tongue and groove at butt ends there). So 3 boards removed, 3 chiseled out. Into the resulting holes, I slide boards from the corridor.

Tell me what you think.
- Is there a better way to fix that straight line into staggered joints? Would the lack of nailing in some of those places pose a problem?
- Usually I set the nail to get a tight fit. I could just leave the nail unset in a couple rows to avoid jamming the black paper in between the wood. Or maybe use regular paper folded over if required (non-sticky). Tell me how you would do it.

By the way the wood is 4" tiete rosewood from Nova. My wife loved it so this is my labor of love for her .

Really appreciate your help!

That's pretty amaizing those 2 seperate rooms will line up like that ! The odds have to be rediculous

The right way to do this is to "Lace it in", like your showing. Your plan looks good It will be a little difficult if your not used to lacing. But it looks to me like you shouldnt have a problem, just tedious,( at least it's not gluedown). Tiete Rosewood is like a rock, ( definetely sharp chisel ).

In places where the planks cant be blind nailed, I would cut out the insulayment and use a cartridge adhesive like PL Urethane.

I would avoid locking the paper into the seams. You have the right idea with trying to maybe fold paper , so not visable. I was thinking of maybe using something like a scraper blade inbetween the planks, and pulling them out with a pair of pliers. But the blades may be too tight in the seam, and run the risk of breaking them off. I'll have to think on that one. I havent had to use this installation method.
We are on the right track

Thanks! Yes it is a miracle the way it lines up...

Regarding removing the boards in BR2, is there a procedure I can follow?

I was thinking of using my Bosch 1640VS saw to cut into the board about 3/4" from the two long edges, and follow that with an angular cut to remove most of the stuff. Then chisel into the corners and prise the rest of the board out. Does that sound OK?

For the boards that I need to cut (leaving flat butt ends), I was thinking just take a chisel all the way down. Then find a way to sand it vertical (e.g. Dremel?) and possibly bevel it to match the rest of the joints. Would that work or is there something more reliable I can do?

Your lacing prep procedure is great. Obviously be very careful of the adjoining planks, ( it can snowball on you). Be careful about prying, not to damage edges. I try to do minimal prying, instead I'll use mostly chisel, and on angles away from edges & corners.

Guys that do lacing all the time are using a Fein or other brand name multi-functional tool, for the ends. But for years before that came out it was all chisels.

On butt ends , yes, chisel all the way down. I chisel on a very slight inward angle. First I will score a nice deep chisel line with a sharp utility knife & square. This keeps it clean & straight.

For the bevel I would use a fine piece of sandpaper folded, and sand the bevel by hand until uniform. It doesnt take much , and a power tool may hit a side edge or leave a wavy bevel.
Then coat that bevel with a little finish.

Thanks for those important detailed tips! Wonder how I would apply the adhesive between the plank and subfloor with the 1/8" underlayment in between? OK just re-read your post and looked up PL urethane and how it bridges up to 3/8", so that answers that .

I have some questions regarding the other side of the corridor, the one that butts against the balcony. I've posted a drawing: http://www.hardwoodflooringtalk.com/gal ... m=13&pos=0

The balcony is not only rounded vertically, it also has rounded edges as it ends at the head of the staircase. So I will probably need to shape a plank to match that curve (plus bevel/scribe fit it underneath at 45 deg in the same way). What kind of a tool does this (as you know these planks are Janka 3200), is it a compound sliding miter saw?

Secondly, there will be about 7 rows (at BR2 doorway) to scribe fit to the rounded balcony edge, where the end cuts will have to be made at the balcony end (so I do not have the luxury of being able to adjust the length on the other side under a baseboard). I will have to get it done exactly right to have them all butt up against the balcony in a straight line. Not confident about that, any suggestions? Do my best and use calk to cover it up?

Beginning to wonder, should I just put in a T-molding or something for these edges? Do you know of any decent ones?

Lastly, there are a couple of baseboard pieces that have been jammed in by the balconies. I was thinking of simply undercutting them (I'm removed all the baseboards so far and am going to reuse them mainly to save myself time cutting them to fit). Would the height difference vs the rest of the baseboards stand out? What is the correct practice for these? Destroy those baseboard pieces and install new ones? I can't imagine removing those balconies and reinstalling them! (if it is a simple thing, maybe I could even remove it, run the planks right under and then put the balconies back)

Thanks, Anand

Great diagram !

It's going to be a little tricky scribing the balcony, & lacing at the other end. As well as the end of the balcony with the rounded corners, on the 45. Of coarse it can be done. It would take some patience, and fine wood working. I'm not a big fan of filler, it's o.k to a degree. I dont know it the scribing is something you want to tackle. I wouldnt blame you. Your hands are full with the lacing . I can talk you through the scribing techniques, if you like.

The other option is the trim moulding, like you mentioned.
Maybe something along the lines of a fine trim, incorporating this as an additional profile to the balcony plate, ( not matching the floor, matching the plate ). I think this is a darn good option, and can look sharp, and solve some hair pulling. I dont have much to spare

Patience I have. But low on knowledge . If I knew how I would feel confident.

So please teach me about the scribing.

For the rounded end of the plate, I was thinking maybe cut 3/4ths of the way in on both legs the L with the table saw (cuts smooth), then chisel to about 1/4" to the intersection, the chisel to meet the legs at 45 deg, leaving some material at the intersection. Then round in the corner with a file. Tell me what you think. Here's a diagram: http://www.hardwoodflooringtalk.com/gal ... m=13&pos=1

Is there any good way to ensure I don't cut the board too short or too long at the other end of the lacing? (I'm going to give it a try with my table saw to see what happens, I don't have a SCMS).

Can you also point me to some fine trim?

Thanks.

Anand_3, let me ask you ... Do you want to scribe fit this balcony plate? Because your also asking me for a reference to find trim, and trim eliminates the need to scribe.

All different profiles of trim can be found at dealers that specialize in mouldings.
The trim would solve the scribing problems your running up against.

When I first mentioned scribing I really wasnt aware about the opposite lacing, or the round corners. I know I mentioned trying to explain , in my last post. But this is the type of stuff that makes a journeyman hardwood floor installer. It actually would be pretty tough for me to explain without actually being there showing someone hands on.