I'm nearing the end of my room and I see a potential problem. Since I wont be able to tap it in with my mallet how do I keep the last several rows tight against the previous row? When I went into my closet I got the final piece in tight but when I face-nailed it it slide a bit.

Use a large, flat tip screwdriver and drive it into the SUBFLOOR infront of the board you are installing and pry back toward you. You hang onto the screwdriver with your left hand and fire your nail with your right. This is only one simple method. You can also use some scrap flooring and stack it against the wall. Then use your short pry bar to "jerk" the flooring up tight and hold it there while you nail it. Power Nailer makes a nifty (but expensive) tool called a floor jack the jacks the flooring tight and holds it there while you nail it down. Many pros like them. Too slow for me.

What Gary said.

The best and cheapest way I have found is to get one of those long heavy last board pullers. Instead of using a mallet to pull the board I keep it flat down and "twist" it against the baseboards or drywall. You must use some protection between the baseboard and the bar and hit a stud location, you get alot of leverage that way.

And it helps to set aside some long straight boards for the end walls. Shorter straight boards will go in easier and stay tight if you try and hit the floor joist when face nailing.

Whether the boards are long or short, you want "straight".

Too slow? Your saying that driving a screwdriver into the sub floor, pulling back on it is faster that just putting a board up against the wall slipping the floor jack in crack, and pushing down in the ratchet handel? That's ok I will just stick with my tryed and true floor jack. Fastest things I have ever tryed, and get a tighter finished product.

btw, that is if this is what you are talking about "Floor Jack" http://www.tools4flooring.com/powernail-model-100-powerjack-p-265.html
jmo
Blaine Wimberly

Blaine,

I guess I should have clarified. I should have said that I'm slow when using a Power Jack. I first tried one seven years ago at an NWFA class. I felt like I had two left hands but probably because I wasn't accumstomed to it. You get comfortable with what you know. I got a system that works for me but I've talked to lots of guys who love the Power Jack and now I've talked to another. Perhaps I should give it another try.

I usually cut wedges out of offcuts. That is easily done on the drop saw. Wedges have slope approx 15-20%. You then use crowbar to compress the floor and drop wedge in. If you have many of them you do not damage the walls.

Alternatively cmpress the floor with a crowbar and tape with few strips of masking tape, running across the few boards.

Either way worked for me very well so far.

I finished the last rows using scraps and my 14" pry-bar to snug things up. Since I have a manual nailer it took a little finessing but it all came together nice and tight. Thanks!

I am unable to imagine a better tool for finishing walls than the jack.

Crowbars? Wedges? Holy crap!!

LOL! I'm just a lowly DIY'er / floor-installing-noob; I can't imagine paying another $150 for a jack for my small fry job. If I did this more than I just might invest in a jack. For snugging up 5-6 boards - who cares!

To be fair, I guess I could have clarified that I was asking for an inexpensive method.

I had laid perhaps a hundred thousand sq.ft. (or more) of wood before the floor jack was even invented. I grew accustomed to my way, which was a prescibed method until the floor jack came along. Because a new tool or technology comes along, it doesn't necessarily void the methods prior to it's entrance. I still cut wood with a hand saw sometimes; I still hand sand the perimeter of my floors when needed and I still use OMU occasionally.

I am agreeing with you Chuck. I have better tools to do this but the people asking for advice want a cheap method with tools they probably already have in the garage.