Just planning out my first row in a hallway, with 3/4" t&g oak strip. I made some headers for the transition from a bathroom with tile and a bedroom with existing oak flooring. I figured one of my challenges would be to get the header boards perpendicular to each other so I put the square on it and looks to be near perfect.



Now, when I put my first row down using the straightest board I could find, the wall starts to veer away from the wall towards the end of the board. There is about a 1/4" gap between the wall and the board initially and it expands to more than 1/2" a few feet farther. I wanted to avoid quarter round to cover that up.



My question is what would you do in this case? My next step was going to be to rip the header board in the bathroom down another 1/4" so it would reduce the gap to zero on one end and 1/4" further down. Any other ideas? If I make the distance between the wall and the board more consistent than my headers are out of square.

you can do the 1/4-1/2" off your header or simply switch to 2 - 21/4 strips used as the header..the second can be ripped to accommodate the dimension required..

2) make a 1/2" rip and pre attach it to your starting course with T&G adhesive or some titebond..

3) cut the bottom of the sheet rock for either scope selected

Thanks, that's the direction I was going so nice to have confirmation. I have the sheet rock undercut already and there is a full inch under there for expansion so should be fine.

I didn't think about attaching the header to the first row with glue....so that would be to keep a tight line in lieu of using t & g?

what I meant was if you leave it as is..make the necessary rip you will need to accommodate the deviation of square and pre attach it to your first course down the wall where it veers off.

so in simple terms..leave your header..drop you first course as you have it laid out in your foto..continue it all the way donw to the far wall..if you are out 1/2"..make a 1/2" rip and glue it to that first run down the wall..nail your first course as needed with a finish nailer and be on your way.

I had the same situation and I agree with James. I had undercut the sheet rock to accomodate the expansion gap and I also had a baseboard to cover the board edge. I just ripped a narrow strip. If I couldn't tilt it into position between the full strip and wall I just slid it under the sheet rock and then pulled it back into position after the full strip was attached. Sometimes had to get my finger under the sheet rock or used a mini pry bar to pull it tight.