hi
ive just joined tonite , BUT ive been looking on this site for weeks/months in prep for my flooring project but cant find the answrs to these Q's , can some expert maybe advise please ? thanks in advance even if you can only offer maybe one answer thats more than i have right now lol !!!!!


im about to lay a 17x11 ft floor , maple strip hardwood t+g ... stop me if im doing something dumb ....lol !

it looks like http://www.speedyhire.co.uk/product_sea ... ges=1&nav= a 1" , 1.5" or 2" power nailer is the only thing i can hire , nowhere out of all leading places does the stanley bostich m111 . so if its 3/4" solid hardwood maple boards over standard 8x2' 18mm subfloor , do i use 1 , 1.5" or 2" staples i dont want them to pop thru but i do want them secure ... its hard to know due to angle of stapler how far they will drive in ? will the staples at any point penetrate the subfloor and in turn standard kind of underfloor pipes/wiring ? the maple strip is 3/4" strip , and subfloor 18mm

can someone point me to www.screwfix.com or b+q for an underlay for our dry lounge first floor not ground . pref least expensive and one best to resisting squeeks if affordable ?! i cant find rosin or 15lb felt ??

a [bad] floorer i wouldnt trust said to start at the door in cos its most visible and easiest when you get to the last piece under door frame , but i disagree . if you see my floorplan id like to start infront of the glass doors as i think its the most visible part of the room , while the door frame can be chopped if need be its only cheap crap . is this a good idea to start at our brightest naturally lit most focal point we will see most when in room , or should i start at the door off the carpeted landing ?

to start - i was thinking of getting a central line to the room , and then snapping a few parallel lines outwards and then starting about 1/4" from the wall parallel to central line . the skirts will be fitted to cover expansion gaps . is the start line correct or should i start square to the glass doors/main point of room as teh might look odd if they are wonky to the main edge or is this normal?

do i use and spots or beads of adhesive to help nailed boards resist creeks , or will the above underlay remove this annoyance ?

im gonnna countersink screw and plug the first row , lay several rows of maple , and screw another row if i have to ? or how many rows before i need to scew another section cos that will be time consuming than firing the staples in right ? the strip is 2.25" wide . room is 11ft wide .

do i start with a *tongue* or a *groove* to the outside wall of the first line , or doesnt it matter ?
sorry for lots of Q's but these where the only things i couldnt find definite answers on ... any other tips appreciated

all my other Q's have been answered , brilliant forum
thanks lads !

Its a bit hard to understand everything you are asking, partly because your saying the terminology different than we say in the U.S.
I will try to help....
Always start with the groove closest to the wall, you always nail into the tongue. Its difficult to tell you where to start but from what you make it sound like, start at the glass doors. Undercut all door casings the thickness of the flooring by using a japanese pull saw. Its cheap and easy to use.
The rosin paper/felt paper are not going to stop/prevent squeeks from occuring. Make sure your subfloor is well fastened; screw it down better if you need. It sounds like you have existing squeeks, so screw it down following the floor joists. Make sure its clean/debris free. Paper helps the boards slide nicer when installing but since this is your first install its not going to matter. Just an FYI 15lb paper is the black paper in abot 3 foot rolls used for roofing, so they will have it at a hardware store in the roofing aisle.
If your concerned about staple depth. Use 1.5" staples, nothing shorter and nothing longer than 2 inch. Its highly unlikely you will hit something critical with a 2 inch staple since its sunk at a 45* angle.
There is no need to screw any of your finished flooring. Top nail your first row and blind nail your second and third row. Then use your nailer. Blind nailing is shooting a nail at a 45* angle into the tongue with a finish nailer. As far as your nailer goes, definitly try and rent an air powered one. The manual one is a pain and awkward. You will misfire a bunch of times since this is new to you.
I hope this helps.
In my honest opinion by the way your presenting these questions, i firmly believe you should hire a professional and watch him do this room so you can understand the process. Then try and tackle other rooms yourself.

thanks for the tips its really helpfull .

on where to start , i thought as much . ta

ill check out the japanese pull saw another site had mentioned this too thanks . ive got 2" nails for most parts ordered , and use a few bags of 1.5" for over delicate areas .

on the "15lb felt" , is this like the adhesive backed sticky black tarry stuff a few mm thiick , roof flashing its called here ? it remains quite pliable and sticky .

re 1st row , i was planning countersink 50% of the face , screw down boards , then to cut some plugs at the end with the appt plug cutter and fill holes , then sand down to make a nice finish . i didnt want face nails to show or use filler to fill in scew heads . are you advising i dont countersink and fill with plugs ?

i am a total novice and ive thought long and hard about your "leave it to the expert comments" and really appreciate your honesty , but from my experience most traders that have come out are overpaid glorified cowboys and wont pay the attention to detail i want - ive had a few round and they talk nonsense ! needless to say they didnt get the job they contradict what real experts say , incl on here . id rather do it myself and it will be more satifying .

but im not stepping in blind - ive researched loads [i know its not real world experience] , but im looking to do pretty much this 'walkthrough' http://hammerzone.com/archives/flooring ... tapled.htm .

ive spent at least the last several weekends ripping up old floor , installing new subfloor and generally preparing for the job . ive taken 3 full days alone to hand finish the edge of 2000 ft of t+g edging so all my boards have 'as new' edges and de nailed . i think im prepared, have all new tools - im up for it cant wait to get started sat am !

if anyone has any other advise it would really help - or if there is anything badly wrong on that 'walkthrough' im up for sugegstions . i hope future people might get some help from this for their maple floor projects too , especially from that last link i posted .

fingers crossed , but if it gets too much from first few rows i dont mind accepting defeat lol

thanks guys ...

ok so for people maybe in uk heres some tips

the bitumen sandwhich style paper i got delivered next day from birbek in leeds , top boys , spot on service. you cannot buy this stuff from screfix or b&q , impossible . its only 70p a sq m too or less .

the stanley bostich m111 just isnt available for hire in uk - go for another usa nailer called PORT-A-NAILER , firing barbed 1 1/4 , 1 1/2 , or 2" ribbed tapered nails boy do these drive the boards in tight . fired 1000 nails so far 2/3 thru , and it hasnt jammed once . speedy hire gave me the best rate .

its so bloody demanding on the tops of thighs , hammer arm , and back . respect goes out to all floorers for their stamina , after 2 days i was ruined and im in shape and reasonably fit . ive discovered new muscles lol .

i couldnt get the first 4 rows in [countersunk screws was my choice] . but a hole cutter for yuor drill for the plugging after using corresponding drill bit to sink heads half way in .

got the last 1/3 floor to do but simply had to leave it a couple of weeks for my back to get less sore haha ! its not hard , its not fast , infact id class it as a labour of love or ENDURANCE . be prepared for a long slog .

plus im working on my own only using tiny 2 1/4 " wide boards so its like soooo many rows and you get pratically nowhere , but boy does it look good oh my gawd

consider trying to find a compressed air attachment for a nailer as one of the boys on here said - tho you do get good new muscles still , it wont save the back or legs !

have all edges cleaned up first so you can keep your flow , and all denailed [if they are reclaimed] . this takes ages . its about how good your prepwork is in my opinion - i took 6+ weekends of chiseling and cleaning boards each , totalling over 2000ft of edging eek .

think thats it for now , gonna restart/finish next week i think , cant wait to post some pics .

thanks again for this top site i couldnt have done as good a job without this sites past messages OR that walkthrough link i posted prev .

thanks , rob

http://www.mediafire.com/?n1l1pq1cg326d
heres a folder of 10 pics during install
if link expires cnotact me ill re upload , the gallery on here doesnt seem to want to take my pics !