I am installing approx. 1600ft^2 of bruce (timberline) value grade 3/4 by 3 1/4 prefinnished oak over 3/4" advantek subfloor. All the flooring will be running in the same direction (perp. to joists). I will be using m3fs stapler. Installation is on main level over basement.

1. What length staples should I use.

2. Is there a website that shows detailed pictures and instructions on how to handle transitions and doorways. This is the only aspect that I am really unsure of.

3. I have a foyer with a room on each side. At the back of the foyer there is a 6ft opening that goes into a large open area containing kitchen, dining room, and living room. At the front of the foyer is the front door. Is there any trick to getting two parallel chalked lines when you only have a 6ft opening to measure through. I need to get a line chalked across the foyer and the rooms on each side and another parallel chalk line across the other large area.

4. I have a bostitch 16ga. finish nailer. Is this ok to use with 1.5" nails to face nail the boards at the walls? I figure I can nail them every 6" and it will be ok versus buying a 15ga. nailer.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Jammer, I sincerely hope you realize what you have bought. I just got done installing 1400 of that in a 3/4 x 2 1/4, and it was a square edge to beat it all.

The homeowner told me had got me got a deal on a Bruce closeout at 2.00 a foot I think. When I got there to help him unload the truck I noticed all the cartons were plain and unmarked. I suspected that these were factory seconds. Opened some boxes and sure enough most all of the pieces had a defect and were marked with an orange and red crayon. You might want to check that.

You can get it down, but it is terribly frustrating.

You would use 2" staples, and the 16ga. finish nailer is ok but use 2" fasteners.

I would chalk my line out in the room somewhere so it will continue through all the openings. Lay several rows then use splines or slip tongues to change directions.

I think Ken has some instructions on the main sight. I have some pictures I could email you showing how I transition hardwood to different floor coverings.

Thanks for the reply.

I knew I was getting seconds when I bought the flooring. We just did not have the extra money to get first quality. I figure if it is too bad I can just have it sanded and refinished in a few years. A rough floor is not a big deal to us aesthetically anyway.

Any advice on getting the seconds down? Did you use more staples than usual to hold the boards straight.

I had read in a few places to use 2" fasteners but I was worried about them sticking through the bottom of the subfloor. I guess this doesn't matter.

The transitions are in doorways and I was unsure whether to put the transition piece across the middle of the jamb or at the front or back edge.

On transitions I usually will shut the door and see how far back to run the wood. I prefer not to see the floor covering on the otherside when the door is closed. Dont worry about the staple poking through the subfloor it should only poke out a 1/4" .

Thanks for the great info.

I am laying the floor before the doors and trim are put on so everything will be nice and tight and I will not have to use shoemolding.

Sounds like I should leave the boards a little long at the doors with transitions. Later I can cut them back and put the transition in after the doors are hung so I can get it in the right place.

I forgot to mention that I am planning on laying hardwood in the kitchen and then setting the cabinets on top of it. I thought this sounded like a better method than shimming up the cabinets with scrap subfloor. Any comments on this??

Any comments on this??

Holy snickers bars, Batman! Do not do that!! You are adding some serously tedious work for no good reason.

The edge of the stud will be the center of the door opening. Just use that as a reference.[/b]

Thanks for the tip on the door openings.

Does everyone agree about laying the hardwood throughout the kitchen and then setting the cabinets on top of it? This seems much easier than trying to lay it around the cabinets after they are in?

Thanks for all the quick advice and help. It is so great to have a sight like this to fall back on when you have questions or problems. I would probably not attempt this project if not for the internet....

It will be easier to lay the flooring without the cabs in the way. You may use a little more wood this way. However, whoever has the job of setting the cabs will not be happy about having to work on a finished floor. Be prepared for some floor touch up. It's gonna happen in time anyway. And BTW, we're not just any internet site, we're HARDWOOD INSTALLERS!

I was planning on laying the red rosin paper over all of the flooring after I put it down. Since I am laying the "value grade" bruce/timberline flooring I don't expect to notice a few more nicks or scratches. I figured I would use the boards I culled from the other rooms to fill in the area where the cabinets will be. I just wanted to make sure this would not cause a big problem that I was not thinking of.

The only problems I can think of would be IF some boards near the cabinets got damaged and needed to be removed. If they were running under the cabinets, that would make it much more difficult to remove them. Also, if the wood under the cabs got really wet and buckled, it could raise the cabinets up, damaging a tile counter. Just some thoughts on the downside. There is always a downside it seems.

I have a few spots where the hardwood will be installed across a 38ft space. This dimension will be parallel to the long side of each board as I am laying it. Is there anything special I should do. I do not really want to change direction because I want to stay parallel to the floor joists and I also think it will look better this way. I looked through the install section and didn't see anything on this.

THanks again for the help

PS I have the HVAC up and running and am running a 70pint dehumidifier in the basement so I should be ready to start laying the floor this weekend.

I have been searching a good bit and have not found a good answer to this. I have a relatively open floor plan and can measure approx 39' in the direction parallel to the long side of the boards and 36' in the direction perpendicular to the long side of the boards. This space is broken up by walls here and there but there are spots where the flooring will be continuous for this distance. I have a 6' opening in the center of the area and I was planning on putting a starter strip across this opening and going in each direction. I figure this is the most noticable spot if the flooring is not exactly parallel. I am planning to nail everything tight and leave about 1/2" expansion space around all the walls so it will be covered with the 5/8 baseboard.

Maybe someone could post a link to a spot that has recomendations on how to handle long runs like this.

Thanks

it's going to vary depending on your local, if there are big swings in humidity throughout the year than your floor is going to move as long as its moisture content goes up and down. You can control it most of the time with proper ventalation and year round hvac use. I would definatly start in the middle and work out to the exterior walls though. In my area it hasn't been dry long enough to worry about excess movement next spring and summer but usually by mid winter I am always recommeneding to work some expansion space to prepare for when the humidity jumps back up to 95% next spring.

I am in Tennessee and I will be running the hvac all year and will hopefully keep temp and humidity relatively constant in the house. I will try to work in some expansion spaces as I go along. From reading through the old posts it seems like the best thing to do is to insert a scraper or credit card between the boards every once in a while. I guess I will try this and see how it works out. I just wasn't sure if this was needed in my case.

Thanks to everyone so far for the help and advice.