I am about to start installing hardwood in the first floor of our house. It is roughly 1,100 sqft. I have attached a picture (i am no artist), in this picture everything is getting hardwood except the bathrooms. I plan on installing it perpendicular to the floor joists for support, I plan on doing this over the course of a few weeks.


My Questions

1. Where would be the best place to start. We have a pretty open floor plan and I have no clue where I should start at. Currently we have carpet in all of the bedrooms and the rest of the house has bamboo hardwood in it, which we are going to be tearing out and replacing with either a 3/4" oak or a 5/8" engineered wood, we have not decided yet.

2. Our current subfloor is OSB, I have purchased a bostitch air compressor and a NuMax (SFL618BR) 3 in 1 floor stapler/nailer. Should i use nails or staples when installing this floor?

3. Any additional tips that you can provide would be gratefully appreciated, thanks!

If it were me I's start in the back of the livingroom to the foyer and then reverse directions into the master doorway.

Ok, so is this what you are saying to do?


So when i reverse directions how do I get the boards nailed to the floor since they will be a groove to groove with no tongue?

Should i do the same when i enter a bedroom from the hallway? reverse directions that is, since from the hallway I will be entering the bedrooms in the middle of the room (not exactly the middle but you get the picture).

One more question, if I am installing from the living room and foyer to the left side of my house (in the picture) what happens when the boards from the dining room match back up with the boards from the kitchen area, does anyone have any tips on how to handle that. I am guessing if I am off just a little anywhere through the kitchen or living room/dining room when they meet back up they will be off?

Thanks

Oh sorry, didn't see your floor joist position. I thought you were running it the way of the arrow.

But thats the way I would run it anyway, just put down some more plywood. I don't like hallways going sideways. Then I would do a fancy foyer with a border running front to back the direction you wanted orginally. How many layers of wood do you have....subfloor and another layer? How thick?

As far as getting out of square with the floor around the kitchen...well we all worry about that! Thats where experience comes in.

Sorry, I should have said in my last pos that the red I drew on the picture is the hardwood.
The floor joist run lengthwise, I was planning on installing perpindicular, which I illustrated in red.

So when I reverse diections how do I hold the boards down since the first board will be grrove to groove?

Thanks for your help, this will be my first time doing this and I want to get it right.

You use a strip of wood 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch and insert it into the grooves of the two adjoining boards that are "groove to groove".
That floorplan "screams" for the floor to run the same direction as your joists. If all you have is a single layer of plywood for subfloor, add more (1/2 inch) and lay parallel to the joists.

Currently I have 5/8" OSB , I know it is not recommended. Would it look more aesthetically pleasing to run it parallel to the joists, or would it just be an easier install?

Both

OK, so would installing 3/8" or 1/2" plywood over the 5/8" OSB (glue and staple) be enough support to install parallel to the joists?

Thank you Dennis. You have a way with words.

Personally, I would use the 1/2 inch, but 3/8th inch ply would probably be ok; why take the chance, its your home, and only a few extra of your bucks. Its really not a case of "support", the floor isn't going to fall through to the basement, its more a matter of flexing and squeaks that you want to avoid.

Would this plywood work or does it need to be a particular grade?

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1 ... ogId=10053

Would staple be sufficient to hold down the plywood to the OSB (with some dabs of yellow glue in the middle)?

Not sure about that plywood, the other guys here know a lot more about plywood grading and standards than do I. However, a PL type of adhesive laid down between the sub and the new ply will give much better results than carpenter's glue.

Can you elaborate more on how you would do this?

Yes but it the top is a higher grade than needed... b = furniture grade ...c = construction grade....x = exterior grade. Most ppl use cdx...the first letter is the top, second is the bottom layer.

Of course Ken has it covered on his other sister site http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwo ... floors.htm