Hi,

I'm installing 2 1/4 x 3/4 pre-finished solid red oak using 2" staples over 3/4" ply and 15 lb felt in a walkin closet. Subfloor was reasonably flat. I'm getting noticeable overwood along the board length at a little less than credit card thickness. It happens around every 3-4 rows on 1 or 2 boards. Funny thing is that when I racked out the entire floor, everything was fine. After nailing in a board, I noticed that the next row piece groove usually did not slide into place as easily before nailing, and had to be coerced into place. So I'm wondering if I am driving in the staples too hard causing the tongue side to compress and deform, causing the overwood. The staples are countersunk a little below the surface, but not too bad.

Any ideas would be appreciated - thanks.

It sounds like there's a little too much play in the groove. The tongue side is sucking down, kicking the back side(groove side) up. Dropping the pressure down a little may help.

What brand is it?

I'm sure someone else here can help you more as far as fixing it. In my area we do a lot more glue downs. Looser grooves are a little more welcome here.

Bayside - I think yhou're on the right track. I dropped the pressure down from 85 psi to 75 psi and it is noticeably improved. I still get occasional overwood, but when I do, it's not as bad as before. Maybe next time I'll try 70 psi.

The brand is Somerset.

I thought of face nailing the worse boards in order to drive the groove side down, but am hestitating since I don't want to make a bad situation worse.

What about gluing along with nailing? Maybe try standing on the board as you're nailing It to keep it from popping up. Then the glue should hold it down when dried.

Just a thought.