So I am getting ready to begin my installation - all the material and tools are ordered and will be arriving today through next week. After the moisture in the wood and subfloor match up I should be ready to go. I have been obsessing over each detail for the past year or so of research and my latest question I couldn't find and answer to online.

I'm looking for tips on racking from those of you who have done this - When your racking your boards, and come to a wall, do you automatically try to find a piece that will fit that gap, do you just cut off whatever board you grab next, or do you find a piece that's much longer that your gap, and cut it such that the resulting cut yields both the size you need for that gap and a suitable piece for use later. Ie it seems you would want to avoid cutting a board if the excess piece is smaller than 6-8 inches?

Maybe I just answered my own question - I ordered an extra 9% material (vs the 5% most places advised for rooms with no angled walls) so I should be okay but I would hate to run out because I was inefficient in how I used my boards.

Thanks!

The answer is basically "all of the above" .A couple of guidelines that you can use are to be aware of the lengths that are in your bundles. If you have nested bundles and find that there are not many long lengths, then your should focus on preserving them and not using them for end cuts. But in normal quality bundles, there's always a god mix. With many pre finished companies, the mixes aren't that great and favor short boards.

For your starting row, try to use a few long boards that are totally straight .That can help you get off to a good start. As for end cuts, I mainly focus on using a board that is close to what I need and not cutting off more than two or 3 inches if possible. And I generally come in at about 3% waste. If you want to go faster, you usually have to build in more waste.

I went out to a young engineers house couple years ago for a consult. He was determined to install his own hardwood. So I told him, how to fasten the ply to the concrete, how to start the lay out and rack the job.

Get a call a few months later, he wants me to come look and had questions about the base board. Well he had a random plank. I walk in and he had somehow left a perfect 1' inch gap around the whole perimeter with out making a cut, even end joint cuts. Yeah I know. lol

So he wanted me to show him how to install the baseboard at an agle sufficient to cover the gap. I was in shock.....I said go buy some quarter round and you'll be good.

Ten bucks says he installed it at an angle somehow.

Ok just wanted to throw that story out there hee hee

Thanks, guys! I started ripping up carpet and linoleum this evening - point of no return!

linoleum Sounds like fun. Glad your doing the demo on that.

Sounds like "over" engineering to me