How do you guys rack? Do you rack? Do you have any particular regimen you follow?

It pains me to hear of guys that have no system in place when they rack and nail.
It is a shame.

I have no system that I use consistently. It seems to me that I always have these 500 to 800 sq ft jobs that are made of of five rooms and two halls. I do lay out the square sections, but when it come to the halls and chopped up stuff, it's open up the boxes, and one stick at a time. Please Uncle Chucky, tell us the story about the rack and the pyramid. Please, please!!! I can't get past 250-300 (on my best day), even on 5" stuff. I hate myself, and I have no self esteem left. I want to be greasy fast! Or at least efficient. Pleae help. I will call if I have too, but a picture on my fax machine is worth a thousand words.

Steve,
You have convinced me to make a video. The guys that taught me knew racking and nailing like the backs of their hands. They worked for next to nothing. And they did it with model 45 Powernailers and finish nails.

I thank my Creator that I had the opportunity to hump in carpet for a dollar a yard when I was a 17 year old kid. I learned an awful lot about physical economy that year.

I know a guy that nails unfinished for 80 cents. He does fabulous work with his crew and has money sticking out of his wazoo. It is all in the system.

The only time pyramiding does not work is when you are in such a narrow space that it negates the need.

I nailed 300 feet this morning. 200 of that was a hall and a landing. It took me about 4 hours.

The system works. It makes life easier.

The reason the method produces such increased production lies in the steps that are saved. Basic ergonomics. Wasted effort is wasted money.


CHU.

p.s. Please don't call me names. I am only trying to help other men make more money.

There was no name calling, on my part. Nor an intention to patronize.

He would rather be called Uncle CHU'y


To put in production like that, you have your saw right behind you, or you have help, to go cut for you, rack for you and do everything, so you never leave your knees or position on the progression of the floor..

800 ft. a day solo?

If I humped it, I could get a 20x20 square room done in a day, but I may put in more then 8 hours.

The wider the room is, the more production I get in. I is getting up and down, running to that saw. I try and mark 3 boards at a time to go cut on one trip to the saw, but sometimes in the stagger, I can only cut 2 boards at a time.

Chuck, I'm still learning too, so educate me!

I've given some thought to buying one of those Bullet tools magna shear, but I don't know anyone that has one. If it was as good as it sounds, that would be awesome. I do a lot of remodel, and cutting inside is a no-no. Everything here is on a side of a hill, not every place has a deck to set up on, and cut. How about some zipwalls and a cutting room, thought about that too, but haven't done it. thoughts?

I thought that thing was for laminate.

I would love to see a video of Chuck's racking system. As for the way I do it, when I'm in a room without a bunch of cabinets or 45 degree walls, I'll rack out the floors prior to nailing down whenever possible. It is recommended by the flooring manufacterers to distribute the different lengths evenly. It does increase production. You don't need to pyramid the rows; only avoid H joints and space joints at least 6" apart. I usually work on about 6 to 8 rows at a time till I get to the end of the run. Then I reverse lay the last board and let it sit on top of the previous one in the same row. After getting about half a room racked, I'll mark the cuts and grab as many boards as I can carry to the saw and cut them, bring them back and place in their appropriate location. I'll save any cuts long enough to use as starters. In about an 8 hour day, in a simple room, no flush registers, closets, cabinets, prep done, etc., I could cut, lay and nail 350 to 400 sq.ft. of 3/4 by 2&1/4 by myself. A little more if it's plank. BUT, at 54 yrs. old, it's harder to put in a full 8 hrs. of getting up and down and bending over nailing. So, I usually work about 6 hrs. on site whereas I spend another 3 to 4 hrs. commuting, estimating and office work. Fills out my day plenty. I'm satisfied getting in 250 sq.ft. since I get $4 to $5 a ft. to lay nail down; more if it's glue down; less if it's click floating. I read an article featuring Chuck Crispin a few years back. He didn't have much good things to say about "blow and go" installers. He said he gets in about 200 sq. a day because he focuses on perfection and quality installs. WE could all increase our production by skipping a few steps or ignoring prep. I've seen guys not even broom a room out before laying paper. They'll just start rolling paper and laying the floors right over clumps of sheet rock mud, nails sticking up, raised subfloor seams, etc. They're the ones who don't go back and fix and sand these crappy installs. Yeah, I take the time to prep the floors and it's included in my price; unless it's a subfloor repair. Hey, I gotta sand them later so if my install is crap, it just makes my sanding job that much harder. Anyway, that's how I do it and that's my working philosophy.

For sure. OSB seems to be the subfloor of choice now, but whether or not it's that or plywood, I still use my square to check all the joints, if they rock, I hit them with my edger with 20 grit on it. Set nails,undercut, sweep, vacuum, paper. Time consuming.
what about when working with the longer bundles, with lengths from 1 to 6 or 7 feet. I always sort them into stacks of equal lengths then lay them out. What or how, do you guys handle this product. Sand and finish guys face this all the time, how do you rack these?

And lets not forget about the "skip nailers"

What is a skip nailer?

Ahhh, those are the guys that only nail alternate rows.

How the hell could that work? I mean,wouldn't the un nailed row kick up?

Sure does; but not till the check clears. I recall sanding a floor 15 yrs. ago that our company subbed out the install to. The guy was using the manual powernailer and skipped nailed an entire house of 3-5-7 by 3/4" oak plank. As that sucker gained moisture, it was peaking bad. But since he had been paid, he wouldn't come back to fix it. My boss finally realized you get what you pay for after he ate the entire floor.