I am trying to decide between screw & peg and face nailing for my wide pine floor (select red pine in 6,8,10"). S & P seems like a huge amount of work - and I can't find any specific info on how to install using this method.

1) Any opinions on the two methods?
2) Any hints as to where to find S&P instructions? Searching through this site didn't turn up anything.

thanks!

Not too many people use that method much anymore. Does your flooring have tongues and grooves? If so, I'd glue and blind nail through the tongues. I don't care for the large headed decorative nail heads showing. Plus, they only work well if you can nail into the floor joists. It is an option if you like those nail heads exposed though.

Yes it has T&G. I was under the impression from your site that you did not approve of glueing as a DIY project, and I admit I'm nervous about making a god awful mess with the glue - I think I stay away from that method.

How about countersinking and filling, along with blind nailing? And if you approve of that method, how deep the countersink?

Sarah,

There two usual ways of gluing down hardwoods. One method (and the one this site cautions against for the DIYer ) is a full trowel method. That is when the entire subfloor is covered with adhesive using a notched trowel. I do not recommend that method for you. The other method is promoted by Carlisle Restorations, a well-known manufacturer of wide plank flooring. It entails using adhesive, PL400, in a cartridge, similar to using a caulking gun. The idea is you flip the board upside down, run verticle 1/4" beads of adhesive across the backside of the plank every 8", then flip the board over and nail it down using a flooring nailer. Very clean and secure. Plus, the PL400 adhesive can be easily cleaned up with mineral spirits as it is not a urethane adhesive but a different type of solvent adhesive. I used this method to secure 5000 ft of Carlisle plank flooring a few years back. It worked very well. But if you would rather drill holes in your floors, screw them down then plug those holes, have at it. I am not found of face nailing wide planks either. Looks amateurish to me.

Thank you Gary - that is EXACTLY the information I was hoping for! You are so great to spend your time answering dopey questions from dopey DIYers.