What a fun 3 day weekend!

Thank you all for the help with my previous questions. My wife and I set out this long weekend to lay the floor in our long hallway (with 3 bedrooms off of it) and carry it into our master bedroom (which we haven't stayed in since buying our house a year ago...lovely remodels!).

Being new at all this, we ended up with getting a bit more than 3/4 of the hallway done. Actually, when we went back and measured, the hallway is more sq/footage than the master, and is much harder to use all the tools in (you guys probably know all this already ).

Right now I am dealing with a specific problem finsihing up the hallway. I'm at my second to last row, the last being all cut pieces. I am face nailing on the ends, and then blind nailing along the length...its gone fine up until this last board I'm stuck on. It seems the the row I'm mating it with isn't exactly straight...can't see it with the eye, but no matter what board I try to fit there, there's a gap at either end. In fact, I've face and blind nailed one in, and used a lever to close the gaps when I nailed...but the nails aren't holding the gap closed.

How do I work around this? Do I need to shave off some of the row I'm mating the new board to (as it seems to be 'high' in the middle)? Or is there another way to nail it that will hold better?

The wood is 3/4" thick brazilian cherry. I'm using 8D finishing nails, hand driven (no nailer).

Thanks!

When trying to close gaps, especially up against a wall, there are a few ways you can try. Power Nailer makes a great tool called the Power Jack. But like all Power Nailer tools, it's over priced. http://www.powernail.com/accessories.htm
You can take a pry bar, put a piece of wood against the wall the protect the wall and pry that board over. Try using glue under those boards and when you do get it tight, nail it and wedge it till the glue dries. That's one way. Wedging works to keep boards in place till adhesive dries. It's a technique all pro installers use from time to time.

When you get a board like that try using 2 face nails about 2" from the butt end. One nail near the groove side and one opposite near the tongue. Two nails will help to keep that butt joint tight as you pull the other end in place.

I wish I had the good sense to buy that Powerjack years ago. That thing will pull in any board you wish, anywhere on the floor. I moved a wall on the job I am on now , that's how much power it has. It should be mandatory for some products.

Thanks for the tips...I'll have to try the two face nails. I was trying to figure out a way to wedge the stapler in there and then maybe whack it with a pointed stick to get it to fire I've had to pre drill all those face nailed boards, the wood is so hard that the holes have to pretty much be the same size as the nails.