installing 2 1/4 hardwood flooring

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I'm curious to see what they would have charged vs the $3,100 is cost you to do it yourself. Otherwise, you might end up paying more for three or four days renting it than you would've buying one new! All other rows will be nailed through the tongue. Now that many common three inch wide engineered planks can be floated, time involved will increase dramatically opposed to the wide plank. Thats a good time to lay the boards from several cases out on the floor and mix them up to vary the shades and lengths. Why Does the Janka Hardness Rating System Matter. The harsh reality of considering hardwood flooring at all, is the fact that as you mentioned depending on the PRODUCT & by who/where it was manufactured can make ALL of the difference in the world. This is especially true with many of the harder species out there. Education should be a constant process. It is as simple as it sounds! Secondly since its a maple it has a very tight grain and a micro beveled edge. She's big and clumsy and hates smooth flooring because it offers her no traction so I'm thinking it will be ok. Having been more familiar with the other adhesives (which are now banned by the EPA) that weren't as gooey, I had the stuff everywhere and considered myself a pretty clean worker. Manual flooring nailers require an immense about of physical exertion. entails using adhesive in addition to nails, even if youre installing a solidwide plank floor. Band saws have slower RPM speeds and you can actually make finer cuts, but does take practice. It would a good idea to see your clients off with a floor care guide tailored specifically with information about wide plank floors. Redroze, is your hardwood maple or oak and what color did you apply to your 2 1/4 boards? We've installed maple strip in 2 kitchens and a great room. Did you get an estimate from a contractor? Another factor for failure has to do with no attention to what the parquet is glued to. So a 3/4 maple for $5.50/sq.ft installed seems very fair to me. If your home is contemporary, the only consideration for me would be the grain. As I try to suggest (frequently) here on Houzz & elsewhere flooring is a decision that should be considered in depth because it needs to PERFORM as well as look good. (If you have no experience, screwing these rows will make them easier to remove, if necessary.) For example, plain sawn hickory is a lot less stable than a quarter sawn American cherry, so it would be better to installcherry in an environment that issubject to significantfluctuations in humidity throughout the year. In my opinion there's far too much hype with doing hardwood floors on your own. Consider the 10 historical color combinations showcased here for home interiors. Then, face nail. But you can safely install engineered wide plank floors in below-grade environments. Common parquet is simple in most respects. dlmcan you use site-finished wood flooring in a home on a slab? I bought a package of these splines from Home Depot: 1/4 in. Remove carpet strips and baseboards. Wide x 42 in. Please help. Poorly milled products will be more labor intensive.

My opin-onion. Considering adding several layers of Aquabar B to bring it up to an acceptable range. See more on random width plank and how to figure the formula in what you need. It was a specialty unfinished gluedown that would be sanded and finished once the installation was completed. While laminate flooring has come a long way as far as durability and appearance are concerned, its not solid wood and isnt installed in the same manner. This is where a band saw works best. Great for my dog but bad for my decor..decisions decisions. Remove old flooring and any residue. Online retailers want that sale and home improvement stores assume anything can be a do it yourself project. I've never used stain on maple flooring as I like the natural look, but I can understand why you might prefer a somewhat darker shade. But wood overall, is a major design point, thinner or wider. The wider planks are hard to pull off sometimes. did you rip your own splines or can they be purchased? At this point, youll have the room to use a floor nailer. Our hardwoods are manufactured, finished and shipped from SE Ohio. The products included in this article are available at various home improvement stores, local home centers, and online retailers like Amazon. Always follow the manufacturers instructions. The first and last rows of the room have to be nailed through the face of the board. Tips for Removing Carpet Stains, Living Room Features That Never Go Out of Style, New This Week: 4 Kitchens That Embrace Openness and Raw Materials, Contractor Tips: Smooth Moves for Hardwood Floors, I need help finding a chandelier for the master bedroom. Consider it this way. Sure the advertising makes it sound simple, but the thicker the product, the harder it becomes to actually make it click. If it's wood and looks good in your house? Nasty Blond Maple 1.5" x 3/4" Hardwood needs a facelift! To finish, cut the excess underlayment and sand and stain if necessary. Consider a professional with the experience on this one. Whether you plan to DIY or hire someone to help, we've got answers to your hardwood questions. At one time manufacturers rarely had products under seven inches in width designated for floating. I don't think that you can go wrong with the 2-1/4 boards. Reasons being solid hardwoods can be troublesome if you don't have the proper precautions covered. I've even heard of a few cases where cleanup was nextto impossible. It can look clean & modern with a gray stain or traditional with a warm wood tone. I have some areas that are greater than 3/16" out of level. I'm likely going with the maple floor and hope my doggy doesn't destroy it. Hence the reason for sore fingers trying to pull the planks together. Copyright 2022 This Old House Ventures, LLC. Also the milling/quality of wood is very good imo as well. Flooring is not super complicated, but it does involve a lot of labor, and bending over. Pneumatic systems do all the work. Length Hardwood Spline (10-Pack). We've used it on a couple of floors recently and I believe it is worth paying the premium for the more durable finish, We refinish kitchen Cabinets and we can refinish tubs, tiles, and sinks. If you're not in good shape, expect many sore muscles you never knew you had. Lay the first board on the line you snapped, groove toward wall. The 5 Best Laminate Floor Cleaners (2022 Review), Tile Setting 101: Best Practices from an Expert. Check out our informative guide on what to consider when shopping for wide plank hardwood floors. For all types, expect a sore back. better than carpet, and would be able to be refinished many times if needed.

Read this guide to learn more. Find out how to keep them that way, We give you the details on cost, installation, wood varieties and more to help you pick the right hardwood flooring, Know how to apply nail polish? Old flooring materials may be made of asbestos. Nail in place. With wide plank flooring, acclimation and moisture measurements are especially important to perform correctly because wide planks are more prone to noticeable cupping and gapping than thinner planks. Click. Well said. This meant I had to toss about 5% of the boards that would not hold up well or be easy to refinish which meant I had to buy an extra box of boards to complete the project, and had a lot more waste at the end. uptownfloors.com, Country Lifestyle Night Rider Hickory Random - 4 , 6 & 8 ". Others may require constant pounding with the rubber mallet. This is where the soft white or black rubber part of the mallet comes into play. There's a lot of hands and knees work. We have many tips on keeping that installation tight on our gluedown tips pages. Some of those benefits include: general peace of mind & confidence, the ability to refinish if desired, longer lasting performance and the probability that the selection will have a more "timeless" effect. Skip the micro bevel, get site finished floors. Random width offers a 19th century look or what hardwood floors looked like. No, didn't get any bids for this project, so can't help much there. If you think it will take more than two days to lay the flooring, consider buying a floor nailer from Harbor Freight (or even a cheaper one from a big box store), then selling it for half price on Craigslist later. Continue down the row, remembering to stagger the joints by at least 6 inches. The only trouble is its 2 1/4" wide. Just as with thinner flooring, you run a risk installing solid wide plank floors in below-grade environments, like basements and garages. That concept may work well with laptops & printers but WITH FLOORING, even the cheap stuff represents a sizeable investment.

After the boards have acclimated, choose the straightest ones for the first 2 rows. Length Hardwood Spline (10-Pack). Definitely a hot item today.

The sanding machines took care of the excess glue, but I got a lot of heat from the finishers. Mentioned below, the glue down application isn't suited for DIY'ers. Understand whats included in your warranty and see which warranties apply to which Bruce flooring products. It was more a matter of availability and reason for alternating sizes. My parents bought me this. When you suggest that the "hickory" you saw "seemed cheap" you may be closer to the truth than you realize. Continue installing the rest of the boards, remembering to stagger the joints, maintain the expansion gaps, and mix boards from different boxes. Being a strip maple product he said its more stable than a wider plank so it will tend to stay tighter with humidity fluctuations. Although your client may have really wanted wide plank floors installed in their home, they may not understand the possible complications involved with this type of flooring. Make sure that your subfloor is able to handle the extra moisture. Exceptions may include square or rectangular medallions, but not ovals, circles, and other odd shapes. Thanks for the thoughts. If you follow the proper specifications for naildowns (also called staple) and fasten every 8-10" apart on each board it's obvious the skinnier boards will take longer. The hardest or the most physical type would be 3/4" x 2 1/4" solid strip nail installations. Replacement of the brand new floor was the only option. The 5 Best Solar Generators (2022 Review). Share. Rubber, cork, concrete and other materials are worthy options in lieu of hardwood or tile, Gleaming wood floors are a thing of beauty. Face-nail the last two rows along the tongue side. Are any hard wood floors ever out of style? Colour? All content copyright Jeff Geerling. I've known the flooring guy for 30 years and he's a good guy. Use a pull bar to click the boards together. Educate them about proper relative humidity levels, and the steps they can take to maintain the optimal level of moisture content in their home. Dealing with scratches on your glass windows? I love wood. Some stores still carry the older common parquet. In one area of my house (working on a previous laminate flooring project), I did end up adding some leveling compound, though it was a bit messy and I'm not sure if it'll hold up over decades of use. dlm2000: "Other advice?? With a glued type floating floor you'll probably do just as I do and leave the glue bottle and cleanup rag more than an arms reach away. That's a good question. Hey, don't get me wrong, if you want to lose some weight on that 1,000 square foot installation, by all means go for it. Laminate wood flooring consists of several layers of material laminated together to resemble real woodan underlayment, a composite wood-fiber core, a high-resolution woodgrain photograph, and a clear protective sealer that resists scratches and fading. Sign up to receive the latest on products, contests, and more! Trouble is they all look rustic to me and too woody-if that makes any sense. Crooked boards do not fit as well as straight ones and requires constant alignment with the rubber side of the mallet shown. Installation of new 3/4" oak hardwood flooring at my house, Ripped out carpet and parquet for new 3/4" hardwood floor, 3/4" hardwood flooring installation timelapses, Newborn drip-free gator trigger caulk gun, Latest DIY project: Fireplace/Chimney removal for a nicer living room, Build a Wood Standing Desk for your Cubicle, 1/4 in. In recent years wider planks have almost replaced the skinny 2 1/4" strip.

A problematic subfloor will lead to a problem in the floor itself down the road. For those thinking of using the common product, the most common reason for failure is a result of not enough adhesive or wrong adhesive used. The trend seems to be 4-5" planks now. The right nails are essential to ensuring the flooring stays put, and also so the installation is efficient: I rented a. Fastening these floors securelyoften In case you get a request to install wide plank flooring for a client and youre worried about the differences between wide planks and thinner planks, weve compiled some tips. I have the same situation and like how you started in the middle going both ways, In reply to did you rip your own splines by Douglas Vagedes. Click hardwood installations require more effort and do require tapping blocks. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Phone: 1-877-697-5265 If a low price is the driving force behind the decision-making process one is setting themselves up for likely disappointment. They are prefinished but have been sanded down 3 times which completely removed the bevelled edges which I like. Drive flooring nails through the pre-drilled holes. Follow these instructions on the installation of wood floors. With prefinished wood flooirng that is not thoroughly cleaned at the end of each day, the cleanup chore can be another nightmare. As with most projects I take on, I like to post any important lessons I learned, so next time I do hardwood flooring, I'll have a leg up! Realistically, a small 140 square foot room is manageable, but 1,000 square feet? Let flooring acclimate to the room temperature and humidity for three to five days prior to installation. I think they look great! Floating floor glued types will require more time than lock and fold if they're wide plank. I also think if I ever move I would want Maple floors or white oak because despite the Brazilian Cherry floors looking gorgeous when clean, they get dirty looking so fast and scratches really show up. Less likely to look "dated" in five yearsand if it is, who cares?). I've only been to 2 floor places so far but they both say we need to use engineered wood. Yes, it can be done. If you're looking at a very regular board, it'll be more contemporary. Most of the demand today has become more of a high end specialty product with very high quality. I love my floors and I would love them no matter what the board's width was I have learned. Youll find that the installation process is a bit different from working with floors under 5 inches wide. You stated it yourself, " does it really matter?". To start the second row, push the groove of the board onto the tongue of the first row and tap together with a tapping block. That's why you'll notice tons of engineered wider planks in showrooms everywhere. I also discovered our Toyota Sienna can fit many 12' lengths of wood quite easily, so I loaded it up with base and shoe molding, and have been installing that over the past week when I get an hour here or there: You can view a full album of progress pictures with a description of the process on Imgur: Ripped out carpet and parquet for new 3/4" hardwood floor. To determine the amount of flooring youll need, multiply the length times the width of the room to get the square footage, then add 10 percent for waste and damaged boards. Nows also a good time to check for damaged or warped pieces. Installing wide plank floors might seem daunting if youve never done it before. Anything goes with random plank, but you'll notice there aren't many that offer the flexibility we do. Top of page. Make sure to take accurate readings of the moisture content in the floor planks and subfloor to ensure that conditions are ideal for installation. I sympathize with folks who have to consider their budget we all do but some decisions simply shouldn't be considered on a "lowest cost" basis. Since the oak floors have more grain they don't show the scratches or the dust. I went with the 5" wide engineered Brazilian Cherry planks which I love but there is movement and I prefer more color variation so if I ever moved, I would go with no wider than 4" with 3.25" preferable for smaller rooms. Advantages to click include a no glue, no mess installation and many offer the older longer lengths. You may need to cut the length of the boards to fit in the last row. My neighbor put in solid red oak 2.25" hardwood floors throughout his townhouse on a slab floor with a plywood floors built underneath and it looks great, Houzz Pro: One simple solution for contractors and design pros, Definitely talk with some professionals about the best finishes. He's having one of his installers come on his off time for $1.50/sq.ft which I think is a good price too. Join the ends of the boards over a floor joist, where possible, avoiding joints that form an H. Keep joints that line up at least two rows apart. It's not recommended to use any solid plank over 5 1/4" in width. Agree that wood is the main design factor, then color and species, THEN width of boards. Across many pages on the site you will notice I do not recommend gluedown installations for folks wanting to do the work themselves. By way of explanation, the job is not done if you've just plopped the pattern into the glue. (Cases tend to be all the same shade.) Plain sawn wide plank floors are more prone to moving in response to relative humidity changes, so you have to be extra careful when installing this type of flooring.

My hope is that the flooring will last 100 years or more! This is best explained in our video below. All rights reserved. See confirmation of our latest air quality and sustainability certifications. Happy to spend less than ten bucks to save a bit of time trying to cut down my own! Hardwood floors are beautiful, last a lifetime, and are easy to install. 3 1/4" would look nice with the 2 1/4" existing boards. After looking at a bunch of different options, we settled on 3/4" oak hardwood floor, as it looked great, would hold up to the active abuse of three kids (and counting!) Simply tap the plunger (shown above right) with the mallet and that's it. Recommendations for care and maintenance of your new hardwood floors. The three most popular wood choices include oak, walnut, and hickory, although maple and cherry are sought after as well.

However, for those that are ready, I've summarized the different types of installations, their difficulty factor and what aching parts of the body you're likely to encounter. Also, they will often give you a very educated opinion when you ask whether a specific product is worth the premium price. My advice would be to talk to an *old* floor installer - the younger ones tend to want the easy way out. I just can't get my brain around the fact that engineered wood is real.

Use a jigsaw to cut around any vents or jogs, like a fireplace hearth, to fit the boards. Folks, if you're looking at wood floors, consider a professional for the work. Depending on the quality of the product, someboards may need persuasion (crooked, twisted, bowed) to get into place before fastening. Go for it. Wider the plank the easier it will be due the fact there isn't as much nailing to do. Our hardwood is 2 1/4 since they are the original floors of our 25 year old home. Invest in the best knee pads you can buy; even with some decent knee pads, I ended up having painful strawberries from chafing on the front of both knees for about three days. Vacuum. The preference is to have the flooring flow from one area to another.