Face nailing 40 year old maple flooring?

I have recently salvaged about 1600 s.f. of no 1 Maple flooring from a 40 year old factory. The flooring boards are 1″ thick by 2 1/2″ wide by 4′ to 16′ long. The wood was face nailed to sleepers that were inset into the concrete slab. The nails occured at 2 nails every 12″ o.c. for the length of the board. I plan to lay some down in my kitchen. The old nail holes are very visible. Should I pursue to idea of nailing through these existing holes into the 3/4″ osb subfloor? A power nailer will countersink ringshank nails about 1/8″. This could then be filled later. I also thought of screwing the boards down, but this would require an incredible amount of predrilling to countersink the screw heads.
I am not sure how to proceed. Any advise would be appreciated.
Ken
Replies
What look are you trying to achieve with them?
You can countersink nails with a head in dry maple?
First put down some real ply wood.
Either replace of overlay the OSB.
Most hardwood pros will tell you that OSB is a no-no.
Especially if you face nail, the nials will be perpendicular and will have muc less pullout resistance.
Does this maple have t&g edges?
Are you going for a rustic look or will you be wanting a seemles look?
If you are going rustic you could glue it down with sparse finish nails.
Then AFTER it is sanded get some cut nails and drive em in the old holes.
or you could drill drill drill and plug plug plug.
With maple or a contrasting wood.
If the existing holes are not to big maybe finish screws would work, but that would mean a lot of filler.
Just a few ideers of the top of my head.
Mr T
Do not try this at home!
I am an Experienced Professional!
Ken,
Maple is a very unstable species. It reacts to environmental swings more so than most any other flooring species, i.e.: it moves around a lot. Because of maples unstable properties it is not a good idea to use adhesive. Wood moves most across its tangent, less along its length, and even less radially. Although because your lumber is 1" thick you may notice more radial swelling and shrinkage than with 3/4". Simply, you may see overwood during humid conditions and the floor will be more prone to cupping. Especially in a kitchen environment.
Assuming that a rustic look is what you want.....#1 common combined with the above mentioned.....'cause that's what your gonna have after completion, I would use mechanical restraints ( cleat nailer, no staples) followed by screws and plugs (I'm assuming that this is not T&G'd material). Since the material is 2-1/2" in width, 3/8" pilots, 2" square drive fasteners (see McFeeleys.com) and 3/8" tapered plugs of cherry or walnut would be my installation of choice.
You can nail non-tongue flooring and dial up the pressure so that the fasteners will counter seat. A fair number of them will stand a little proud, whack the next rack hard with the rubber end of your mallet to drive the boards into the cleat heads.
1600 s.f. of 2-1/2 in board is roughly 7k linear ft. A simple production method using a drill press loaded with a sharp carbide forstner bit (buy a bakers dozen and a spray can of blade saw lubricant) and some crude jigs and a sideways story pole will turn the pilot hole process from a week or more to a few days. Same goes with cutting the face plugs...or you could order 3/8" tapered face plugs. I would cut a pair of pilot holes 1" from the end of each stick and schedule 24" to 30" ctrs. down the sides.
Buy some Patella knee pads and a case of Icy-Hot and a Walkman with lots of good cd's, (SRV especially) 'cause between screwing, bunging, and shaving you're gonna need 'em.
Or you could send the whole load to a mill and have real flooring machined from the stock.....depends on your cost budget and willingness to stand in front of a drill press and then live on your knees.
.....And if the material is already T&G you took 30 mins. of my morning away....
Ditch