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We plan to install 2500 sf of 6″-wide white oak flooring. Some suppliers offer flooring with tongue-and-groove ends, while others offer only square-cut ends. Is it worthwhile paying a premium to get the tongue-and-groove ends? Thnaks–David
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I need some advice or a sourcebook for layout and installation of a herringbone pattern for 2 1/4 oak flooring.
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Ed,
Here's a link for one type of herringbone pattern. It could be adjusted to suit your needs. A little searching on your part on this site or contacting them via email may get more specific questions answered.
May not be exactly what you're looking for, but hopefully it will be a start. Good luck.
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recently a coworker said that when they glue floors they also use glue on the tongue, I never have but want to do what is best, any ideas or comments
*.....if you're talking about laminate flooring, it depends on the mfr... some want it and some don't... most of the flooring mfrs even have installation videos now that you can get from your distributorMike
*josh,we did this years ago at the request of the superintendent on a US Home project.I really don't think it is necessary, I believe they thought it would help control squeaks.Haven't done it since and we very rarely have squeaks in our sub floors.I assume you are talkin' t-g sheathing for sub-floors.jim
*Jim,Interesting comment, since floor squeaks rarely have anything to do with the surface flooring itself, as I'm sure you're aware.
*Floating floor installations, yes. With regular t&g glue down, I've never seen it spec'd by the manufacturer.
*I should probably glue my tongue more often!
*In some instances the manufacturer of the floor system will mandate the t&g be glued. I've most often run into it with Georgia-Pacific I-joist floor system. They call it Sturdi-Floor ( or something like that ). They usually call for it only if the spans are pushing the limit, although they recommend it for all installations to improve floor performance.
*If you glue the tongues/grooves on your sturdi-floor subfloor system, it makes the assembly stiffer, which is a good thing if you are near the limit on span, since the spans are usually limited by stiffness (i.e. deflection) before they reach their limit on strength. I do not think the gluing affects overall ultimate strength, but would love to get the definitive word. Any PE's out there?
*Have never seen it done on finished (hardwood) floors or subfloors. My personal unenlightened opinion is that it is not necessary or a good return on the effort involved,IMHO. Skip
*I've never seen anyone glue the tongue of a t&g floor. The 2 1/4" strip floor type. Never seen it.Ed. Williams
*Did we ever establish if the original poster was refering to subfloor, finish hardwood flooring, or finish laminate flooring? Jeff
*No, we still don't know that.Rich Beckman
*Hey I just got back and want to first say I was refering to the t&g plywood sub floor. I have never glued the tongue but my new co worker has for the past four years with the contractor he worked for.
*I've never done it nor have I ever heard of it being done. It seems like the increased stiffness that it may add would only be noticable on a floor system that's maxing out the allowable spans. Considering the price of the glue, labor, bitching about glue being everywhere and cleaning off the inevitable goober spooges along the seams, it would make sense to just buy a slightly thicker subfloor if you needed more stiffness. Maybe the contractor is cheap and uses 5/8" subfloor thinking that glueing the seams will make up for it.If that's the case, he's an idiot. Ask your friend why they glued the tounges. And how thick the subflooring was.Dan
*We plan to install 2500 sf of 6"-wide white oak flooring. Some suppliers offer flooring with tongue-and-groove ends, while others offer only square-cut ends. Is it worthwhile paying a premium to get the tongue-and-groove ends? Thnaks--David
*David,If you're worried about end movement, if the flooring is thich enough you could biscuit join it, but I probably wouldn't worry too much about it.MD
*David, Being that the flooring is 6" you may be well advised to go the extra bucks for the end milling. Any idea the percentage increase to go that route? This may be a good time to seal the backside of the flooring to prevent cupping down the road. If You back prime then You probably will be okay without the extra milling. Skip
*Willian - I always tell people I'm a P.E. - (That's Pretend Engineer)I can tell you that in Boise Cascade span charts, they have different span charts for glues and nailed plywood than just nailed. If ya want to know exactly b whythis is true, I'd have to say I'm not entirely sure.
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David: you want ends T&G'd! You risk ends that don't match smoothly if you don't have T&G ends. The wider the flooring, the more important T&G-ing becomes. You want those ends to match each other perfectly years from now, right! Don't mess with on-site buiscuit joints. You'd be wasting tons of time.
Good luck. Mel