Measure twice cut once?
I finished installing hardwood floor in a bedroom last night. I’m about halfway done my 1800 sq ft install. It’s gone really well and I am very pleased how it is turning out.
The flooring is 3.25″ prefinished Bruce, stained cherry. Not the best quality but a good price and it looks nice once installed.
I’ve been laying down 15# felt atop the plywood subfloor, usually one 3 ft row of felt at a time, tacking it in place then laying the hardwood before laying the next row of felt out.
Once the floor was complete I realized that there should be one of these :
View Image
somewhere here : View Image
Oops.
Replies
LOL.....
Been there, done that....I decided it was definitely too late for me to have been laying that floor!
Fortunately for me, I was able see the supply line from the basement and drill pilot holes up from the bottom at the corners.
Hope you have the same luck!
maybe no one will notice??
LOL
#### happens, all the time.
Tap on the area and try to find the hollow sound. It shouldn't be too hard. Once you find the area, you could you a flush trim router for at least most of it or all of it if you are able to get that close to the wall. If your using the wood covers then you need to be much more exact with you cuts.
Also, if you know where you joists are then you can narrow down the area. Look in the other rooms, everyone usually has a pattern with their work. Most will always keep the same spacing off the walls and two joists in from the walls, etc.
Had a new guy helping me lay a floor a few years ago. Got him started on rolling out the red rosin paper & told him the most important thing was to cut out the paper over the vents as he went, so they wouldn't get forgotten.
Next day, HO tells me he thinks we missed a vent. Darn new guy.
Like others said, most HVAC installers do follow a pattern, so I drilled a small hole in the floor where I thought it might be & turned on the furnace fan. I was pleasantly surprised to feel a little draft of air coming up that hole. A few cuts with circ. saw & the Fein and we were back in business.
Good luck finding it - floor looks nice BTW.
Mike
You aren't kidding about trim the paper right quick - I almost did the same thing on the last HW install job I did.Easy to do.J
Funny thing is in an earlier room I had laid out the paper the night before, forgetting to cut the hole for the vent. The next day I found the vent while I was laying out the hardwood. I was going along when I felt this really cold part of the felt on the floor (A/C was on). It took me a minute or two to figure that I'd forgotten to cut hole for the vent.You'd think I would have learned...I'll try and figure out where the vent is in the other room tonight. I'll try knocking for the hollow sound and a stud finder as well. If that doesn't help I'll crank the A/C and feel for either a breeze or the cold part of the floor.The ceiling below the floor is finished so I can't see where the ducting is, and the guy who did this addition was a total hack so there is no rhyme or reason to the vent layout.cheers - mark
I tried last night but couldn't detect where the covered vent was either by knocking or with the stud sensor.I'll try and work up my nerve this weekend to drill into the floor. I figure I'll drill small (1/16") holes and look for the moving air from the HVAC system.Before that I'm going to see if I can borrow a stethoscope to detect the moving air from the HVAC.cheers - mark
You might try using condensation to find it.
Not sure where you live, but I would open the windows heating and humidifying the room. Turn on the AC and I bet you will see moisture beads form over the duct.
Haven't tryed this but sounds like it would work in theory.
Update for anyone else who runs into this. My wife brought home a toy stethoscope from her school and I was able to very faintly detect where the vent was when the furnace was running. 'Luckily' for me, our furnace is about 20 years old and is quite noisy, I probably would not have been able to find the vent if it was newer!cheers - mark
How about a good metal detector ?
Rob
Laser thermometer..they can be had for about 100 bucks I think.
I'd try that. Frenchy has one..ask him wheer he got it.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
I like that idea. Those laser temp meters are really handy and accurate. I think someone posted here about one that amazon has now for $45.It should also be possible to find it by looking at the ductwork. The line running to the grill opening has to be in a joist and it can not jump to another like electrical or plumbing.
Try cranking the furnace up high. Give it a minute or two to warm up. Drill a pilot hole through the centre of the warm spot. Finish it off with a jig saw.
Dave
A fair size rare-earth magnet will probably find the duct through the flooring. It will also find all the nails.
see if you can find a heat camera thingy. i have a buddy who is a cop and they have them. we used one once to see his new heated floor we put inder his tile. cool toy too.
Tmaxxx
Urban Workshop Ltd
Vancouver B.C.
cheers. Ill buy.