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I will be installing prefinished, 3/4″ x 3 1/2″ hardwood flooring in a couple of months. It will still be cold, though the house will be heated a little. Between the boards, should I allow any extra clearance, or butt it up tight as is usually done? I have metal shim stock of about any thickness that I could use as spacers during the install, if needed. How do you usually do this? (The flooring will be well acclimated before the install.)
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If it were me I wouldn't install hardwood flooring unless the house were at living temperature and the flooring had been stickered in the house for at least a week before the job. Then if you do a decent nailing job the floor will take care of itself.
*Crusty, Temperature has less impact on flooring than moisture and the relative dryness of the wood is the most important consideration in flooring install. Not only the floor to be installed but also your subfloor. I check both and shoot for a moisture reading of 7%. This is not always feasible though, especially if marginal heat is in the house.I would sticker the flooring in the house as Fred suggested and at least stick some fans to move the air which will help in drying. By all means try to get some heat in there, especially on the subfloor. Use electric or wood; propane and kerosene dump too much moisture. Better yet, fire up your house heat as soon as possible and wait two weeks more for the floor.Prefinished flooring is generally dry when shipped, but may pick up moisture before install. As a general rule of thumb, I leave 1/4inch space from flooring to walls and other immovable points. (I generally run my flooring under cabinets, but if not, leave the space.) This spacing is most critical along the run of the flooring, ie the floor will move more across the grain. Other than that I nail my flooring tight, nailing say every 8-10 inchs and not closer than 2inchs from the ends. Generally, the narrower the flooring, the less movement you will have.I prefer using rosin paper under my floor, but if moisture in the subfloor/crawl space is a problem, 15# felt is used to assist as a moisture retarder. I have no evidence to the claim and am hesitant to use or reccommend its use it inside.good luckwalk good david
*In my off day cruising just came back. moisture control is such second nature i forgot to mention it. like david says for sure make sure the flooring is acclimated both for temp and moisture. if your house isn't far enough along to be able to do that then don't lay the floor, simple as that.
*My installer intends to use poly sheeting under the hardwood flooring. It's probably not necessary as the crawl space is dry and ventilated. Are there any advantages to using rosin paper instead?David
*If you ever plan to staple up radiant under that floor/in that crawl space, you definitely don't want to use tar paper (felt) - the heat will release fumes you can't get rid of.
*Thanks for the heads-up on the moisture. Hadn't thought of it that way. Actually, I guess the house will be pretty well finished before I put the hardwood down, so having it at living temperature shouldn't be a problem. I will probably go with the red rosin paper (good point about future radiant heat -- a remote possibility).I would think you would NOT want to use poly since it is pretty much a vapor barrier (VB) -- I'd think you'd want a vapor diffusion retarder (VDR) -- wouldn't you want the floor to "breath" some? Seems that with poly (or even 15# felt) there'd be a chance of condensation on the bottom of the flooring (especially in the "trough") when/if humidity in the house is high.
*In the days before house tightness, rosin paper was used to keep out drafts through the subfloor boards and floor as well as providing "lubrication" I might call it to minimize floor squeaks. Moisture was not a concern because of the openess of foundations and floors in general.Today we seal everything up tight, foundations, plywood sheathing, even our floor finishs are sealants, leaving little or no moisture/air movement through the mediums.I would work towards dissapating the moisture from below, and keep the subfloor and up as dry as possible. Stick with rosin paper. It works.Poly on the crawlspace floor is a short term fix at best. It will within a few years be worthless.walk good david
*I live and work on the coast and we have tremendous swings of temp and humidity from summer to winter. Doors that fit a little loose when installed in the dry winter can fit too tight to close in the summer. The only time I've ever heard of a flooring problem was with wide plank boards instead of the narrower strips. Or one where they had a leak that puddled water on the floor. both times the boards buckled from pushing too tight against each other when they swelled up.
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I will be installing prefinished, 3/4" x 3 1/2" hardwood flooring in a couple of months. It will still be cold, though the house will be heated a little. Between the boards, should I allow any extra clearance, or butt it up tight as is usually done? I have metal shim stock of about any thickness that I could use as spacers during the install, if needed. How do you usually do this? (The flooring will be well acclimated before the install.)