I got some engineered flooring to install today. Kitchen and entryway, about 225 sq ft total. The flooring is 3/8″ thick, 3″ wide, random lengths from 18-36″. The install instructions say you can glue, nail, or float the floor. Our older home is not flat or level enough to float. I thought about glueing it, but that is so messy, esp. when you have to use a tapping block on every piece. So I decided to nail it with my 18ga trim nailer. The subfloor is the original fir floor for the house, it’s solid but the owner has decided to go with this engineered wood vs. refinishing the old floor.
The reason for my post is to ask if I’m gonna regret nailing it down with the 18ga nails. They seem to hold pretty well, but the install instructions say to use a concave stapler with crown not less than 1/4″ (or something like that) and of course I’m a far piece from that. My logic is that you could FLOAT the floor if you wanted to, and nailing it every 6″ is gonna put over 1000 nails in the floor, so even if it isn’t quite what the instructions ask for, it is way more than the floating floor would have.
Sigh… am I just foolin’ myself, or not?
I’ve only installed 3 of 11 boxes so far. I doubt I’d be inclined to rip up what’s down, but if I got flamed bad enough I might consider getting another nailer to finish the rest of the floor.
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Parolee # 53804
ah, well, in the absence of any replies, I went ahead and nailed it down with the 18ga trim nailer. I think it'll be ok, because I had damaged the surfaces of a couple of pieces by hitting my tapping block too hard, and had to take up about 4 strips--and they hung on pretty good. I won't have any issues with the nails coming out of the subfloor, for sure. It would have been nice to have a crown on the nails with a real staple, but I think its' gonna be OK.
Sure looks nice.
This pic shows part of the floor that's not been covered over with brown paper. The plywood will be living under the cabinets that are coming Monday, two days hence.
looks good, does it have any movement when walked on or is it solid? some floor guys use a different nailer for the 3/8 inch flooring. you are probably allright with the finish nailer. You have to use it alot on flooring installs anyway.
<<It would have been nice to have a crown on the nails with a real staple, but I think its' gonna be OK. >>
That would be my only concern too. That any low spot in the old floor might make the new floor loosen up, without the staple's crown to hold it down. That could cause movement and noise, whenever someone of adult size walked on it.
Why on God's green Earth do people cover up an old fir floor, anyway? It's so easy to bring those back to excellent finish. And considering what that material is worth today...it just makes no sense to lay this new stuff.
Edited 4/8/2007 11:15 am ET by Hudson Valley Carpenter
re: covering the old fir floor
Yeah, I agree. At least I didn't GLUE the new floor down. Someday perhaps the new owners can just pry up this stuff and not have to scrape the glue off. Simply squeegee some wood filler in the 2000 nail holes and good to go!
I think 18 ga is a brad nailer, not a finish nailer. I would have used 15 ga.
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
No way I would have used 18g.
Not a flame, but coated staples would have been the way to go.
18g is just too small to retain purchase on a thin 3/8ths inch tongue over the long haul.
Holding power can also depend on what the sub-plies of the wood are made from. If they're sad softwood, that can exacerbate the situation.
My opinion.
I do hope it works well for you.
Mongo
With a floating floor the tongue is glued to the next piece and the whole floor moves as one. Staples work because of the effect of a large head the bridge of the staple has. If the floor is fairly flat you should be ok.