Installing Hardwood Floors

[Frozenfish]

Curious to know if it's worth the hassle. I was thinking of doing my family room and hallway that leads to the bedrooms and bath. The kitchen is already done. I've read up on it quite a bit and doesn't seem all that difficult except for the sanding. Will I really save that much money by doing it myself? I'd have to rent all sanding equip and probably a nail gun. It would be 400-500 sq ft if I were to guess. Has anybody done this before and if so would you do it again?

[outfishin_]

I have done this before....but I installed the prefinished stuff. Its not all that hard to do...I will say it is alot of work and tough on the knees and lower back....( atleast for me it was) . I was talked out of installing the unfinished flooring due to the mess of sanding and prepping the floor for stain and sealer.

[outdoor junkie]

Have installed pre-finished and un-finished. The pre finished is a lot faster and easier. And does not make a huge mess like the unfinished. I wouldn't recommend the unfinished to someone who does not have alot of experience with that kind of thing. You can screw up your wood in a hurry. But if you've got the time and patience go for it. Will add alot of value to your home. Good luck. I would also recommend a good saw blade and the gun that hooks up to your air compressor, because the the other one will tire you out quickly, you have to whack it pretty hard.

[Gone Fishing]

I would also recommend the gun that hooks up to your air compressor, because the the other one will tire you out quickly, you have to whack it pretty hard.
Try using a plywood sub flooring manual nailer. I did 800 sq feet with one and when I went to return it to the rental company, they guy said "who gave you that?" :bonk: :dizzy:
I did the unfinished and had never done it before. It was a good amount of work but came out very nice. I'm not sure how much I saved but it had to be a decent chunk of money.

[sweatyspartan]

go with a quality pre finished wood (I've used 3/4" Bruce Ash) and it looks great. When you get into the sanding and that kind of stuff, its real easy to get some wobbles and bumps in the floor unless you are a pro. I'll also second buying a nice saw blade!

[Tecumseh]

It's not that difficult and if you use your head and take your time it should turn out fine. The problem is that if you don't have the tools you will have to rent them. For a small area like you have you might find an installer who will do it cheap enough where it might be worth having it done.

[jpollman]

Don't know how I missed this post yesterday but here's my .02.

I have installed a lot of hardwood flooring and I will say install pre-finished flooring! By the time you rent the gear to do the sanding and buy the finishing materials you're going to end up spending just as much if not more then buying pre-finished. Not to mention the amount of work you'll save. Sanding it is not as easy as easy as it may seem. Drum sanders work fairly quickly and do a good job. But if you don't use them correctly you can do a lot of damage.

Now back to the finishes. The pre-finished flooring has a much better finish on it than anything you can do in the field. It's applied in the factory and dried in a controlled climate. IMO it's just not worth the hassle and mess of finishing it yourself.

I too will recommend using a pneumatic stapler to install the flooring. I've used both a manual nailer and a pneumatic stapler. The pneumatic is the way to go! It's much easier to use for someone that hasn't done flooring before. In fact I've got a brand new pneumatic stapler that you can borrow if you'd like. I bought it a while ago to do an install on a big job but after I bought it the customer changed their mind and went with laminate flooring instead. Unfortunately, most of the flooring jobs that I've done since then have been laminate or ceramic tile. I've even got a compressor that you can borrow if you don't have one. You're not that far away and I'd be willing to give you some guidance and show you how to get started and do the job. That will save you some money on tool rental. You can also take your time and do the job because you won't have to rush through it because of the rental fees. In fact, I've got a brad nailer you can use to for the face nailing near the walls.

One more thing I'll add is that you should check with Lumber Liquidators for the materials. I've used them for several jobs and always been happy with their price and the flooring has always been good quality. They're located in Livonia but have a web site you can check for info and pricing. Just drop me a line if you have any more questions or if you want to borrow the tools.

Take care

John

[Frozenfish]

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like I should go with pre-finished flooring. I'm fairly sure that is what is in the kitchen now. I'm going to take a piece of it up to HD or Lowe's and see if I can't match it with the pre-finished.

jpollman - that is very generous of you to lend out your tools. I just might take you up on that. I do have a brad nailer and a pancake compressor but not a stapler. Might price one out at harbor frieght or something just to get the job done. However, borrowing yours free sounds like a good option as well!

I wouldn't mind the website if you could provide it.

I can't think of any other tools that I'll need for the job that I don't have except a good mitre saw, which I can borrow from my buddy. I'll just have to pick up a good blade so I don't ruin his.

The prefinished I would assume is tongue/groove so pretty much snaps in? From what I read, rip the carpet, prep the floor, mark the joists on the wall, install first piece straight and nail or screw in on the joist and then lock and load. Doesn't seem all that difficult for a good weekend project. Might start next weekend.

[jpollman]

Their site is:

http://www.lumberliquidators.com (http://www.lumberliquidators.com/)

Yes it is tongue and groove. To get started I lay out a straight line along the wall that I'm starting at. Get some shims and shim each piece so that there is about 3/8" gap between the first piece and the wall. Walls are seldom perfectly straight so the shims will help you keep the outer edge of the first piece lined up on your starting line. Then I just face nail the first piece on the side closest to the wall. I nail it about every ten inches. Don't worry because you're just using brads and the holes are easy to just fill with a blend stick that's close to the color of the floor. Then when it's face nailed I use the brad nailer and nail at an angle down through the tongue. This will lock the first row in place. Once the first row in in place you will need to use the brad nailer for the first two or three rows until you have room for the air stapler to work. (you'll see why when you go to use it) Don't worry about the joists. I nail about every 10-12" so that's not going to get you into many studs. Besides, with the angle that the staples are going in you won't be getting into the joist anyway. I've installed thousands of feet of hardwood this way over the years and I've never had a problem. Floors I did years ago are still as flat and level as the day I installed them.

You probably won't need it but I have a couple of other tools that you can use if you'd like. One is a "flooring jack" that helps you tighten up boards when you're getting close to the opposite wall. You don't need to crank them together very hard but in the last couple of rows sometimes it helps to get them fit right and hold them in place while you nail.

If you'd like I can just PM you my phone number and you can give me a call. It'll probably be easier to discuss on the phone than typing it out here. ;)

Let me know and take care.

John

[Creek-Chub]

RE: Lumber liquidators

I'm sure John has much more experience with them, but mine has been that at least some of what they sell, probably the "great deal" stuff that's dirt cheap, is seconds and short pieces or leftovers. You want to get a good variety of sizes in your floor - something made up of all 1-2 foot pieces might look a little goofy. Not slamming them, just something to keep in mind.

[jpollman]

True, the .99/ft stuff is going to be seconds. But I've never used any of that grade stuff from them. I've used them at least three times and been happy with the material supplied. Even their first quality stuff is reasonably priced.

John

[Creek-Chub]

True, the .99/ft stuff is going to be seconds. But I've never used any of that grade stuff from them. I've used them at least three times and been happy with the material supplied. Even their first quality stuff is reasonably priced.

John

Good deal. Nice to know, because that stuff is dirt cheap. I didn't end up buying it, but I know at one time they had some butcher block counter top - something like 8ft. long and counter-top width for $90 or $100. I kept looking for the catch, but couldn't find one. Everybody else was at or over $500 for the same size.

[Reel_Screamer86]

Curious to know if it's worth the hassle. I was thinking of doing my family room and hallway that leads to the bedrooms and bath. The kitchen is already done. I've read up on it quite a bit and doesn't seem all that difficult except for the sanding. Will I really save that much money by doing it myself? I'd have to rent all sanding equip and probably a nail gun. It would be 400-500 sq ft if I were to guess. Has anybody done this before and if so would you do it again?

I've done this for 16+yrs and it is tough but can be done by the homeowner if you want to tackle it...

Try using a plywood sub flooring manual nailer. I did 800 sq feet with one and when I went to return it to the rental company, they guy said "who gave you that?" :bonk: :dizzy:
I did the unfinished and had never done it before. It was a good amount of work but came out very nice. I'm not sure how much I saved but it had to be a decent chunk of money.

I cant believe you found the staples long enough, atleast my underlayment gun the longest staple i can get is 1" ..So i hope you floor dont start coming loose..:D

[eddiejohn4]

I did my home in brazilian cherry, take your time and you will be ok. I do however prefer nails to staples. I am journeyman carpenter though, and have done many floors over the years.

Get the prefinish if you have not done this before ,this will save you alot of headaches if you make a mistake in sanding.

[jpollman]

I used to think the same way about nails vs staples. Even after the first time I used a stapler I wasn't too sure about it. But the second time I did an install using staples I had a small change that needed to be made and I had to pull up a little bit of flooring that I had just laid. I had a heck of a time getting out those boards that were stapled! Those buggers hold pretty tight. The main thing that I like about using the pneumatic stapler is that it's one hit and the staple is driven. When you're using the manual nailers, it usually takes three hits to set the nail. When you're laying four or five hundred square feet of flooring those hammer strikes add up. And that thing is HEAVY. :)

John

[Frozenfish]

So I measured it out and I over estimated by a lot. This is good, cheaper the better. I measured the sq ft to be 225 for hall and family room, it's a smaller house. Now, do you add 15% for cuts when ordering?

The kitchen is indeed pergo. The pergo runs with the joists. The previous home owner installed it. I think he did a decent job. First question would be can I get pre-finished wood to match pergo? Would it look shady? Also the new flooring would run perpendicular to the pergo. My thought is it might look ok for the fact that it is seperating rooms. Not sure I've ever seen wood floors run against each other. What are your thoughts. I'll get some pics over the weekend.

I guess I could redo the kitchen also and would probably be at my original estimate. My kitchen is actually bigger than my family room. Just not sure about mixing different kinds of wood floor.....

[Duckman1]

If you like the wood in the kitchen and in good shape I would leave it. I have run a few floors perpendicular to existing wood floors. If it is a seperate room I think it looks better IMO. You will want to install a transition cap where the different floors meet. Two different types of wood look fine, again IMO, but I would try to get a good color/wood species difference or it may look off if the two floors are similar.
Good luck!

[Frozenfish]

That is a good idea. The wood in the kitchen is very light color. I'm thinking I'll go with a darker color with the new wood so it's evident.

[jpollman]

IMO you're better off going with a different color as opposed to trying to match what's there because you might get close but I doubt that you'll find a match. If it doesn't match, it just looks like you tried and couldn't get it to match. Just use a different color all together and things will look fine. I've done several houses that had different colored woods or flooring in different rooms and it looked fine.

Normally you do want to run the flooring perpendicular to the floor joists but sometimes this just isn't possible. Normally you lay out your floor so that the boards run parallel to the longest wall. In my last house I installed prefinished hardwood and laid it out just that way with the boards running parallel to the longest wall. But in this case my floor joists ran in two different directions. They ran from front to back on the front half of the house and they ran from side to side on the back half of the house. So part of the floor was running perpendicular to the joist and the other half it was parallel. I lived there for four years and never noticed a problem at all.

John

[plugjerker]

15% is a ton of waste,if your using good wood,you should need half that.

[jpollman]

When I'm estimating material for hardwood or laminate flooring, I take an actual measurement and usually figure about 10% for waste and usually come in pretty close.

John

[DANIEL MARK ZAPOLSKI]

you shouldn't have any problem running your hardwood floors in any direction if you have screwed down the underlayment good and tight. now for butting up to an existing floor any changing directions NO PROBLEM. next time you stop into eddie bauer store in sommerset mall take a look at that floor which i worked on 3 5/8" black walnut. just make sure you use a good straight edge for your starting point and butt up to it and go, or if you have to cut a staight edge on the old floor with a **GOOD** straight edge and go. just remember what you start out with is what you end up with! you start out of SQUARE you end up out of SQUARE!

[Reel_Screamer86]

When I'm estimating material for hardwood or laminate flooring, I take an actual measurement and usually figure about 10% for waste and usually come in pretty close.

JohnWOW 10% hmmmmm seems like alot too..When i figure it i usually am on the last box with 3 or 4 planks left.....

[jpollman]

I don't throw away 10% of the materials bought. Whether it's ceramic tile or hardwood I tell people that it's good to have some material left over for repair work. Once the job is done if there is damage done it's nice to have some of the original material to fix it. If something gets dropped on tile and chips or breaks it, there's no problem gettting it out and replacing it. The same goes for hardwood. I always take the left over materials and tell the customer to put it somewhere in the basement or wherever and keep it "just in case". Believe me that I have had cases where a year or more later the customer damaged something and I was able to go back and put it back as it should be. It's WELL worth spending a couple more bucks up front for the peace of mind.

John

[PanFisher]

I just replaced 500 sq ft of carpeting with wood floors in 3 rooms. the main hallway already had wood floors and I didn't bother trying to match it. I got a color that was different, but complimentary to the existing wood floor. I was worried it would look bad, bud it turned out really nice in the end. In the living room, I put a dark border around the room to separate the hallway wood floor, then used a lighter color in the field. That really mad a difference between in how it looked for the transition from the hallway to the living room. It was a lot of work, but I personally like the look of wood floors, plus it really makes the floor feel more solid if you have a basement.

[plugjerker]

http://http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/548/medium/0131.JPGThis is a cool floor,ill be amazed if the picture shows up

[plugjerker]

http://http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/548/medium/0131.JPG

[plugjerker]

I suck

[Reel_Screamer86]

I suck

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

[GullLkRltr]

Here you go plugjerker:

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/548/medium/0131.JPG