First Full Tng Flooring Job...

moorewarner

let 'er rip.

This gentleman had some serious issues going on which we had a long conversation about. There was a healthy sag in in one of his walls running over a double joist. The low point in the sag was at the confluence of a bunch of duct work. It was pretty well covered with duct work so I couldn't see much but I imagined some pretty butchered up wood up in there. I recommended he post that point sooner rather than later. So needless to say it gave us quite a lot of shimming to do with ply and felt. In fact his floors were pretty wonky in several location.

And I must say I was thoroughly unimpressed with the Bruce flooring, which got chosen to match into the short run in the entry/hall way. I would have ripped that little patch out and picked something nicer myself, eh c'est le vi.

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moorewarner

I always keep count of my defect rate, and I *hate* defects. Usually they are very few and and of a kind that would probably only be spotted by other tradesmen.

But the matching up planks to the existing hallway flooring tagged me, man did that steam me. I burned more than a few minutes trying to make sure I nailed that. I figure I just didn't factor in enough installation compression on the runs leading up to the opening.

Freakin rookies.

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moorewarner

And I definitely need to work on my picture taking.

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moorewarner

And that is it for my show and tell.

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astor

It is tough to work with Bruce flooring.Looks good but here are few suggestions for your next project:
1)Do not place headboards between rooms unless customer asks for, just install the floors as one whole throughout without perpendicular boards.Braking the rooms looks patchy.
2)If customer asks for breaks between rooms, install many boards to match the width of the archway-passage whatever you call-in your case you put just one where the doorway -(even there is no door)casing is wider than one board.Or the front of the stairs;needs a few more perpendicular boards.
3) I always use wood flooring underlayment rather than felt.
4)When there is fireplace and you like to frame,be sure the full board comes right after the frame, otherwise frame looks lost.Install the frame first,then run a board in front of it, then fill the sides turning direction by splines.
Still for a first naildown project is considered well done.

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JumboJack

Looks nice...
But that HO has an interesting choice in furniture.

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

moorewarner

Astor, thanks for the feedback, I love detailed feedback.

I agree with you on that. The headboards bordering the entry/hallway were preexisting that is what I had to build up to and match, the rooms on either side lost carpet. With that being the case are you saying there would have been a better way to handle the existing hallway/headboards? I didn't try to push redoing the hallway so I could make it one continuous lay and with my limited experience nothing better occured to me.

The one headboard (thanks for the vcab. lesson ) I did add was between the bedroom and the combo living/dining room and I was loath to do it. I just wasn't sure how to do it continuous and be sure it would all match up (freakin rookies ).


I don't think I am following this part. Is all of this part about the hall (preexisting)? Are you saying if I was doing the hallway to not lay in long boards that span the whole width but use multiples instead? Or are you saying something else? Sorry Astor, I didn't quite understand that.

This is good info, I would love to know why. The manufactures instructions said felt and I asked three different folks (who I would call experienced but *not* authoritative) all said felt/doesn't matter. But it was a question I was trying to get answered to my satisfaction, and nobody could give me enough science for their advice to make the matter feel settled to me. I would love to know why underlayment over felt and is there a particular underlayment you use?

I think i got what you are saying here, that partial bordering the frame is hacky. After reading you response I searched around and saw another option of undercutting the brick and going frameless which looks nice and clean or several other ideas for frames that would of avoided that partial up against it. That was all good feedback for me thanks for taking the time to pass on the info.

JumboJack, I was kinda diggin his furniture.

moorewarner

How do you lay into a room and then reverse directions to go back down it's length? You use a "spline", and it it all becomes suddenly crystal clear, DUHH!

I got into the trades waaaay to late, I may never get up to speed.

thanks again astor, that just doubled my flooring knowledge sigh.

JumboJack

It's not hat the furniture is bad.It's just that there are so many styles all mixed together.

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

moorewarner

Since my idea of home decorating is a futon on a frame I'm gonna' take your word for that.

astor

Look at this picture,


On left side the doorway jam looks like 4" or 5" wide, the headboard(s)should be close to the width of that.

I am not sure which section is the existing floor,is it the floor between the door and the staircase?If it is, that should be removed and reinstalled-ok I know you lack the experience, but next time-there is only one way of doing it right even despite objection of the HO.

Other option would be cutting the existing floor back to the edge of the door jam to add some headboards, but that is even difficult, time consuming and requires special tools for experienced floor layer.

Same thing with the other side, multiple wider headboard also hides the unmatched lines to some extend.


I prefer underlayment like Aquabar or similar rather than felt.
Check Fortifiber site for more info.
Felt holds moisture,Aquabar reduces the rate moisture migration.
Some installers still use felt, for me having felt is heavy and messy at least one reason.

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moorewarner

Ok now I understand your point.

Yes the floor between the front door and the stairs, and the headboards you are referring to were preexisting.

Yeah I pondered how I could inch that one that extended beyond the archway casing back so it was at least flushed to the archway and matching the other one but I couldn't come up with how to get a clean cut line on the hall floor with it in place and the tools I had.

Would of been worthwhile to convince him to let me redo the front hall to get a continuous lay. I understand your point, would have been a much nicer result.

So that puts me up to three things at least I can improve on my next one with.

By the way I checked you alblum, good Lord that is fine work. I bet you hear that a lot.

It inspires me to try and learn more technique and spend more time and thought to add better detailing.

I will look for the underlayment you recommend, those are good rationals for it's use. Thanks for the reply.


Clifton

eXpatRioteX

"10% more FREE"

Is that the big box store "plano" grade?

I see its in a white box. If it is, it has a reduced warranty(only 5 or 10 year), and the defect ratio is pretty high(10% or more sometimes, there goes your 10% free wood). Find a good distributor and go with the "Dundee" grade at minimum. What you spend on the better quality, you will save on reduced cull/defect (<2%) and quicker installation and straighter pieces. The board to board variation will also be more uniform.

If you are just starting out, find a prosource store in your area. Its a fairly decent resource for the "small guy", with a nice showroom and pretty good prices. Last 2 jobs they beat the big warehouses on price for me. If you place a big order you can get them to throw in the membership for free usually. But be prepared to deliver the materials yourself.

moorewarner

eXpatRiotex,

The ho provided the flooring. The Boxes don't have anything particularly interesting to me, definitely going to find the good local specialty shops.

pinwheel

I see you're in the St Louis area. If you're going to get into the flooring business seriously, I can put you in contact with my supplier. But if it's just a part time sideline for ya, I don't want to waste their time.

Astor has given you some very good advice.

moorewarner

pinwheel,

Are you in the 'Lou also, if so what part? Thanks for the offer if I start pulling more flooring gigs regularly I will hit you up for that referral, I don't want to waste anyone's time either.

I am not looking to specialize in flooring, but I am drawn to finish work so it will become a larger and regular part of what I do (at least wood flooring, not sure my interest is there for tile). I do enjoy it.

Thanks for the reply.

the big 12 inch

I would of snapped a line off the hallway floor and lined up my new floor to match...Preferably from the middle of the doorway,then lay from that point to the window,put in a spline and lay the other half of the room.But instead of working from left to right,I would start at the header in the doorway and back layed to the wall so your cuts don"t have to be exact...You should stack your boxes in front of the work facing the same direction as the floor...Put your chop saw in front of your work(on the floor) on the cut side...How many times did you mark a cut,get up,cut it,get down...etc..When face nailing,try to nail into the wide grain to mask your holes better...Not bad for a first try though...

moorewarner

Big12,

I appreciate the detailed reply and all the tips on how to do it better *and* faster.

I prob could have shaved 10%-15% off my time swiveling to my saw vs. rising and stepping, it's amazing how easy it is to work out of habit, hahaha thanks for pointing that one out especially.

I will keep in mind all that you mentioned for the next job. Thanks much for the reply.

s. donato

if it were me i would rip that section now since you layed the rest and lay it on a diagonal or just perpendicular to the rest of the new floor(ie same direction as the head boards). in that small section you should be fine for support especially since you have plywood subfloor and not OSB.

as the others said a 2 or 3 piece head board looks nicer in my opinion.

not bad for your first one.

you also got to be careful with Bruce - they will not warranty any underlayment other then felt - so i have been told by my supplier. you can screw yourself by trying to be better then the rest then have a warranty issue bite you in the butt. as far as i know this goes for all the other Armstrong brands too. However i agree that its not as good as other underlayments out there, but what to do is up to you.

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PrestigeR&D

Nice job,,, but as Astor commented, underlayment, the breaks in transition and frame around the FP I would do differently if you get a similar project- other than that- nice work
Brian