[JBrzoz00]

Question about shoe molding. I'm going to install prefinished hardwood throughout my house in December and I'm planning on removing all of the old 2 1/4" base before the floor goes down. The flooring is supposed to be installed so it is 3/4" away from the wall. My question is, is it 3/4" away from the framing/wood or 3/4" away from the drywall?? I would like to not have shoe molding. Is this possible? Or am I about to make a mistake?

 

[jamestrd]

Question about shoe molding. I'm going to install prefinished hardwood throughout my house in December and I'm planning on removing all of the old 2 1/4" base before the floor goes down. The flooring is supposed to be installed so it is 3/4" away from the wall. My question is, is it 3/4" away from the framing/wood or 3/4" away from the drywall?? I would like to not have shoe molding. Is this possible? Or am I about to make a mistake?

Keep it 1/4 off the rock.. You will be fine.

 

[nickko]

I usually go around the room and cut the dry wall up about an inch and run the hardwood flush with the dry wall
That let's the floor expand under the dry wall and the base easily covers the hardwood

Let the floor acclimate in the house for about a week if you can. The longer the better

Good luck.........nicko

 

[ArtisanRemod]

Your new baseboards will be 5/8". you can leave 1/2" gap and still cover. !/4" too tight IMO.

 

[Eaglei]

As Artisan said 1/4'' is not recommended , may be alright on the end runs but not along the lengths .I had a problem not to long ago with 3/4'' space , but it was a 40' long room . Play it safe , take it from experience .

 

[Calidecks]

Doesn't it matter if it's engineered hardwood or not?

 

[ArtisanRemod]

As Artisan said 1/4'' is not recommended , may be alright on the end runs but not along the lengths .I had a problem not to long ago with 3/4'' space , but it was a 40' long room . Play it safe , take it from experience .

Believe it or not, an expansion joint is called for in runs over 25 ft. You'll never talk a customer into allowing a gap in the floor in the middle of the room, but I will have them sign off that i recommended it.

 

[jamestrd]

Believe it or not, an expansion joint is called for in runs over 25 ft. You'll never talk a customer into allowing a gap in the floor in the middle of the room, but I will have them sign off that i recommended it.

that's when you start in the middle and go both ways in a single room o r divide the space in half if multiple rooms and go both ways by start in a hallway.

the 1/4" off rock will be fine in most climates..that would be the decider if in a high humidity area..the rock wont stop expansion..
and it sounded like he was putting same trim backwhich was only 21/2" high. that's 1/2" coverage at best.

that 1/4" gap will be a 1/4" gap in 20 years..
you can count on it.

 

[jamestrd]

Believe it or not, an expansion joint is called for in runs over 25 ft. You'll never talk a customer into allowing a gap in the floor in the middle of the room, but I will have them sign off that i recommended it.

those expansion joints will never close..thats why..have yet to see one close in any install and I not alone in that.

used to do them in Sport floors..not one closed..best to start in the middle and run opposite directions.

 

[jamestrd]

I usually go around the room and cut the dry wall up about an inch and run the hardwood flush with the dry wall
That let's the floor expand under the dry wall and the base easily covers the hardwood

Let the floor acclimate in the house for about a week if you can. The longer the better

Good luck.........nicko

I was actually going to recommended that..but..no one bothers and honestly, not really worth the effort.

 

[nickko]

if there are any dips or low spots around the perimeter of the floor there will be gaps where you cant push the base down to the floor.
you can scribe the base to the floor but that's where shoe mold is nice because it will flex down to the floor and cover those small gaps.

nicko

 

[ArtisanRemod]

that's when you start in the middle and go both ways in a single room o r divide the space in half if multiple rooms and go both ways by start in a hallway.

the 1/4" off rock will be fine in most climates..that would be the decider if in a high humidity area..the rock wont stop expansion..
and it sounded like he was putting same trim backwhich was only 21/2" high. that's 1/2" coverage at best.

that 1/4" gap will be a 1/4" gap in 20 years..
you can count on it.

1/4" is good and sheet rock doesn't stop expansion? Interesting.

 

[jamestrd]

1/4" is good and sheet rock doesn't stop expansion? Interesting.

Yes for prefinished floor acclimated in existing space. Not new construction
That's 1/2 total..most rock not to floor so has more room if it needs which it won't..
Rock is soft and would give if needed.

Unless extremely humid or water introduced where's it going? I gave yet to see any flooring utilize that expansion.
Sport floors require 11/2 inch with expansion gaps and never seen gap close or the 11/2 used up.
Situations require adjustments.
Guidelines are to help ut don't mean adjustments can't be made.. Every field has to.

 

[ccoffer]

I've always laughed at that 3/4 inch recommendation. What problem is that supposed to address? Does anyone really think that a row of nailed down flooring can be pushed that far and somehow come back? It's a dumb recommendation with no basis in reality. Maybe they think the far side of the job can be shoved off the floor and the middle remain intact. hehe

 

[jamestrd]

I've always laughed at that 3/4 inch recommendation. What problem is that supposed to address? Does anyone really think that a row of nailed down flooring can be pushed that far and somehow come back? It's a dumb recommendation with no basis in reality. Maybe they think the far side of the job can be shoved off the floor and the middle remain intact. hehe

here we agree although I don't laugh at guidelines..i just find ways to make them work in my situations

 

[ccoffer]

There was a time in my life when I deferred to others. Then I realized who I was and what I knew. Nowadays I think for myself. A carpet cleaner can come look at my wood installation and type whatever he'd like to type.

Good luck in court.

 

[Ta2ude]

I've always laughed at that 3/4 inch recommendation. What problem is that supposed to address? Does anyone really think that a row of nailed down flooring can be pushed that far and somehow come back? It's a dumb recommendation with no basis in reality. Maybe they think the far side of the job can be shoved off the floor and the middle remain intact. hehe

The reason they call for a 3/4" gap is it allows enough room for the fasteners to be released from the floor allowing the wood to lift before it pushes your wall off it's foundation. Obviously if it were to move this much it will never come back and you need to address some real moisture issues.

So this "dumb" recommendation actually does have a basis in reality, you just didn't know what it was.

 

[ccoffer]

If what you just wrote had any basis in fact, it would never be cited by an inspector as a reason for a flooring failure. Meanwhile it's routinely pointed to by these people as a means of keeping wood in place. As far as your assertion that 3/4 of an inch is some magic number that preserves foundations, WHY? What makes 3/4 the number? Anything based in reality?

It's a BS, arbitrary value thrown in by people who pay no price for the stupidity of their recommendations. But boy are they worshiped by the faithful.

 

[ArtisanRemod]

I understand the need for guidelines, but coffer is on the money. There is so much conflicting bull**** when you get right down to it. It's all a game of "cover your ass" by the manufacturers. I have a million square feet of hard flooring installation under my belt over 20 years, and have seen so much bs and bad info from dealers, salesmen, manufacturers etc etc.

 

[ccoffer]

I agree with the need for guidelines, but at some point we need to be honest about who they're written for and what really goes into their creation.