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You called the flooring nailer the "star of the show", but having done floors in the past, I'd claim the knee pads are the most important tool you used.
They definitely came in handy, but I didn't use them nearly as much as I would have on my laminate or vinyl flooring install. I was hunched over the flooring stapler most of the time.
@@SoEliteGamer tell me you are kidding? They may be one of the most overlooked items in a hard laborer's gear list but they are def a part of PPE and can protect your knees..
Man I can’t thank you enough for making this video. This is the exact same job I am doing tomorrow . I just started doing flooring and I’m still a little uneasy about everything. Seeing you do exactly what I’m going to be doing and talking through it step by step gave me a lot more confidence. You’re the man 🤙🏼
Dude! Just bought a home out here in PA. I was looking for flooring videos, came across yours. Awesome that you pointed out the roadblocks like the floor being a little off level, and how you fixed it. I hate those videos where everything goes perfectly as it never does for us in real life. Thanks!
A good video is the one that show you all the difficulty you can come across in the processes , not the one cut off all that and show you how beautiful the job came out as he brag about how good of a master he is
I think having those setbacks in this installation is very helpful for viewers because we might come across those kinds of setbacks in our installations too.
WHY is this a great video? Johnny actual discusses and showcases his mistakes (going through the drywall, uneven floor). This visualization will definitely make me think twice when approaching the job. ALSO, GREAT WAY TO LEVEL THE UNEVEN FLOOR WITH SHINGLES!! GREAT PACE, VISUALS AND TECHNIQUES. THANK YOU !!
So very thankful I came across this video! I must of watched 20 different HW install videos and this one was clear and right to the point. Big thumbs up for the shingles tip. One spot on my sub floor needed it. Thanks again!
I have carpet throughout my new (to me) house.. in reality it's probably a decade old.. I have been considering vinyl, but since the carpet gets some sun from my kitchen skylight, I've heard vinyl planking can fade over time. This wood flooring seems like a great idea!
Johnny Brooke . . . .WOW! Thank you so much for posting this "Hardwood Floor Installation for Dummies" tutorial. I watched NUMEROUS hardwood floor installation videos but yours was the best. I really appreciate your transparency, showing the mistakes you made (dry wall damage) and creating a level floor surface for the hardwood flooring material with shingles. I think you saved me from numerous train wrecks on my first go at this endeavor. Finally, I REALLY appreciated the tools that you utilized and / or recommended. I made a last minute run to Harbor Freights to secure some of the "other tools" that extended or enhanced my ability to do a "professional type job" on my first attempt . . . WELL DONE!👍😃👍
Hi Johnny, I'm a brand new subscriber and I live in a Mobile Home. I've been replacing all of the subfloor, only one small bedroom left to do .😁😁🤩. I found a 8 or 10 inch channel lock pliers worked best to remove the old Staples. I grabbed the top of the staple and just pushed the channel locks over the round part and it pulled up the staple with little effort. Just another idea for anybody else to try if they have this kind of project to do. I appreciate you including your mistakes or things overlooked, so we don't have to go through the same setback during our project. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and videos Rodney
I have installed hardwood flooring before. I love the Flooring Jack. Next time I install hardwood floors, I am definitely going to get one of those. I think you could use it even for stubborn boards that long and just a bit warped. You could put a long 2"x4" between that far wall and the flooring jack, cutting the 2"x4" to length as you go. Every hardwood flooring board could be in tight.
while remodeling my home i hung my electronics with "command strips" and zip ties. got everything above shoulder high and i worked underneath my crap without knocking anything down. also thanks for the tip on the shingles!
Great video right to the point, no crazy music or slogans. Very easy to understand. Why did you not tape the joints with the plastic vapor barrier? Should it be done, why or why not? Im am planing a 16x18 room build over an old garage slab that has about 12 inches between the new floor joist and old slab. One more question, should there be insulation shoved between the joist or none? It is there but no sure it will "breathe" correctly. Anyway great video thanks.
Instead of the flooring jack, you can cut a piece of flooring diagonal, keeping the groove side, and then cut a piece of plywood angled and sized to the gap to act as opposing wedges to close up the gaps. The groove protects the tongue on your board.
Next month we put scraps of hardwood flooring on the roof to shore up the low spots and use carpet mats that we pulled up from the bonus room to show down the rainwater flow on the 12/5 roof.
Hi, I work for myself, and something I had learned from a fellow contractor was to use the wide shakes of siding cedar wood shakes as spacers. The reason I am mentioning this is that having asphalt shingles in the house is not such a good idea. Because they are tar based products. And cedar is just wood and I would use this instead, for health reasons, for my installs.
Closing up the gaps when you’re getting close to the end wall is quite easy. Just slice a piece from a board thats waste, put another waste board towards the wall and squeeze the board in place with a crow bar.
This turned out looking great. You can use one of your clamps as a floor jack. You would just need to flip the end of the clamp. Also, spacers and wedges can be a good option too
@@thomasarussellsr Quick clamps with handles that you squeeze to apply pressure would likely lack adequate pressure to get a really tight fit. You can do better with a clamp that has a screw-type handle. You'll apply greater pressure and you can do so carefully, really dialing in the amount of pressure.
@@idontthinkso666 great observation. Most "squeeze" type quick clamps don't get great squeeze pressure. Even the best ones depend on the user having a great squeeze grip in their hand/s. You modification of my suggestion is 99.9% accurate. I concur.
You can also take a large flat head screw driver to pry the final few rows back. Just beat it into the subfloor right along the tongue of the board and pry. It might cause a little bit of damage to the tongue but oak usually holds up well.
Last couple rows to the wall you need to use a big flat head demo screw driver to pound into the subfloor right up against the piece of flooring you want to staple and pull it towards the previous row. No need for a fancy tool. Great video! Thanks for sharing!
This video was good but twice as long as it needed to be. Also liked how you hit the flooring with the metal end of the hammer instead of using the safer plastic end.
This was a great video for me to confirm what I was planning to do was pretty spot on. My project is a little more involved since it is a dining room, living room combination with a long hallway in the middle. My issue was that I wanted the flooring centered down the hallway so it took way more planning and measuring in 2005 build raised ranch that for some reason doesn't have any straight walls! Gotta love builders that can be off by almost 1/2 inch from one end of the hall to the other! Thanks for the video. Hoping my extra measuring pays off!
Surely putting a.plasric.sheet under solid wood is going to trap any.moisture that gets underneath? Then it will just be absorbed by your new flooring. Wood needs to breath and if you've got moisture coming up from the foundations to your subfloor you've got more problems than a plastic sheet will solve.
Thanks for the video. The one thing that I would suggest be done differently, is your first row. I wouldn't offset from the sheetrock along the whole length, but mark an offset at the each end of the wall and then snap a line. I would place the tongue on the line and follow it for the first row. The sheetrock along the length of the wall can fluctuate and not be straight.
Dude, did 1600 sqft of 7 inch engineered hardwood recently. It was stapled and glued. The glue was my first time. It was an easy clean up but added an extra minute or so per board. Supposed to be squeak free. But it was a bear.
Nice tutorials. I have a question. Now my hardwood floor have a little gap between them because of the very cold temperature. What do I do? I know humidifier will help and what else to get rid of the gap?
5:28 Interesting bit about having to get the wood pieces acclimated to your house's environment (humidity, etc), a process which can take several weeks. But that means if you contract a commercial floorer to do the job, they're just coming and installing wood pieces that haven't been acclimated (since their best interest is to just come in and get the job done in a couple days).
@@craftedworkshop It is uncommon to nail a hardwood floor, as most newer houses have screed floors (not sure if this is the correct term) and no blind floor to nail or screw into. Most hardwood floors are laid floating or maybe glued if there is an underfloor heating.
Steve Varga we do the same in the states using sika adhesive or bostic We do full spread on concrete subfloors I havent done a sleeper syatem in a long time , some architects still try
i just did mine a month ago, i watched this vid and i still had a 'do-over after about ten boards were down, so not too bad boit it turned out great thsat was after leveling the concrete floor. it looke level but the wood told a different story. youd assume the walls in your home are square..nope two were not, make sure your s are and floor had no dips or bumps.
Just a great video. Only question I have would be how to tackle old time (125 yo) floor radiators? The only solution I have is to do it during summer (Michigan) and disconnect and remove them. Since this was your first go at this, this might be more for the community, so fire away. 750 sqft dining & living room oa and 4 floor radiators. And yeah, from what I can see, the floors have been refinished maybe twice and deeply gouged so that's not a viable option.
Thank you so much for the asphalt shingle/felt paper shim idea! I was nervous about self levelling cement if I had to nail through it, if it would leak throw the subfloor or between the floor/wall, etc. Shingles are cheap (especially when people throw out extra), sturdy, and will stay in place.
Is the stapler machine necessary? Or can it be done with a finish nail gun like you did for the row closest to the wall? I only have to do an 18 sqr ft area.
A faster way to step the stairs is putting some rows on the ground and then using the cuts to start the next row. Also you can use a small cut off to hit the flooring piece your installing and it gets a tight line and it's it's nearly impossible to damage the flooring because it's being hit inside the Grove. Another recommendation is getting a stainless steel prybar it doesn't have paint so it's less prone to damage the wall when removing base.
Thanks for the video. Have completed installation of about 1000 sq. ft of my home with beautiful California hardwood bamboo flooring. Two tips of advice ... #1 DO NOT NAIL boards. Boards interlock with themselves and should be floating due to expansion and contraction. I used nails on half of my house and now every time I walk on them the nailed boards screech while the non-nailed boards are silent to walk on. #2 Lay boards DIAGONALLY since no room is perfectly square. This will necessitate you buy 5-10% more hardwood flooring but the fit and esthetics are superb. Except for the screeching nailed boards, love my hardwood flooring!
Nice video, very informative for me as I plan on installing about 200 sqft of some surplus hardwood flooring I recently bought but that's not why I commented. Just an fyi, your Dewalt compound miter saw may be subject to a factory recall. Not sure if it's your model or not but they do have a current recall on a saw like yours. Might want to check it out. Apparently some part of the saw has a propensity for coming apart and sending shrapnel flying around creating a "laceration hazard". Like I said, may not be your particular model but shouldn't be too hard to find out if it is. Again, thanks for the informative video.
Thanks , I did bellawood 15 years ago in my living room but didn’t know about the flooring jacks. Ordered a nice pair for $53 ea but their are cheaper ones for around $32. Doing my foyer this year. I would use quarter round along perimeter. I keep the gap at 1/2”.
I would have put a small bevel on the ends of the baseboard where they meet the door casings. Gives a cleaner look with a nice reveal, and you don't have to worry about them being flush.
I’m just curious why you put the door jam going a different direction and not have the boards continue in the same direction as the bonus room going through the door way and into the hallway
Their is trick to closing up the gaps when finish nailing if you don’t have a jack. You can use a flat head or chisel hammer the screwdriver into the subfloor then pull back on the screwdriver up against the board hold into place then nail and it should close the gap it works pretty well
Use a magnet to find missed staples and nails - a cheap neodymium works best (This is especially important when refinishing hardwood floors before sanding) Gloves help reduce the abrasion that causes blisters as do rubber gripped tools.
Hi, amazing video. They are a thrill to watch. I have a question: is there a book I can read or a course I can take to learn the best practices for diy home projects? I feel that while RUclips videos are very informative, I'm not getting the full picture.
Hi! First thank you for taping this .I have plans to install as well . My first question is where did you hear about the idea to use roofing shingles to level the floor this video is my first to learn of it I've more questions but got to get back to work
Can I be that guy and add a "tip" for you? ...no! ok well I'm going to tell you anyways. To close off some of those gaps in the flooring that are cause by bowing in the hardwood or variances in tongue and grove slots, you can use a chisel, or a flat bar could also work too. Something that you can drive into the subfloor with a hammer next to the edge of the plank to get some leverage to close the gaps up. Now this will puncture the vapor barrier but that shouldn't be a big deal. That is all. Thanks for hearing me out. I appreciate your videos and your impeccable craftsmanship. You really do a great job at everything you do.
This is very interesting, but how do I install wood flooring if it is only logs underneath? I have a really old house I’m renovating but it is only logs & Dirt underneath
It's because hardwood is actual wood it's gets effected by moisture and humanity levels, would leads to wood expanding or shrinkage. Expansion gaps is room for the wood in case if it does expand.
@@udomuller1542 that's why you leave out on underlayment about 1 feet or so, those rolls will be wood glue to subfloor, with 16 gauge, should secure movement and allow for expansion. He should've done the same, for the first 2 rolls Aswell.
Folks, you are failing to understand the basic concept of installing the flooring--it is nailed down on ONLY one side. The other side "floats" inside that tongue and groove joint. (Why do you think that tongue and groove joint is there?) Nearly all the expansion of wood occurs across the grain. So by only nailing down one side of each plank, the entire floor will expand & contract more or less uniformly across the entire monoloithic final surface.
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Thanks for the response means a lot you just made my day
How long did this project take??? I tried to look for it in descriptions but didn't find anything.
They are only saying 10% off net 15%...how do you get the 15%???
Jesus Christ, what's you do to your arm @ 5:30 bro? Those tack strips get you? Jk, but it looks like you were out on the bike doing wheelies!
they are only offering 10%... the "other place" is still less expensive without that 15%
You called the flooring nailer the "star of the show", but having done floors in the past, I'd claim the knee pads are the most important tool you used.
Safety third!
1. Makin money
2. Lookin guud
3. Bein safe
😎👍🏻
Knee pads aren't usually for safety, they're for comfort.
I provide my guys with them, but personally never use them.
They definitely came in handy, but I didn't use them nearly as much as I would have on my laminate or vinyl flooring install. I was hunched over the flooring stapler most of the time.
@@SoEliteGamer Ofcourse pads are for safety. The difference is how fast the injury appears.
@@SoEliteGamer tell me you are kidding? They may be one of the most overlooked items in a hard laborer's gear list but they are def a part of PPE and can protect your knees..
Man I can’t thank you enough for making this video. This is the exact same job I am doing tomorrow . I just started doing flooring and I’m still a little uneasy about everything. Seeing you do exactly what I’m going to be doing and talking through it step by step gave me a lot more confidence. You’re the man 🤙🏼
how’d it go
Dude! Just bought a home out here in PA. I was looking for flooring videos, came across yours. Awesome that you pointed out the roadblocks like the floor being a little off level, and how you fixed it. I hate those videos where everything goes perfectly as it never does for us in real life. Thanks!
A good video is the one that show you all the difficulty you can come across in the processes , not the one cut off all that and show you how beautiful the job came out as he brag about how good of a master he is
Dude I'm in the process of buying a house in PA! where are you originally from?
Paul . . . your "perfect video" observation is EXACTLY why I posted my comment! Too funny . . . we must be very "like minded." 😉
I think having those setbacks in this installation is very helpful for viewers because we might come across those kinds of setbacks in our installations too.
WHY is this a great video? Johnny actual discusses and showcases his mistakes (going through the drywall, uneven floor). This visualization will definitely make me think twice when approaching the job. ALSO, GREAT WAY TO LEVEL THE UNEVEN FLOOR WITH SHINGLES!! GREAT PACE, VISUALS AND TECHNIQUES. THANK YOU !!
So very thankful I came across this video! I must of watched 20 different HW install videos and this one was clear and right to the point. Big thumbs up for the shingles tip. One spot on my sub floor needed it. Thanks again!
Dude, I feel like I can post an ad now for installing hardwood floorings, Thanks a lot for your video.
My back and knees hurt just watching this! Looks sooo much better than the carpet. Nice job!
Hah, thanks mama!
I have carpet throughout my new (to me) house.. in reality it's probably a decade old.. I have been considering vinyl, but since the carpet gets some sun from my kitchen skylight, I've heard vinyl planking can fade over time. This wood flooring seems like a great idea!
Johnny Brooke . . . .WOW! Thank you so much for posting this "Hardwood Floor Installation for Dummies" tutorial. I watched NUMEROUS hardwood floor installation videos but yours was the best. I really appreciate your transparency, showing the mistakes you made (dry wall damage) and creating a level floor surface for the hardwood flooring material with shingles. I think you saved me from numerous train wrecks on my first go at this endeavor. Finally, I REALLY appreciated the tools that you utilized and / or recommended. I made a last minute run to Harbor Freights to secure some of the "other tools" that extended or enhanced my ability to do a "professional type job" on my first attempt . . . WELL DONE!👍😃👍
Thanks a lot Michael, glad it was helpful!
Hi Johnny, I'm a brand new subscriber and I live in a Mobile Home. I've been replacing all of the subfloor, only one small bedroom left to do .😁😁🤩. I found a 8 or 10 inch channel lock pliers worked best to remove the old Staples. I grabbed the top of the staple and just pushed the channel locks over the round part and it pulled up the staple with little effort. Just another idea for anybody else to try if they have this kind of project to do. I appreciate you including your mistakes or things overlooked, so we don't have to go through the same setback during our project. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and videos Rodney
Rodney Widger or a scraper way easier and faster
I seriously love and appreciate the flow of your videos. Always informative, entertaining to watch, and overall just great quality. Kudos, dude!
Thanks a lot Kevin, really appreciate that!
I have installed hardwood flooring before. I love the Flooring Jack. Next time I install hardwood floors, I am definitely going to get one of those. I think you could use it even for stubborn boards that long and just a bit warped. You could put a long 2"x4" between that far wall and the flooring jack, cutting the 2"x4" to length as you go. Every hardwood flooring board could be in tight.
You are a man of patience and precision! Awesome job man
Great video had no idea about the asphalt shingle trick. Looking to do my floors very soon found your video very helpful with your tips and tricks.
I'm just now thinking about doing this in our home. Your video was very helpful in giving a heads up to potential problems I might encounter. Thanks!
while remodeling my home i hung my electronics with "command strips" and zip ties. got everything above shoulder high and i worked underneath my crap without knocking anything down.
also thanks for the tip on the shingles!
Great video right to the point, no crazy music or slogans. Very easy to understand. Why did you not tape the joints with the plastic vapor barrier? Should it be done, why or why not? Im am planing a 16x18 room build over an old garage slab that has about 12 inches between the new floor joist and old slab. One more question, should there be insulation shoved between the joist or none? It is there but no sure it will "breathe" correctly. Anyway great video thanks.
Instead of the flooring jack, you can cut a piece of flooring diagonal, keeping the groove side, and then cut a piece of plywood angled and sized to the gap to act as opposing wedges to close up the gaps. The groove protects the tongue on your board.
Next month we put scraps of hardwood flooring on the roof to shore up the low spots and use carpet mats that we pulled up from the bonus room to show down the rainwater flow on the 12/5 roof.
when removing doors i find its handy to leave in 1 or 2 screws in the top hinge until last to avoid the door from pulling on the bottom hinge
Great job and video! Very thorough without being too long winded.
love this video, and its prepping me for replacing hardwood floors to all my bedrooms and office
Hi, I work for myself, and something I had learned from a fellow contractor was to use the wide shakes of siding cedar wood shakes as spacers. The reason I am mentioning this is that having asphalt shingles in the house is not such a good idea. Because they are tar based products. And cedar is just wood and I would use this instead, for health reasons, for my installs.
Closing up the gaps when you’re getting close to the end wall is quite easy. Just slice a piece from a board thats waste, put another waste board towards the wall and squeeze the board in place with a crow bar.
This turned out looking great. You can use one of your clamps as a floor jack. You would just need to flip the end of the clamp. Also, spacers and wedges can be a good option too
Many people don't know that "quick clamps" have reversible jaws to be used as spreaders.
@@thomasarussellsr a lot of parallel clamps have the same option
Good call!
@@thomasarussellsr Quick clamps with handles that you squeeze to apply pressure would likely lack adequate pressure to get a really tight fit. You can do better with a clamp that has a screw-type handle. You'll apply greater pressure and you can do so carefully, really dialing in the amount of pressure.
@@idontthinkso666 great observation. Most "squeeze" type quick clamps don't get great squeeze pressure. Even the best ones depend on the user having a great squeeze grip in their hand/s. You modification of my suggestion is 99.9% accurate. I concur.
Great video. I'm tackling my first HW flooring project this weekend and this was one of the best installation videos out there.
For the flooring jack you can take one of your parallel clamps or quick clamps and flip the bottom piece so it pushes out
Why didn’t I think of that?
You can also take a large flat head screw driver to pry the final few rows back. Just beat it into the subfloor right along the tongue of the board and pry. It might cause a little bit of damage to the tongue but oak usually holds up well.
I need a good handyman like this in my life!!
Last couple rows to the wall you need to use a big flat head demo screw driver to pound into the subfloor right up against the piece of flooring you want to staple and pull it towards the previous row. No need for a fancy tool. Great video! Thanks for sharing!
Tip for the carpet pad staples: flathead screwdriver. Beats the strain on the hands of the pliers
This video was good but twice as long as it needed to be. Also liked how you hit the flooring with the metal end of the hammer instead of using the safer plastic end.
This was a great video for me to confirm what I was planning to do was pretty spot on. My project is a little more involved since it is a dining room, living room combination with a long hallway in the middle. My issue was that I wanted the flooring centered down the hallway so it took way more planning and measuring in 2005 build raised ranch that for some reason doesn't have any straight walls! Gotta love builders that can be off by almost 1/2 inch from one end of the hall to the other! Thanks for the video. Hoping my extra measuring pays off!
Surely putting a.plasric.sheet under solid wood is going to trap any.moisture that gets underneath? Then it will just be absorbed by your new flooring. Wood needs to breath and if you've got moisture coming up from the foundations to your subfloor you've got more problems than a plastic sheet will solve.
Thanks for the video. The one thing that I would suggest be done differently, is your first row. I wouldn't offset from the sheetrock along the whole length, but mark an offset at the each end of the wall and then snap a line. I would place the tongue on the line and follow it for the first row. The sheetrock along the length of the wall can fluctuate and not be straight.
Dude, did 1600 sqft of 7 inch engineered hardwood recently. It was stapled and glued. The glue was my first time. It was an easy clean up but added an extra minute or so per board.
Supposed to be squeak free. But it was a bear.
What a great video , Love to see this type of videos where you learn so much planning to buy my own house
THANK YOU very much for this video. This is incredibly helpful.
2 years later but thanks bruh!! Your very thorough instructional and educational video really helped me!!👍👍
Best hardwood floor installation video
Nice tutorials. I have a question. Now my hardwood floor have a little gap between them because of the very cold temperature. What do I do? I know humidifier will help and what else to get rid of the gap?
You will jus af to fill it whit kokin that matches it
Insulated underlayment
5:28 Interesting bit about having to get the wood pieces acclimated to your house's environment (humidity, etc), a process which can take several weeks. But that means if you contract a commercial floorer to do the job, they're just coming and installing wood pieces that haven't been acclimated (since their best interest is to just come in and get the job done in a couple days).
Yeah but they probably do a killer job.
2 days is plenty
I find it quite interesting how different this is to how wooden floors are installed here in Germany.
How do you guys do them? That is interesting!
@@craftedworkshop It is uncommon to nail a hardwood floor, as most newer houses have screed floors (not sure if this is the correct term) and no blind floor to nail or screw into. Most hardwood floors are laid floating or maybe glued if there is an underfloor heating.
@@EarMaster55 we glue down engineered flooring (basements or slab homes)
Steve Varga we do the same in the states using sika adhesive or bostic
We do full spread on concrete subfloors
I havent done a sleeper syatem in a long time , some architects still try
@@EarMaster55 every company have variations in chicago . A few things he did are wrong in my company , but the video states for beginners not pros
How many man hours are spent to convert this room? What is the sqft of it?
Did you end up completing the other rooms? i wanted to see how you tied them together.
Great video! I'm about to install hardwood in my master bedroom and this helped a lot! I need to go tool shopping hah.
rent the tools
i just did mine a month ago, i watched this vid and i still had a 'do-over after about ten boards were down, so not too bad boit it turned out great thsat was after leveling the concrete floor. it looke level but the wood told a different story. youd assume the walls in your home are square..nope two were not, make sure your s are and floor had no dips or bumps.
When I did my office floors, I stuffed all my internet stuffs in a cloth bag, and hung it on a nail from the wall.
Brilliant!
Don't you hate it when people come up with good ideas AFTER you've completed the work 😎
*stuff.....nobody thinks you're cute when you type like that.
Just a great video. Only question I have would be how to tackle old time (125 yo) floor radiators? The only solution I have is to do it during summer (Michigan) and disconnect and remove them. Since this was your first go at this, this might be more for the community, so fire away. 750 sqft dining & living room oa and 4 floor radiators. And yeah, from what I can see, the floors have been refinished maybe twice and deeply gouged so that's not a viable option.
Great video! Try a long handle shovel for removing the tack strips. A lot quicker than a hammer and pry bar
For the door frame if you cut the boards at a 45 degree angle you have a finished side all the way arround.
Only thing I do different is using felt instead of vapor barrier. I like to use vapor barrier for laminate jobs. You didnt cut any corners, nice work.
Vapor barrier for naildown, plastic foam for laminate.
Next time you do the rip next to the wall, set your table saw on a 7-10 degree bevel, you can get the edge of the wood closer to the wall.
I wish someone had answered this. 🤔
@@politicallywhat5630 It just gives a cleaner and finished look
Thanks man, just started my own flooring company and EVERYONE wants hardwood, I've done lvp and carpet for about 8 years and this is helpful!
Glad I could help!
As a 10 year installer we put plastic then felt paper to reduce all moisture
Excellent video, the best I've seen. Gave me confidence to tackle my guest rooms. Subscribed!
LOL. the hand held saw is much quieter than the oscillating saw. I'd say about a thousand times quieter and more accurate, too. Well done video!
Thank you so much for the asphalt shingle/felt paper shim idea! I was nervous about self levelling cement if I had to nail through it, if it would leak throw the subfloor or between the floor/wall, etc. Shingles are cheap (especially when people throw out extra), sturdy, and will stay in place.
Nailing tge shingles wont hurt
I’ve used shingles and tar paper to shim up studs when placing drywall and concrete board also.
Is the stapler machine necessary? Or can it be done with a finish nail gun like you did for the row closest to the wall? I only have to do an 18 sqr ft area.
Thanks for video, Great guidance for wood flooring.
Great JOB! I think one added step could have been to screw down the subfloor before putting on the plastic.
Is it industry standard to level the slab/foundation after total reconstruction before putting in a new floor?
A faster way to step the stairs is putting some rows on the ground and then using the cuts to start the next row. Also you can use a small cut off to hit the flooring piece your installing and it gets a tight line and it's it's nearly impossible to damage the flooring because it's being hit inside the Grove. Another recommendation is getting a stainless steel prybar it doesn't have paint so it's less prone to damage the wall when removing base.
Is 72 hours enough time to acclimate new hardwood in the home?
Thanks for the video. Have completed installation of about 1000 sq. ft of my home with beautiful California hardwood bamboo flooring. Two tips of advice ... #1 DO NOT NAIL boards. Boards interlock with themselves and should be floating due to expansion and contraction. I used nails on half of my house and now every time I walk on them the nailed boards screech while the non-nailed boards are silent to walk on. #2 Lay boards DIAGONALLY since no room is perfectly square. This will necessitate you buy 5-10% more hardwood flooring but the fit and esthetics are superb. Except for the screeching nailed boards, love my hardwood flooring!
Is the bamboo holding up well (scratches, warping, etc)? Considering that instead of oak. What company did you buy from? Thanks!
Nice video, very informative for me as I plan on installing about 200 sqft of some surplus hardwood flooring I recently bought but that's not why I commented. Just an fyi, your Dewalt compound miter saw may be subject to a factory recall. Not sure if it's your model or not but they do have a current recall on a saw like yours. Might want to check it out. Apparently some part of the saw has a propensity for coming apart and sending shrapnel flying around creating a "laceration hazard". Like I said, may not be your particular model but shouldn't be too hard to find out if it is. Again, thanks for the informative video.
The bedroom with 2 murphy beds and desk is beautifil. Hope you share the project! Thanks for the videos!
Thank you for that. I’m going to do my floors as well, your tutorial is indepth
hi!how many boxes did you use? i’m preparing myself (both in the process & financially) for when i tackle a similar project. just curious!
Thanks , I did bellawood 15 years ago in my living room but didn’t know about the flooring jacks. Ordered a nice pair for $53 ea but their are cheaper ones for around $32. Doing my foyer this year. I would use quarter round along perimeter. I keep the gap at 1/2”.
I would have put a small bevel on the ends of the baseboard where they meet the door casings. Gives a cleaner look with a nice reveal, and you don't have to worry about them being flush.
SO THATS WHAT ITS FOR 16:10
Ive never thought to use the clamp like that
I’m just curious why you put the door jam going a different direction and not have the boards continue in the same direction as the bonus room going through the door way and into the hallway
Their is trick to closing up the gaps when finish nailing if you don’t have a jack. You can use a flat head or chisel hammer the screwdriver into the subfloor then pull back on the screwdriver up against the board hold into place then nail and it should close the gap it works pretty well
Use a magnet to find missed staples and nails - a cheap neodymium works best (This is especially important when refinishing hardwood floors before sanding) Gloves help reduce the abrasion that causes blisters as do rubber gripped tools.
I don’t even own a house yet but now I am kinda eager to lay some flooring!
thanks so much for all the detail sharing, I am planning to do the same thing to my dining room
What do you do about all of the little gaps between the boards?
Use a long scrapper to scrap staples and also you can pop the tag stripes with the scrapper Aswell.
I don’t need a Hardwood flooring stapler. But now, I would like one 😁
Hi, amazing video. They are a thrill to watch. I have a question: is there a book I can read or a course I can take to learn the best practices for diy home projects? I feel that while RUclips videos are very informative, I'm not getting the full picture.
Hi man. What size nails are you using on solid timber? Also, which type of Dewalt nail gun do you recommend?
You can drive a nail set into the subfloor and use it to pry the pieces together. Ive never used a jack personally
Nailed it! appreciate the information, Thanks
what type of saw is that again you used to cut around the trim of the door?
Really a great video and I think I will do this myself!
Hi! First thank you for taping this .I have plans to install as well . My first question is where did you hear about the idea to use roofing shingles to level the floor this video is my first to learn of it I've more questions but got to get back to work
Can I be that guy and add a "tip" for you? ...no! ok well I'm going to tell you anyways. To close off some of those gaps in the flooring that are cause by bowing in the hardwood or variances in tongue and grove slots, you can use a chisel, or a flat bar could also work too. Something that you can drive into the subfloor with a hammer next to the edge of the plank to get some leverage to close the gaps up. Now this will puncture the vapor barrier but that shouldn't be a big deal. That is all. Thanks for hearing me out.
I appreciate your videos and your impeccable craftsmanship. You really do a great job at everything you do.
Great looking floor. Thanks for the video
This is very interesting, but how do I install wood flooring if it is only logs underneath? I have a really old house I’m renovating but it is only logs & Dirt underneath
We had a stack of old shingle the previous owner left behind, that was fortunate
Flooring looks great man! Comforting to see other people ran into similar problems as I did when tackling my first hardwood flooring install 😅 lol
Hah, thanks Donovan!
How long wss this whole process? Is this over a course of a weekend? 2days?
You didn't use glue down assist. Do your floors squeak now?
wow, you made this look so easy. Looks really great.
Why do you leave room for expansion and nail down the hardwood flooring? Do nails allow expansion? 😎 or does the subfloor move instead?
Honestly I don’t get it either. It’s just what is required when installing hardwood, so that’s what I did.
It's because hardwood is actual wood it's gets effected by moisture and humanity levels, would leads to wood expanding or shrinkage. Expansion gaps is room for the wood in case if it does expand.
D Tango i agree. But the wood got nailed down less than 1/2 inch off the border and a nail is the worst thing to allow for movement of the wood.
@@udomuller1542 that's why you leave out on underlayment about 1 feet or so, those rolls will be wood glue to subfloor, with 16 gauge, should secure movement and allow for expansion. He should've done the same, for the first 2 rolls Aswell.
Folks, you are failing to understand the basic concept of installing the flooring--it is nailed down on ONLY one side. The other side "floats" inside that tongue and groove joint. (Why do you think that tongue and groove joint is there?) Nearly all the expansion of wood occurs across the grain. So by only nailing down one side of each plank, the entire floor will expand & contract more or less uniformly across the entire monoloithic final surface.
How did u make sure your first row is straight if your wall is not? Thanks
Nice explanation video.Super duper job.👍👌
very nice. based on this, would you say it's possible to install hardwoods throughout an entire house one room at a time?
Are you supposed to install a cushion barrier too?
Chasing Tone intro music... I tip my hat to you sir. Nice information