quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
I'm afraid the adhesive will get funky over time, and end up ruining the floor.

Kinda like the rubbery drawer liners in the tool box, y'know? In time, the rubberry stuff sticks to both the drawer and the hammer (or other tool).

These are the rubber boot style protectors I have on some chairs and a table. So far so good.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CL...er%2Ffelt%2Bleg&th=1

Thank you!

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Does hardwood require "luan" underlayment? I know vinyl does.

So far, nothing I’ve read mentions it.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Does hardwood require "luan" underlayment? I know vinyl does.

No it doesn't and luan is not particularly good under vinyl because it's so soft.

Ideal subfloor for wood flooring is wood. Wide planks laid across the joists on a 45*. That's how it was done in the past.

Next ideal is 5/8"+ plywood.

"OK" is 3/4" OSB but OSB doesn't hold nails as well as plywood or wood. Make sure to nail through the OSB into the joists where possible.

Unacceptable is partial board.

T-minus 36 hours, friends. Roughly.

In about a day and a half, we’ll start putting down oak.

Over the weekend, I got the bedroom and office emptied (mostly), and we started putting paint on walls. The gray I picked out for the hall and small bedroom looks… um… light blue. Well, it looks light blue in the hallway. In the small bedroom, it’s closer to the gray it’s supposed to be. I’m crediting the overhead light in the hall for this weirdness. The light fixture looks great, but the innards are LED. (Thanks, eco-weenies! Grr.)

There’s a darker gray set to go on the bedroom walls. If it looks good enough, I’ll switch things up and do the office with that instead of the lighter gray.

My “other brother” painter didn’t show today, and that was a bit concerning. I called him after work and he said, “I’m broken, man.” We put in about 7 hours yesterday, and he’s a sore fella. Oddly, my fingers are sore (along with my back and shoulders). Fifty-leven trips up and down two flights, getting stuff out of the way, plus a whole bunch of carpet-yanking. I guess my hands have gotten a heck of a workout.

Anyway, I finally got [most of] the carpet out of the office tonight. It’s on the trailer now and headed for disposal tomorrow. I still have to pull up the remaining padding after work, plus a boatload of staples. And I’ve got to get my desk frame out of there. That’s going to require some disassembly.



I’ve marked some squeaky spots, stained the final stair tread (probably needs several more coats), and picked up more loose staples (ouch!) than I can count.

I’m ready to kick this project in the butt and get things moving! Can’t wait to have the office back to normal and functional, and to get the bedroom comfortable again.

You don't need to disassemble the desk, put it up on it's end out of the way, once you have half the room done just put it on the new floor side and finish the room.

You can put a moving blanket on the new floor where you put it, doesn't look heavy so weight won't be a factor.

JMO....

The desk frame isn't all that heavy -- it's four pieces of leftover aluminum extrusion from a job my former company worked, on, plus a few pieces of 80/20 extrusion. The heavy part is the 60x30 butcher block top!

Good evening, all.

6guns asked about progress in a different thread, and I promised I’d post an update. So here we go.

Last Wednesday, at about mid-day, we got started. Job One: install the last tread at the top of the stairs. I stained it in the garage a few days prior… it needs another coat and some clear polyurethane, but the clock had started. So, off we go! That tread measured about .635 inch thick, and the (nominal) 3/4” oak measures about .735. How fun is that? Don’t tell anyone, but I 3D printed a few .100 spacers, roughly 2x6” and we put them under the top tread before sticking it down with construction adhesive. “Let’s go!”

Acclimation appears to have taken place well.


The “hallway” at the top of the stairs measures roughly 10’ x 6’ and took most of the day to get laid out and covered properly. There are five doors to contend with — three bedrooms, a closet, and a bathroom. Using the Dremel multi-tool, I trimmed existing molding upwards as necessary to slip the oak planks underneath it running into the three bedrooms because I didn’t want to have any transitions between the hallway and the rooms. “Monolithic floor,” so to speak. Working into that small closet took some effort, cutting trim and making custom cuts to fit. That closet measures about 30x24” and probably took two hours to get covered properly.

Once we had progressed from that final tread to the two opposing bedroom doors, it was time to set up a “spine” and do our best to guarantee a straight line. Enter the cross-line laser. Eighty-nine bucks at Lowe’s, and money well spent. We were able to set that up at one end of the house and project the line to the other end, aligning one row of planks with the line.

("Spine" pic goes here, and I don't have that pic. Oops.)
Laser:



Lesson learned: place the planks along the desired line, and then place some scrap pieces “behind” them with the tongue-and-groove arrangement fitted together. Then drill through those scraps and screw them down to the subfloor before going to town on the nailer. Why? The nailer will actually move the plank you’re nailing under the impact of the mallet and the actuation of the cylinder. Learned well? Yes. Learned the hard way? Yes. Once the “spine” is in place, we could make good progress laying down additional planks.

The thing, however, is that it’s not just “pick one up, nail it down.” Nope! Pick it up, inspect it for damage, put it in place, make sure it fits, make sure its end doesn’t line up directly with the end of an adjacent plank, knock it into place (the tongue-and-groove fit is really tight), check that “the other end” didn’t move while you were whacking “this end,” and then staple that beast down. Then go again. It’s like every plank is custom-fit to some extent, some more than others. There are some 7-foot planks in the pile(s), and those are great. Except when they’re bowed. If they’re bowed in the vertical, one of us can step on the plank while the other knocks it into place. If a plank is bowed in the horizontal, then it’s either staple one end down and fight the other into place before stapling, or just set it aside.

This is the point in the process where we introduce flooring jacks. An impulse purchase at Amazon, and well worth whatever it was I spent.



ETA link: Link.

Using the jacks, you can “straighten” a long plank, or simply use them to seat a plank that’s too close to the wall to get a hammer on.

Speaking of too close to the wall…. what happens when you’re too close to the wall to use the nailer? Well, when you’re almost too close to the wall, there’s a risk of whacking the wall with the mallet when striking the nailer. OR… whacking the wall with the hammer as a byproduct of the nailer’s recoil. I made several good close-quarters whacks at the nailer that resulted in a wall strike right afterwards. Sort of embarassing when that wall was just painted a day or so prior. (Grr!)

What to do once you can’t get the nailer into place? Use screws.
Dad saw a video that mentioned small-head deck screws, like this. These things are great! Drill the plank through its tongue but not into the subfloor. Then use an impact driver to run the screw in. This task, of course, warranted another tool purchase: a close quarters drill. I’d been wanting a right-angle drill for a while, but hadn’t been able to justify it. Wednesday brought a trip to Harbor Freight for a fifty-buck close-quarters drill. Not the right-angle Ryobi I had been looking at, but way more affordable.



Ripping long planks with a jigsaw sucks. But my table saw isn’t working right, so it’s the only alternative right now. Good thing those cuts will be covered by quarter-round.

I figure we put about 7 or 8 hours in on the first day. I went across town and fetched pizza from a local (non-chain) shop and we enjoyed that with a beverage or two.

We had set the compressor in the dining room, and I didn’t think to turn it off before going to bed. At almost 1am, that think kicked on and scared the crap out of me. I rushed down the stairs to shut it off. “Oops.”

At about 6:30 Thursday morning, the darned thing started again. WTH?! Well, Dad didn’t realize I had turned it off after the first surprise run, so he went and flipped the lever, turning it back on. A jolting start to the day, for sure.

- - -

Thursday: Day Two. In the great words of Al Bundy, “Let’s rock."

I got the grill hot, cooked up some bacon and eggs out there, and we had a good breakfast. It’s a fun thing, cooking up a hearty breakfast on the grill while all the neighbors are headed out to work.

We got started working by about 7:30, and put in a solid day. In that time, we got most of the main bedroom covered. Floor registers are a treat… gotta custom cut pieces to fit over the ductwork. Place a the desired plank over the duct, then reach into it with a Sharpie and try to trace the duct onto the underside of the plank. Sometimes you get to cut a section out of a plank, sometimes you get to cut it off and make a really short piece for the other side.

Early in the process, I elected to set up the chop saw on the front porch. In hindsight, I’m way glad I did that. The amount of sawdust I tracked in was immense; I can’t imagine the mess we’d have indoors if I had set up inside. We also set up the router table to be able to duplicate the original groove, for those occasions when we needed to cut a piece to custom length. Well worth the effort!

We knocked off for the day when it got dark outside, as the porch lights are pretty insufficient for my “outdoor woodshop.” I had some Outback gift cards in a drawer, and we cashed them in for a good meal. I went to pick that up, and tagged a deer on the way. I saw him coming at me from the right, and thought briefly I’d miss the collision. I was wrong. Stinkin’ beast tagged the rear quarter panel. No major damage, thankfully. There’s a small crease and a dent, and a broken fastener on the fender liner. My neighbor runs one of the collision repair places, and I got a few minutes with him this afternoon. Relatively easy fix, just gotta get it scheduled.

Good meal, a couple of Yeungling, and it was lights-out.

- - - - -

Friday. Day Three.

We were both up early, and headed on into the day. Bacon and eggs on the grill again. Let’s go!

We got the remainder of the master bedroom covered, and started work on the second one.

By this point, I was wishing I had a Fitbit or similar, to track the number of trips up and down the stairs. One flight from the front porch workshop to the work area, or two flights from the work area to the garage (for tools or the router table or the water/Gatorade fridge). I figured out that the “weekend workout plan” was going to be something like 500 stair climbs and a thousand burpees. Sore knees and back? Check!

Speaking of knees: kneeling pads are well worth the fifteen bucks or so. Dad brought one with him, I bought another when I went out for those deck screws.




Another 12-hour day. Off to the local Chinese restaurant for an order of General Tso’s chicken and one of Mongolian chicken. Mighty glad I got extra egg rolls.

During the acclimating process, I put some of the planks in a pile in the office, and some in a pile in the third bedroom. We “shopped” from the pile in the office first, planning to consume most, if not all, of that for the hallway and master bedroom. The pile didn’t dwindle as I had expected, and we ended up working around AND from it while working in the office. So yet again, I was moving [part of] this pile of oak around. And then I began to wonder if I had WAY over-bought material.

- - - - -

Saturday. Day four. I had figured we’d be able to to a room a day and have it done, and that I’d be able to chill and watch college football on Saturday. I figured wrong.

Up early again, we skipped breakfast and hopped right into the work. We had a good flow going by then. I was doing the arts-and-crafts work, mapping out the custom cuts around door frames and closets while he laid out each next course of planks. Many, MANY trips up and down the stairs. The chop saw and the jigsaw were getting a workout just like me. Progress!

Across these days, my “other brother” was dropping in occasionally to tape or paint or remove tape. He’s a heck of a good painter, but the process is a little out of order. We should have painted ceilings first, either right after the carpet was out or even while it was coming out. The plan was for the painting to all be done the week before the planks started going into place. But things don’t always go to plan. So I still need to get ceilings painted. We’ll tarp-and-cover next week and get that done. No worries.

The light gray I chose for the hallway, office, and third BR … well … it looks light blue. I think that’s due to lighting, primarily (stupid LED bulbs), but I’m not about to fuss about it or ask to change it. The darker gray that was used for the master BR isn’t as gray as I pictured either. But I like it better, so we set up to use that in the office (instead of the lighter one). Actual incandescent bulbs in there help it look right, and it looks great against the gunstock oak finish. Plug for Valspar: this paint goes on SO well! It covers well, and we didn’t have to use two coats where we expected to. Bonus: it doesn’t stink up the house.

We got a bit of rain, but not enough to threaten the front porch woodshop. I brought the tools in overnight, though.

Leftover pizza for lunch, Mission Barbecue for dinner. A little college football in the evening, then lights-out. Thankfully, no unexpected compressor runs!

- - - -

Sunday. Day five.

We put in another six hours or so, getting about half the third bedroom covered. Time for more custom cuts around door frames, and a good stopping point before I’ve got to get some laundry done and get ready for a new week. I’ve still got to stain the quarter-round and get it in place and re-stain that top tread. I also still have to empty the master BR closet, finish pulling its carpet and get planks down. Oh, and I’m changing all the switches and outlets. That’ll take place this coming weekend.

Roughly 50 hours over five days. We’re both worn out.

Sunday dinner:


- - - -

I took yesterday off. After an 11-hour workday, I just didn’t have it in me.

Today I picked up new floor registers, to get rid of the old el-cheapo ones. They’re beautiful! (Pic goes here.). And they’re the wrong size. Dangit! I bought 4x10, and should have bought 4x12. Back to Lowe’s tomorrow. I’ve been there nearly every day for three weeks now. I don’t want to see my bill this month.

- - - -

My crew starts at 6am tomorrow, so the workday will be almost 12 hours for me. By the time I get home, I’m daylight-limited, so progress this week will also be limited. Looks like Saturday and Sunday will be full-on again.

I’ve got to get this job finished and get the furniture back in place by the 24th. That’ll be the six-week mark for this project and leaves me just a week to get ready for our annual Halloween party.

- - - -

I’ll plan to get some pics added tomorrow. ‘Nite, all.

- - - - -

Editing to add pics

This message has been edited. Last edited by: vthoky,

Air compressor middle of the night. Sounds like you are making great progress otherwise. With projects like these it continues to amaze me how you crank right along and think you are 90% done, but that last 10% takes 40% of your time.

quote:

think you are 90% done, but that last 10% takes 40% of your time.

Wait, are we doing tile now?

We are most decidedly NOT doing tile now.

I did some tile in the previous house. I won't try that as a DIY again.

- - - -

I set up after work yesterday to get a few planks in place. I think I nailed down a total of two before it got too dark outside to be able to cut well. Gotta buy a contour gauge today so I can make a better cut to get around this darned closet opening.

Oh, and I need to custom-make a couple of threshold strips, too! This might be an opportunity to learn more about this CNC router we have at work.

This area is going to require four pieces: one to slip under the face trim on each side, one to slip in between those, and a custom transition to the laminate ahead. I'll have to remove the existing transition strip design and mill the new piece to take its place.



Two [bathroom] doors will need this treatment.

- - - -

Progress shot from Thursday:


And from Sunday:


The room above has a closet not seen in the pic. That's where I'm working now. I have one more closet to empty and cover after that.

Meanwhile, I'm living like a college student: the bedroom has only the bed and a clock; I'm "getting dressed from the laundry basket;" my nightstand is a 17-callon storage tub turned up on its end; I haven't cooked for myself in a week.

Bonus: I've lost five pounds!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: vthoky,

Damn, Dan, THAT is a lot of progress and hard work! Congrats! It's looking great and we appreciate the blow by blow with some comedy relief.

Thanks! Comedy relief is about all the relief I'm getting right now. Twelve-hour workdays, and then a couple of hours on "second shift" afterwards... I'm beat!

I was planning to roll out of work a bit early today and get a head start on the evening. Looks like that's not going to happen -- "this shipment MUST go out tomorrow!" And we've got two days' worth of work to do in order to complete the order. Yow.

Your floor will wait for you.

Gotta make hay and pay for it. And all the cool new tools.

The floor looks great, and taking your time to get it done will yield a much better result than pushing it.

I'd bet your legs are going to be sore with the steps, stairs, kneeling....

Guinness is good for healing.....

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Guinness is good for healing

I think I'm going to make a sign out of that sentence, and put it up in the den.

Twelve-hour workdays this week don't give me a lot of time after work to accomplish anything on this project. By the time I get home and get ready to set up, it's getting dark. Phooey.

So this evening, I thought I'd tackle the electrical work in the bedroom. Easy, right? Replace two switches and six outlets. I can get that done fairly quickly, I figure, so "pitter, patter... let's get at 'er!"

Gathered my tools, spent way too long finding the right breaker to shut off (labels have faded), and set to the remove-and-replace process. The existing switches and outlets were all wired using the stab-in feature, and I've heard nothing good about that. So I simply cut those off, stripped the wire, and set to using the screws (like we're supposed to do). Great!

Heyyyy. What's this? It's getting dark already, and I've got no overhead lights. But! I have a solution! I headed to the garage and fished out the Ryobi light. Great! Back to work!

I spent a moment snickering about the eternal outlet debate -- does the grounding lug go on top, or on the bottom? And then I got on about replacing things. Oh, by the way, evidently my good wire strippers have taken a hiding place in the chaos, so I'm back to old-school: use a knife!

After the first two switches and three outlets, suddenly the room went dark. Totally stinkin' dark. "What the heck?!" Stall for a moment, gather my thoughts, and realize what happened: the battery on my light went kapoo, without any warning at all. So I lit up the flashlight app on my phone and headed across the hall to get another battery. Wait, vthoky! That other battery is in the drill/driver you've been using. ("Durr" moment.)

After finishing the outlet I was working on, I figured the light going out was a sign that it was time to quit for the night.

Tonight's tasks were to trim the planks a little to allow the new floor registers to fit right, and to get at least one room's switches and outlets replaced. I feel defeated: I only got half of one of those tasks done.

Saturday and Sunday are going to be long-and-busy days, friends and neighbors!

- - - -

Speaking of switches: I'm putting in the flat "paddle" switches, on the path to doing that in the entire house.

After I got the first one in place, I wondered if I should have bought lighted switches. Thoughts?

- - - -

We did get the big shipment of product onto a truck this afternoon, after a full-day blitz in Production.

Maybe tomorrow will be a bit less hectic.

Batteries are on chargers and I'm headed to "recharge" as well. 'Nite!