28
votes
Accepted
Low-cost hardwood flooring... what's the catch?
There are a lot of factors when it comes to pricing flooring as it has become a highly competitive, mass produced commodity.
What you have here is the cheapest specs you can get in wood flooring:
...
- 47.8k
26
votes
Accepted
How do I fix popped nails in hardwood floors?
Use lost-head screws. These have heads small enough that they will pull down into the surface so you can cover them with a dab of filler.
There are many types, for different purposes, but all have ...
- 10.5k
22
votes
Does hardwood floor REALLY need an expansion gap?
When an irresistible force meets an immovable object, in this case you get floor buckling. It's been observed in practice countless times.
Feel free to repeat the mistakes of others, or learn from ...
- 201k
11
votes
Why don't I see more progress when sanding my stair treads?
A vibrating or oscillating sander isn't going to be aggressive enough for that job. It's really only suitable for light finish sanding. You need something that spins, or at least something with a ...
- 129k
9
votes
Hardwood flooring installation
If the floor is flat with no dips or ridges then yes.
The new flooring will raise the floor height up a bit ~3/4 inch, but if you are happy with the new height, no problem.
Most flooring made with ...
- 22.7k
9
votes
How to remove threaded insert that went in wrong?
Easy work for a vice grips, you'll own it for a lifetime.
"Use a power tool" was terrible advice. Unfortunately some younger people feel a need to always use a power tool. This fails to ...
7
votes
Distributed expansion gaps in solid hardwood flooring
Do NOT install expansion spaces between each board. You want a very tight fit between each board and then leave an expansion space around the perimeter of each room.
First you’ll need to acclimate ...
- 23.1k
6
votes
How do I fix popped nails in hardwood floors?
I'd pull them out and see if the floor squeaks or flexes. Maybe you don't need them and can fill or ignore the holes.
Otherwise, replace them with ring shank or spiral shank type nails...as suggested ...
- 6,188
6
votes
How do I fix popped nails in hardwood floors?
"Two nails in my hardwood flooring keep popping up: I have knocked them back in, but because of a bit of flex in the floor, they work their way back up. What should I do about them?"
Civil ...
- 169
6
votes
Does hardwood floor REALLY need an expansion gap?
Humidity is a much bigger factor than temperature in wood expansion. And most of the humidity-related expansion is across the grain, not along the grain.
The floor and subfloor are subject to the same ...
- 1,885
6
votes
Accepted
How to remove threaded insert that went in wrong?
One thing to try is to grab the insert with a vice-grip (or similar) locking pliers. If you can get a good enough grip, you may be able to work it out.
Otherwise, you can try using a Dremel (or ...
- 12.6k
5
votes
Proper Orientation for Plywood Subfloor under 3/4" Hardwood
Your current plywood is suitable for hardwood installation. I do not ever like to use 1/4 subfloor as it is brittle and when screwed sometimes doesn't lay flat. If I added to your subfloor I would ...
- 47.8k
5
votes
Low-cost hardwood flooring... what's the catch?
If it's truly 3/8", then the glue-down hardwood is half the thickness of a traditional hardwood flooring material (example - 3/4" thick oak). This uses less volume of wood per square foot of floor, ...
- 8,182
5
votes
Accepted
How much sanding do I need to do to refinish a wood floor?
You'll probably want to rent a proper floor sander. A small random-orbit will take ages and you'll probably burn through most of its useful life.
The sander should come with a variety of paper grits....
- 129k
5
votes
Accepted
Are my hardwood sleepers shrinking?
What you are showing is bare wood apparently without any treatment or coating. In that case the wood will shrink and swell due to humidity and, since this appears to be outside, rain, snow, etc.
Wood ...
- 23.1k
5
votes
How much will an undried hardwood shrink in the axial direction?
Wood behaves anisotropically (differently in different directions.)
Common values for radial, tangential, and axial (aka longitudinal) shrinkage in red oak are 4%, 8.6% and 0.1-0.2% (not even called ...
- 201k
4
votes
Accepted
Is this red oak or white oak hardwood flooring?
It's impossible to say for sure from your picture since it is already stained. But generally speaking the approach to this is trial and error with scrap pieces. You'll want to make sure the piece of ...
- 27.6k
4
votes
Accepted
Halo effect sanding floors
When re-finishing wood floors with drum and edge sanders one of the last steps is to blend the two areas with a floor machine sander. The floor machine is set-up for 100 and 120 grit sanding disks. ...
- 10.9k
4
votes
How can I remove blackened water stains from a hardwood floor?
The active agent in bleach is sodium hypochlorite. Normally, it will remove old stain color from wood but not ink stains or black water marks. For black water stains, use a saturated solution of ...
- 41
4
votes
Repairing hollowed out hole in hardwood floor
You should buy a colored wood filler that most closely matches the color of your floor and pack it in there to fill. Carefully sand the filled area, hit it with additional stain if necessary, then ...
- 35.1k
4
votes
Accepted
What's the best way to repair this hardwood floor damage?
Remove the old, rotten wood and replace it with new stuff. This is a very common repair.
I've never seen anybody use a jigsaw to remove hardwood strip flooring before but I'm sure it's been done. ...
- 714
4
votes
Accepted
What is this subfloor, and do I need a wood underlayment for hardwood
Yes, that's OSB. It's the only product that's made with large wood "strands". I wouldn't have guessed that it was 3/4" though due to the apparent lack of tongue and groove along the longitudinal edge, ...
- 129k
4
votes
Distributed expansion gaps in solid hardwood flooring
Wood gives, and takes....
In my opinion, wood will compress when needed. Picture a hammer striking a board and leaving a mark, it compresses. This is quite the exaggeration, but for a point. The wood ...
- 34.2k
4
votes
My apartment still smells like polyurethane after over a month! I have a toddler with respiratory issues, please help
From what you've told us, it sounds like you are trying a number of good ideas to help mitigate the smell and lingering off-gassing but maybe not optimally.
I actually would advise against using ...
- 2,017
4
votes
How to make 1x2 lumber longer?
I'm not sure quite what kind of pets you're keeping in a 99x72" enclosure, but a 1x2 won't have a lot of strength. It's only 3/4" thick on the best days, and if the critters are jumping ...
- 43.1k
4
votes
How to make 1x2 lumber longer?
How do you get bigger lumber? Buy bigger lumber. In the world of DIY and carpentry in general, smaller boards are made from larger boards as a matter of course.
A 1x4-10 ripped down the middle nicely ...
- 129k
4
votes
Walls not straight (obviously) how to install hardwoods?
I presume you are talking about the wall running parallel to the long side of the boards.
You need the expansion gap, or the floor will be prone to rise off the subfloor when it expands to being ...
- 201k
3
votes
Accepted
Repairing hollowed out hole in hardwood floor
i would start by digging out the area a little bit to see how bad the hole is. if its not to deep or just a sign of a bigger problem, i would fix it like so:
1) using lacquer sticks and an alcohol ...
3
votes
Proper Orientation for Plywood Subfloor under 3/4" Hardwood
In agreement with the above and further suggest: 1) Walk the existing floor in silence, use 1-1/4" screws to eliminate real or perceived squeaks. 2) Pay attention to the butt joints, if they are ...
- 31
3
votes
If polyurethane is not food safe, why is it used on dining tables?
This article says it is food safe only after it is fully cured.
According to finishing expert Bob Flexner, all finishes are food-safe once they have cured. Polyurethane varnish does not present any ...
- 131
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