"Making a Spline? Lauan? Waste Percentage?," in the Hardwood and Laminates Q&A forum, begins: "Barry Carlton said
I agree w/ Jim. I do not think that luan (of all the plywood choices) would have ..."
I agree w/ Jim. I do not think that luan (of all the plywood choices) would have the strength and stability to hold the staples/cleats or hold up the forces that the Hdwd is going to naturally exert through natural expansion and contraction. I think you would be wiser to make your own out of the a solid piece of same type of wood the flooring is made of.
well the flooring is made of plywood..... its engineered.... I also thought that engineered doesnt really have any expansion properties.... hence the reason you can install it in basements and moist areas like that..
I'm sorry I was unconvincing. My 35 years of experience included a mistake here and there too. The problem with what you just said is that the failure may not come until after the floor is installed. Then you will be wondering how to fix a problem in the middle of your floor. As my friend, Tandy Reeves, likes to say, "if you don't have time to do it right when are you going to have time to redo it?"
I'm sorry I was unconvincing. My 35 years of experience included a mistake here and there too. The problem with what you just said is that the failure may not come until after the floor is installed. Then you will be wondering how to fix a problem in the middle of your floor. As my friend, Tandy Reeves, likes to say, "if you don't have time to do it right when are you going to have time to redo it?"
R'gards,
Jim
i'm didn't meen to insult you at all.... but its not going in the middle of my flooring... did I start the floor the wrong way? I started against the longest wall.... I only got half of it done last night. Like I originally said that the spline would be in two doorways only be about 30 - 34 inches long and on top of that there would be door casing sitting on top of that piece of engineered wood. if you really don't think it will work.. then I definately will go get a solid piece of wood..... will pine work? cuz i got a nice piece of 1/2 pine i can rip on my table saw.... I'm almost afraid that my stapler wouldn't go through the harder style of wood.. they are just 1 inch 20 guage
...but its not going in the middle of my flooring... did I start the floor the wrong way? I started against the longest wall....
You started the flooring right (at least in general terms - I can't be there to know for sure where I woulda started). But it doesn't matter where you started, where the spline is located or how long it is. Luaun splines aren't something I would consider on any job, under any circumstance.
will pine work?
Try Poplar. It is the softest hardwood you can buy and stronger than Pine. Don't cut it until you need it because Poplar likes to warp and might be harder to fiddle with. Cut it with a thin kerf saw with lots of teeth (60) to prevent splintering. Test your fits. Just because a tongue looks to be a quarter-inch wide, doesn't mean a half-inch spline will work. The groove may have rounded edges and a spline either has to be sanded to round the corners or cut shorter than a half-inch.
Just so you can see where I started and stuff... this may make things easier to understand what I am doing.
Red Lines = Door Way
Green Lines = Closet doors
A, D & E = Bedrooms
B = Bathroom
C = Kitchen/Dining
G = Basement Stairs
F = Living room
I only plan to lay the wood floor in the three bedrooms, the hallway and the living room.
The room I started the flooring in is room D. I started along the middle of the house... the shared wall be between A and D. I figure I will need to make splines in the door ways of rooms D and E. At the end of the hallway as you enter the living room I will need some sort of transition piece or something..... We want to lay the floor diagonal in that room.
The designer in me thinks you should do the diagonal in the Lv & Hall, if you're going to do diagonal at all. But wherever you start the diagonal, just put one or 2 boards next to it. You'll have to use a router to groove the diagonal cuts and possibly one side of the transition boards and then use a spline. You don't need a transition threshold to change directions. Just use the flooring - easier to clean, walk on and looks much nicer. Below are 2 examples of diagonal transitions I did on a couple jobs.
The designer in me thinks you should do the diagonal in the Lv & Hall, if you're going to do diagonal at all. But wherever you start the diagonal, just put one or 2 boards next to it. You'll have to use a router to groove the diagonal cuts and possibly one side of the transition boards and then use a spline. You don't need a transition threshold to change directions. Just use the flooring - easier to clean, walk on and looks much nicer. Below are 2 examples of diagonal transitions I did on a couple jobs.
Jim
I was kind of thinking that I could use one of the boards and put it sideways and use it as the transition piece..... Not to sure about doing diagonal in the hallway though... just for the fact its long and narrow and my boards are 4 inches wide..... I do own a router... you got any idea where I could get a router bit that could grove out 1/8 of an inch.... they dont sell them at home depot..
On a side note I am about 3/4 the way done with the bedroom... kinda sucks i keep having to stop because my daughter needs to sleep.. she's just a little toddler and gets cranky with all my banging and my loud air compressor. Hopefully I can finish it tomorrow after work and get some pictures up.
You can get router bits at any place that sells tools. If Home Depot doesn't have them, try Sears, Harbor Freight or any other place that sells tools - even online, where you can have one sent overnight, if necessary.
I know what you mean about the starting and stopping. I have to do that all the time these days - not because of a child or even another adult, but because of me. See what you got to look forward to in your old age?
hey I am down to the last row.. should i face nail it... will it look bad if I do that...
should i use my brad nailer (1.25") or should i use my finish nailer (2.5 inch nails)
my floor is only 5/16" the finish nailer will go all the way through the floor and through the subfloor and stick out through the basement.... I think i can get shorter nails for the finish nailer.. should i do that?
EDIT: I just looked.. my finish nailer are 16 guage nails and it can do 1" to 2.5"
should I go buy like 1.5 inch nails?
Sixteen gauge is a nice sturdy nail. The rule-of-thumb is to use a fastener no longer than the total thickness of the flooring and substrate. I have used longer fasteners though. 1½" length should be fine for what you are doing. However, you might want to get a good construction adhesive and use that instead of nails. Then you won't have to fix a lot of nail holes.
Glue and then weight the boards down by laying a piece of lumber over the flooring and rest some heavy weight on them - large buckets of paint, packages of roofing shingles or anything you can find heavy enough to make sure the material doesn't come above the plane of the finished floor.
That thin of material is not something I would trust not to warp from the moisture in the adhesive. You might also secure the edge nearest the wall with fasteners, as long as they will be covered by base. In fact, if it's just one row and all others have been nailed, you shouldn't need any other weight. The tongue or the preceding row and the nail to be hidden by base will be enough to hold the material in the adhesive.
See what you got to look forward to in your old age? 
