Often many find
our website when their hardwood flooring
project is getting near. "Look honey, that
would go great with the new floor." They
discover the beauty hardwood medallions can
add to the home. Often they think it's too
late, the hardwood guy is coming next week.
The fears can be put to bed. If you happen to
be one that just had a hardwood floor
installed and discovered
options with hardwood medallions, it's never
too late! Our story shows how the same
happened. New construction, one customer found
us (when we sold medallions) and wanted to
know if he could get a medallion, specifically
the Golfer 2 medallion in one week.
Unfortunately most of the medallions we
offered were made as they are ordered. The
decision was made to install the floor and
wait for the medallion to arrive.
Using The Template
In most cases medallions are positioned in the
entry way. Our progress shows the installer
centering the template. It is then tacked on
each corner with small finish nails to prevent
movement when the cutting takes place. Don't
be alarmed, finish nails will be removed and
you cannot see the small holes once everything
is complete. Other options include two sided
tape.
This job was actually handled with the use of
a Rotozip. As noted in our story about
installing hardwood medallions on concrete,
the procedure calls for taking it slow. Never
try to complete the template cut out in one
pass. Not only is it too much work for the
tool being used, but the cutter blade itself
cannot remove 3/4 of one inch in this case
(the thickness of the floor).
Prep Work For Installing
The next step calls for removing the boards
that are being replaced by the medallion.
Personally I would have
cut some starter areas inside the perimeter
with a circular saw making it easier for
removal. Leave the template in place when
doing this work. You may find a few areas
where the cutter didn't break all the way
through the hardwood. When prying back the
hardwood the template serves as a protective
element.
The black stuff is common #15 asphalt felt
paper many installers use as a moisture
retarder when installing solid hardwood floors
on a wood sub floor. This has to be removed
along with the fasteners that were used to
install the hardwood that sometimes remain in
the subfloor on board removal. For many homes
built prior to the mid nineties you will find
cleat nails opposed to the crown staples that
are more common today. Another reason for
taking the cutting in several passes is
locating staples or nails used in the actual
installation.
Solid 3/4" fastened hardwood floors have one
thing in common. Most are tongue and groove
with the machining
very alike. In other words,
the tongue and groove are milled in
approximately the same location on the side
and end joints. What I am getting at is; once
a nail or staple is fastened during the
installation process it generally goes no
deeper than 5/16" of one inch into the tongue
side of the board. 5/16" represents the depth
from the surface of the board. For older
floors that have been refinished a few times
the depth will be different.
After making that first pass you should be
able to locate the fasteners. At this time we
want to use a nail punch set or similar and
set them into the sub floor so the cutter
blade does not hit on remaining passes.
It is vital all debris be cleaned up including
small chucks of drywall mud prior to
installing. Once the area is clean it's time
to apply the adhesive. Our preference is
Bostiks Urethane adhesive but any premium
adhesive will do. Templates are precise,
providing it did not shift during the cut out.
Ordinarily there is no need to check for fit,
but you could apply some very thin tape to a
few perimeter areas to lift the medallion out.
I don't recommend the idea because the
medallion may become too tightly wedged, with
removal possibly causing damage. |
