Installing Solid Hardwood Floors - Page One

Installing hardwood floors by traditional nailing methods has changed considerably over Nailing Brazilian Cherry floor the years with the advent of pneumatic fasteners. Now the choices have included stapling. We're often asked which one is better. The consensus points towards staples but some professionals go the other direction; more below.

Hardwood Floor Installation Tool Types - Manual

Installers have their preferences on what tool is used to fasten solid hardwood floors. In the good 'ole days, prior to the sixties nearly all floors were actually nailed by hand using nails similar to concrete cut nails. Painstakingly and back breaking work by any means, the 60's brought on the manual cleat nailer shown below. This tool made installing Hardwood floor installation nailer solid floors much easier and quicker. Not to mention adios to the days of all those bloody thumbs when nails were missed when pounding in with a hammer.

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All hardwood floor nailing tools work by engaging the plunger portion of the tool with a mallet specially designed for this type of work. Common manual tools were often difficult to use if you didn't have the proper physique or strength. In order to get the nail seated properly in the tongue portion of the floor, a pretty good whack with dead on aim was needed. Failure to do so causes problems with nails that don't go all the way into the hardwood planking.

Types Of Tools - Pneumatic

The early 90's brought on air assisted flooring fasteners with the Bostich MIIIFS stapler (shown right) being the front runner. Pneumatic became the tool of choice, Hardwood floor stapler working from air pressure with a connected compressor. No longer did it take one million calories (or so it seemed) to nail 1,000 square feet because manual tools were very labor intensive.

Pneumatic fasteners require only a small tap on the plunger to get a nail or staple (black round gizmo shown) engaged into the hardwood, but does depend on the air pressure setting on the compressor used. Some hardwoods require different settings and it's best to test first before running into mistakes that can cause installation problems later.

Pneumatic Staplers And Nailers

Yes, there are pneumatic nailers and staplers, but which to use? Some professionals have noted staples actually fasten the floor too tight, creating potential squeaking effects, while others are more comfortable with the time tested flooring cleat nails that allow a more natural expansion and contraction hardwood floors need. This seems more prevalent in areas where moisture levels are higher such as the Gulf states.

Proper Subfloor Is A Must!

Insuring you have a suitable subfloor is the most important ingredient for any successful installation when laying solid 3/4" hardwoods. Failure to heed this vital prerequisite will lead to spongy, creaking, and popping sounds. Nails or staples need a proper bite, otherwise they will loosen over time.

See more on types of subfloors

What Types Of Nails Are Used? Hardwood flooring staples and cleat nails

In the golden days, steel hardened cut nails were used. Now depending on what tool you may be using there are cleat nails, manufactured with a barbed like appearance on the bottom that helps hold the flooring into the subfloor.

Staples on the other hand, gain their strength by not only a two pronged approach but also through the use of a hardened glue resin coating. Once the staple is engaged by a pneumatic tool, friction caused by the force going through hardwood and subfloor heats up the resin acting as an adhesive.

The Mallet?

The mallet shown has two distinct parts besides the handle. The white portion is hard rubber used to engage the plunger and persuade adjacent boards into place before actually hitting the plunger. Have a board that is bowed a little? That's what the rubber part is designed for.

Opposite of the white rubber part is a chunk of metal working as a counter balance providing weight and more force while moving planks or strip into place, and should never be used on the plunger. In some cases it may be advantageous to tap end pieces tighter before actual nailing or stapling, but to be used as a tool to drag pieces into place should be avoided, especially with prefinished material

How Long Does It Take To Install?

Much depends on the width of the board you are installing. Other factors coming into play is what the overall layout looks like. For a standard 400 square foot room, furniture moved, and ready to go; common 2 1/4" strip flooring will take 10-12 hours for an experienced installer. If you're hiring out, be careful with those

bragging artists that claim the job can be done in half the time. Some have been known to skip nail. Skip nailing is fastening every other row only.

Is It A Messy Job?

You're likely to encounter quite a bit of dust that will be raised chiefly from preparation before the installation. Let's say you're removing carpet to install new hardwoods. You are better off vacuuming the dirt that will be found under the carpet and padding as any sweeping will certainly leave dust scattered everywhere.

Once the job begins it's wise to handle all the cutting of material in a garage or outdoors. Tools used to cut, such as an electric miter saw can throw off dust even if a small dust collection bag is present.

Go To: Find The Starting Area

Other Pages In This Series:

• Starting The Hardwood Installation - nailing the first few rows, expansion
• Installing Hardwood Against Angled Walls
• Hardwood Runs Into Other Rooms. How To - staying straight
• Change Direction Of Hardwood Floor - reversing

Related Pages:

• Solid Hardwood Floors - different types
• Hardwood Floor Nailer - staplers too
• Floor Nailers On Wheels NEW!
• Expansion Gaps and Hardwood Floors
• Hardwood Flooring Humidity
• How Many Nails or Staples Are Needed?
• Installing Wood Floors On An Angle
• Unfinished Hardwood Flooring - Hardwood sanded and finshed
• Installing New Hardwood Over Old Existing
• Heating Vent Covers, Registers
• Rosin Vs Felt Paper - under solid hardwood
• Aquabar Underlayment - the new alternative