Engineered floating-click on plywood questions

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o2284200

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I'm preparing for engineered floating-click installation on three 2nd floor bedrooms, closets & hallway that have plywood sub-floor. I have removed old carpet, tack strips, nails & baseboards and will use Floor Muffler Ultraseal as underlayment.
I have a few questions, if it's not too much trouble...

1a) Subfloor: What type of nails or screws would you use to tighten up creeks in the plywood sub-floor?
1b) What else do I have to do to prep the plywood sub-floor?

2) Acclimating: I have all the cases of wood on the first floor and plan to do this install on the second floor in stages so I plan to do the 2 guest bedrooms and hallway first due to other work in master bedroom & bathroom. That said, where would you stack the planks...in each room??? ...so they don't get in the way of your install? And do you stack on top of the underlayment after it's installed?

3) Expansion gap & baseboards: The manufacturer's instructions say I need to leave a 1/2" expansion gap by the walls. I'm in a very humid climate and I found only one baseboard at HD bigger than 1/2" and it was 9/16". That said, what material would you recommend for the baseboards and what size to cover the expansion gap?

Thanks
 
Deck screws work fine, angle or toe nails also stop movement.
For the baseboard a second molding called shoe molding is common. Can be a shoe molding, corner cove, quarter round or any smaller molding that complements the first one.
http://blog.townfloors.com/2011/10/12/shoe-molding-vs-quarter-round/
Are you cutting the bottom of the door frames to allow the hardwood to go under them ?
Not sure about question 2 :)
 
As nealtw said you can use shoe mold at the bottom of the baseboard but if you don't want to do that, you can cut back that existing sheetrock 1/2" up from the floor. That way you'll have that plus the thickness of the baseboard for expansion.
I wouldn't be too concerned with storing it in each room. You just need to acclimate it to inside the house.
As for prepping the subfloor, you want to be certain that the floor is flat and smooth. Any bumps or dips can create issues with the new flooring joints.
As an aside....Once you start you can't make any changes so you want to make sure your layout is good. Not just sidewall to sidewall but into closets and doorways. Measure the width of your room and divide it by the width of you planks. You may need to rip the first course so you end up with equal planks on both sides.
Buy an inexpensive reciprocating plunge saw for undercutting door jambs and such.
 
Thanks!

Sub-floor...
How do you make certain that the floor is flat & smooth? And perhaps more importantly...straight or not crooked i.e. square corners??

Acclimating...
My main concern is working smart not hard...I don't want to carry the cases upstairs or move them more than I have to AND don't want them to get in the way of my install.

Expansion gap & baseboards...
I was hoping to avoid shoe molding or quarter round BUT cutting back the existing plastered walls 1/2" up from the floor sounds like too much work. I take it 9/16 is not recommended for a 1/2" gap... If not, where can I find baseboards larger than 9/16? And which material would you recommend for the baseboards wood, plastic, MDF?

FWIW, Yes, I plan on cutting the bottom of the door frames to allow the hardwood to go under them.
 
Do your layout before moving any flooring into the rooms and place them where they will be laid last.Also opening the boxes and spreading them out will help with acclimation.
As far as the expansion.You could buy 3/4" poplar 1X4's for a decent price and use for base adding a piece of trim molding on top.Or routing a profile of your choice.
If your corners are not square,and they won't be,there is nothing you can do about that now but cut the flooring to fit.Smooth is simple.No nails or bumps or any uneven laps in the subfloor.You can check for flat by running a string line from corner to corner acrossed the floor.Easiest and cheapest way to tell.
 
Thanks!
mako1 said:
Do your layout before moving any flooring into the rooms and place them where they will be laid last.Also opening the boxes and spreading them out will help with acclimation.
What is a layout and how is a layout done?

mako1 said:
As far as the expansion.You could buy 3/4" poplar 1X4's for a decent price and use for base adding a piece of trim molding on top.Or routing a profile of your choice.
Interesting...What about materials other than wood?

mako1 said:
If your corners are not square,and they won't be,there is nothing you can do about that now but cut the flooring to fit...
I was thinking, if it's not too far off, I could adjust the spacers a bit as I go and keep an eye on straightness...Or I think I read somewhere about making a chalk line or 2 cross lines to work off...?
 
9/16" or 1/2" really isn't the issue. It's how that gap translates to your walls. Your flooring needs to be perfectly straight but your walls won't be. So a 9/16" gap may be at one end but 3/4" in the center of the room and 1/4" at the other end. If you try to fudge the gap and then get some shrinkage after you put up the baseboard you'll see any gap.
You don't want to use shoe mold and cutting back the sheet rock is too much work, you could go to product that gets nailed or glued down so you won't have to worry bout an expansion gap.
If you're going to use 3/4 stock for base, I would use 1x4 primed, finger jointed pine. Get it t HD in 16" lengths. Then cap it with a molding of your choice. That creates other issues because 3/4 stock will be proud of your door casings so you should also use plinths on the bottoms of them. More work.
 
Along the starting wall if the wall is greatly bowed you might have to trim that edge to the contour of the room and maintain the recommended gap. Along the walls with cut ends they don’t have to all be in line cut each piece to the proper gap and the saw tooth edge will be under the trim. I’m a little surprised they tell you to leave that much gap. Most of what I have done .25 inch was more than enough.

I liked the suggestion of cutting the drywall off at the bottom. With the right tool that would only take a few minutes. I personally don’t think the trim looks finished without the shoe.

As to the layout I like to know before I start what my last strip is going to be and if it’s going to be a sliver I adjust the width of the first piece.
 
Thanks!
@beachguy very informative...lots to think about!

Regarding layout, starting wall and knowing before I start what my last strip is going to be...How do you do a "layout", determine starting wall and last piece? ;)
 
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Well if you measure your room and say the width is 12’ 3 7/8” that is 147.875” if each strip of flooring is 5.371” wide you divide the room width by the flooring width. And get 27.53 strips of flooring call it 27 and a half strips. If you are ok with a half strip on that wall go at it. I just made up those numbers as an example. Say your answer was 27.1 strips then you would be ending with a sliver of a strip you could then start off with a different width by ripping the first piece by some amount and ending up with a wider piece at the end.

The other way is what you may have read by finding the center of the room and working out with your layout you have a choice the center of the room could be an edge or it could be down the center of a strip. You calculate both ways and pick the one that leaves the widest piece on the beginning and end rows.
 
You want the flooring to look even and as bud noted you don't want to end up with a sliver on one side of the room.
Using his numbers, if you get 27.53 strips you have 2 options for a balanced layout. 27 full planks in the middle with the leftover .53 plank ripped to .25 for each side. That would give you 2 very narrow strips that won't look that good. The other option is a layout of 26 full planks and 1.53 planks for the sides. Those would be about 4" wide and look better. (5.371" x 1.53 divided 2 = 4" planks)
 
OK I have a wrench to throw in here. He is doing bedrooms hallway and bathroom. All calculations are made in the hall and what happens in the other rooms is lived with.
 
You're supposed to start in the biggest, most visible room. And all your problem spots get pushed to the out-of-the-way corners and closets.


Don't start there. Start in the smallest, least visible room. Given that it's your first time installing the flooring you're going to make some mistakes.
Better that they're in a location that you won't see that often, rather than in a spot you'll look at every day. After the first room you'll learn what you'll do differently in the rest.
 
When I did mine I went into the flooring place with my drawing and I had about 600 sq ft to lay involving five interconnected areas. The guy there told me I had to break the floor in two different arch ways as no one would lay it like I wanted. I told him I was DIY and he said good luck. When I got it down I showed him a few photos and he asked to come over and see it. He did and then offered me a job as an installer. I told him no thanks.

You guys are correct if its a hall you have to get that symmetrical and decide is it going to all be done in one lay or will the rooms have a trim strip. If its one big lay I would still look at each room off it seeing how the far wall will work out in each room. Starting the hall to take best advantage you can.


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You're supposed to start in the biggest, most visible room. And all your problem spots get pushed to the out-of-the-way corners and closets.

The most visible space is the hallway.

Most houses that were plasted have a 1x2 nailed the wall at the floor and around the doors and windows to help the craftsman get the wall straight. That 1x2 at the floor can be removed to allow the floor to go under the plaster.

This guy did lam but his video is interesting.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxmOJxaTnH4[/ame]
 
Thanks!
Especially for the math homework @B & B!
My initial thought was to "practice" by starting to install in guest bedrooms but THAT makes sense about the hallway too. Hmmm?
 
Here's a quick sketch I made of the layout…I am also planning to remove parquet from stairs, sand & re-finish old staircase. That said...Where would you start?

42331d1416831674-where-would-you-start-installation-engineered-wood-floor-upstairs-flooring-sketch-1.jpg
 
Are you planning running the flooring right out of the rooms and into the halls or will you have an expansion gap and threshold trim at the doors?
 
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