Cut Nail Installation Order of Operations
drew_z
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
Hi all,
I am planning on installing 10″ wide, T&G eastern white pine flooring using blind edge nailing but also wanted to use face nailed cut nails for appearance as well as to keep the wide boards down. It will be sanded after install and then finished with a waterbased finish.
I am worried about both the cut nails being installed before sanding, as well as before application of a waterbased finish.
My current plan is to predrill all my holes for the cut nails before sanding / finishing and then driving the nails in afterwards.
Anybody have experience with this, am I over complicating it?
Thanks all.
Replies
Hey there,
The typical method, and the one I've used without issue is to predrill for the cut nails, hammer them in, and set them below the surface about 1/8". Then, sand and finish as usual. Adter sanding, the nail head should still be below the surface. A good floor guy will make sure they're all set before and after sanding, and before finish. The only trick I can add is to make sure the nail's head, which is usually rectangular, long side is parallel to the board edge. We'll also ream/wiggle the pre-drilled hole a bit to ease that wedge shape of the nail and prevent splitting. Good luck.
Thank you! Very helpful advice.
your suggestion is very helpful
I would be careful that the water-based finish doesn't react with the steel cut nails and cause rust stains.
That's my primary worry. I thought about setting the nails low, filling the nail holes with epoxy (clear/not tinted), and then sanding/finishing, but it's way more work than I want versus exploring other finishes / fastening methods. We aren't married to the cut nail look, we could also screw and plug, we just would like to fasten on the face in some fashion since the boards are 10" wide. But I'm re-thinking cut nails plus a waterborne finish...
My sister installed eastern white pine flooring with cut nails and I was not a fan of how it turned out. She used larger domed-head nails and between the head size and some associated crushing of the surrounding wood the holes were very prominent. Also note that you’re putting a ton of faith in your coating because the wood is so soft. Even the hardest topcoat is likely to dent (socks or slippers only, please!) because the wood is just so soft underneath, and you need to have a plan for what happens when it’s time to refinish.
I would urge you to consider skipping the face nails if using a WB film finish. If you love the cut nail look I would suggest an oil finish (penetrating oil, not a film). Not super durable, but will develop genuine character and it’s easily spot-repairable. Of course that aesthetic doesn’t work for every application.
I think if we end up using a WB finish, we'll screw and plug on the face of the boards rather than use cut nails given the potential for staining either on this application or when we sand and refinish in a couple decades. Seems like a headache not worth the "benefit" of the cut nail look, especially given we would like to keep it pale and not amber by using the WB finish, so not even sure the cut nail aesthetic is the right decision with our desired finish.
Eastern white pine is a very stable species. If you are able to be selective with the stock you use and can get vertical grain (quartersawn) or rift sawn boards, I would not expect cupping/movement to be a problem. So fastening the faces might not be necessary. Any flooring gurus have an opinion on that?