I am going to lay a prefinished wood floor (mohawk 2 1/4″ strip). I would like to know the best procedure for the first couple of starter rows. Is it okay to face nail the first few rows with a finish nailer until I have enough room to use the angled power nailer? If so what size nails should I use with it? Or should the holes be pre-drilled and hand sunk? Also what is the best way to “back lay” an area? I’m doing my whole first floor and there are several different rooms that run into each other and have to be continued. I have several areas that run about 5-6 ft.along both sides of a wall and then meet at an opening and then run several more feet and then meet at an opening again. I want to be sure I can bring them all together without leaving gaps. This is a first for me so I appreciate any helpful hints along with the answers to my questions. Thanks alot.
T
Replies
TBone:
Greg Warren has a great piece he did about a year ago that may be found in the Construction Technique archives. I haven't tried looking for it but should provide some great tips for you. Btw, have you bought the Mohawk yet? If you haven't I'd strongly suggest in looking at other brands.
Ken Fisher
http://www.floridawoodfloors.net
I have bought the Mohawk. Is there a problem with that? Several stores steered me away from using the Bruce prefinished flooring that was my original choice, and told me the mohawk was a better product.
I have not heard of this mohawk flooring, does every other course have a tuft of hair?
I pity da foo who be tryin to steal my good(?) name
MR TDo not try this at home!
I am a trained professional!
TBone:
I can't say there is a problem per se, but there are many other quality prefinished brands out there. When ever I hear Mohawk I immediately think carpet. Within the last year they bought a hardwood mill and started their own line. Two months ago I had 2400 sf of the Mohawk to install.
Considering I've dealt with over 100 brand lines over the last 10 years I know what is excellant, good, okay, or trash. I would place Mohawk at the okay level as the milling isn't that good. It may look great to an unsuspecting person, but I see things such as overwood, which is my biggest pet peeve when it comes to hardwood flooring. The finish is very good, but who knows how long it will last. They haven't been tested like other quality manufacturers such as Harris-Tarkett who has been in existance since the 1890's.
That's about all I have to say for the time being. Hopefully within the next week or so I'll have a nail/staple down page(lot's of pics) on my website for you guys to view. However , Jeff Hosking(floorboards.com) and I are having problems from a guy who runs fastfloors.com that is stealing information and pics from both of our sites.
We need to find a way around that as I enjoy providing anyone with good detailed installation infromation. If anyone has any ideas on how to stop this clown please let us know!! Constructive methods only. I'd love to teach this guy a lesson. In the meantime there may be a delay on what I want to add to my site.
I do have a partial page on gluedown engineered hardwood to concrete if anyone is interested in taking a peek.
http://www.floridawoodfloors.net/floorprep.htm
Regards,
Ken fisher
Fish thanks for the reply. Do you thunk you could give me a couple answers to the questions i originally posted? Would appreciate it. I couldn't locate the archives you mentioned. Thanks.
T
TBone:
I'll have some pics for you tomorrow posted on the link already mentioned. Hey, I really could use everybodys help on the pic theft issue. This guy is also stealing text and calling himself an expert at the expense of our hard earned work we learned over the years!
I was thinking of jamming his phone lines for a day? I mean that's livliehood!
Not only is the guy a jerk, but it is a lousy web site. I tried to find some information on the cork flooring that there where selling. Could not find installation info or specs. In fact I could not even find the thickness.
Some spam email with link to logs and other pictures on legit sites to make the email look legit. One of the legit web sits that they used found out about this and changed their log to read that this picture was stolen.
I looked at a few of the pictures the few that I looked at are coming from his site so you can't pull that trick. If you know of any pictures that came from your site check the link and see he is picking them up from their or if they have been copied and stored on his server.
Regardless what you are saying that he is doing is copyright infringment.
Now any work is automatically protected whether it is not registered or not. Nowever, if it is registered you can get legal fees and and statutory damages. Otherwise you can only get actually damages which are limited in your case and hard to prove.
It only cost $30 to register. See http://www.loc.gov/copyright/ starting with Copyright Basics, and FAQ's.
Then write him a demand letter. If you have access to an attorney you might have them send it.