buying wood flooring

[Rocky_J]

I'm good with chainsaws, but have no experience with finished wood products. I've decided to put wood floors in my house, everywhere except the kitchen (already has tile) and the bedrooms (carpet). I will install it myself, and feel plenty qualified to do that. My problem is in finding the right product to install.

I have heard 'Pergo' a lot, and know a few people with that brand (or maybe something similar) in their homes. Can anyone here offer any insight as to any particular brands/ sources for a good hardwood floor that I will be happy with? Or should I just go to Home Depot and buy the Pergo (or whatever brand they are selling this month)?

[bennelson]

The pergo Aint really wood.  I put in the ex's house when we weren't ex's yet.  It was fast and easy to install and it was a lot less expensive.  We used traffic master brand in honey osk and it turned out alot better than expected.  Another nice thing was that unlike real wood flooring unless where u are putting it is carpet u can just layu it over the floor.  One less headache.  But If time and budget aren't a major issue I would recomend real wood.

[Ron Wenrich]

For my upstairs, I used Bruce hardwood flooring.  I went with a plank style, since I have an old house. When I put it in, oak flooring was cheap.  There was little demand for oak, oustide of flooring.  Here's a link to Bruce, now owned by Armstrong:
http://www.armstrong.com/resbrucewoodna/browse_by_style.jsp

The flooring was already finished, so it was just a matter of nailing it down.  I just leveled up my flooring and put down plywood as an underlayment.  Still looks good after 20+ years.

In my office, I put down a parquet type of flooring.  It was made by Bruce, and needed little more than to glue it down.

When I attached my summerhouse to my house, I put down cherry strip flooring.  I bought that from a local wood shop.  It was better quality, and the price was better than oak.  That was before the cherry prices went up pretty hard.

I put this over top of a radiant heating system desgned for under wood flooring.  You had to be careful where you nailed.  The hardest part was the sanding and finishing.  Some things are left to someone with a higher skill level.   :D

The upstairs of the summerhouse had an old yellow pine flooring.  I was going to rip that out until I started to sand it down to level it up.  It looked pretty good, so I just refinished it.  SYP flooring is still available.

A lot depends on the look you're going for and how much traffic you expect.  

[Fla._Deadheader]

  We've got the prettiest flooring wood right here in Florida. Just happen to have several Mft of Heart Pine and Cypress.

  Make ya a good deal ;D ;D

[Rocky_J]

ummmm... will you help install it? I can follow directions on pre-manufactured stuff where you put tab A into slot B and end up with a perfect floor. But raw wood is a little intimidating! Sounds interesting though!  

[etat]

It is more than well worth your time to go rent a commercial floor sander when sanding real wood floors.  There are three different types that I know of.

 One is a regular floor buffer with a sanding disc or screen instead of a buffing pad.  Very hard to run if you haven't ever run a buffer before.  Prone to get away from you and knock out the side of a wall IF you don't know how to balance it.  Actually better for screening between coats than sanding.

Another kind is like a giant belt sander.  These I feel should be left pretty strictly to professionals as you can grind too much into the floor, or leave hard to remove sand marks.  They are very agressive.

The third kind  has 4 6-inch sanding pads on the bottom that turn in different directions.  Pretty good sized motor turning the discs and it is square. This kind is very easy to use and doesn't leave sand marks.  Also you can sand right up to a wall or corner with it, and I even used it to sand closet floors.  

The last is what I sanded my tongue and groove pine floors and it did a VERY good job of smoothing and evening up the planks.  Also fast. When I rented it they loaded down a tray with different grits sandpaper.  They then charged for what sandpaper you used and you'd bring the rest back.  Fairly high, but much much better than getting on yer hands and knees and trying to sand.

[isawlogs]

  I for one would tell you to get a pre-finished type floor... All thats needed to get the job done is a nailer and time ... you clear the room you put the floor down and you put the room back together... no sanding requiered if you are living in the house get the pre-finished ....
  I didn't have the money to put in a wood floor last year but was in need of doing something with the floors in the house ... ( read the boss said so...) I put in a pergo cherry clic flooring down, 8mm its very easy to put down ... But... I had bought a brand new freud blade for my chop saw and cut the flooring with it ..... not good ....it would not cut a peice of pine when I got finished ... but the flooring looks great....
  PS  get the installation kit for the job all it really is plastic wacker... and shimes that are placed at the begining and end of the rows... the (wacker) is used to be placed on the edge of the boards and hit lightly whith a hammer to push the boars together then you put it on the ends and hit again to push then into one another  If you dont have the plastic wacker and hit the pergo with a hammer to push them you will chip it ...

[bennelson]

Ive seen oak and maple flooring but never pine.  How durable is it?  If you decide to go with real wood floors be careful of prefinished flooring.  I used to work for a fairly large builder in these parts and we rand into problems with the cracks in it.  Even if you got em tight together water could still get in them and eventually under the flooring.  But they did look good and were easy to install.

[etat]

Flooring of 1/6 byt 16 foot D grade pine. Bought from Local Lumber Co.  They keep it in stock, (not a box store).  Resonable priced.  New construction (my house).  No end joints except in closets or transition between rooms. Some of the flooring I run diagional for a different look.






I suspect a bit softer than hardwood and maybe more prone to eventually show dents and character over the years.  Give me a few years and I'll let you know for sure.

[Pete J]

In a previous life, I had a flooring business. The only floors I still enjoy putting down are Italian tile and unfinished tongue and groove oak.

Putting down a t&g floor is easy work/hard labor. When you are done it gives you a great feeling of accomplishment. The main thing it to start the room square! This is how I do it over a plywood subfloor. Concrete subfloor, you're on your own.

Square the room and snap a chalk line 1/2" from your starting wall. Ideally you want the flooring to run at right angles to the floor joists although this is not as important as most flooring pro's would have you believe. The most important way you lay it is how your wife wants it.

I prefer an old fashioned hammer type floor nailer vs an air gun. You get tighter joints and ultimately a better floor in the long run. You can rent one almost anywhere. You'll need that and a chop saw to cut the flooring square.

Lay out some heavy flooring paper and staple it down by the start wall. It will prevent a lot of squeaks in the floor.

Start the floor by pre-drilling holes through the top of the tongues every 10-12" at a 45% angle. Nail in the first row leaving a 3/8" gap at the start wall, tongue facing into the room. Do the first 2-3 rows like this working typically from left to right while facing into the room. When you reach the end of each row, get a longer than necessary piece of flooring, cut it to length to finish the row and then use the cut end to start the next row at the opposite end.

Now you can rack the floor by laying out several rows of flooring at a time with the joints staggered in a random pattern. Work from left to right with the flooring nailer putting nails every 10-12".

When you reach the opposite end of the room and you can't swing the hammer at the floor nailer, you can either use an air nailer and a pry bar the get the flooring tight, or just pre-drill and hand nail the tongues like the start rows. The last 2-3 rows, I pre-drill the face of the floor and nail straight down. When you finish the floor, counter sink the nail heads and fill them with wood putty.

Sanding and finishing is best left to a pro, get some prices on finishing with at least 3 coats. If you can afford it, have them do it. If not, you need to rent 3 sanders. A big, 220v flooring sander, a random orbital edger and a large orbital sander with some scuff pads. I found it to be more of a pain than it's worth.

That's it, done, sit back with a beer or lemonade and admire a job well done.