Art Mulder
Member
- Messages
- 3,383
- Location
- London, Ontario
I've never laid hardwood flooring before, but I've done plenty of other DIY jobs, so I'm confident in tackling this. But I'd certainly welcome some advise as to how best to approach my problem.
We're planning to put prefinished hardwood in our LR/DR (3-1/4", not that that matters too much). It's basically a big rectangle, so I'm not that worried. However the LR and DR are separated by two stub walls that stick out 32" into the room. Like this:
From browsing these forums over the past couple years, and from checking out a DIY video (for unfinished hardwood) I've come up with two different approaches.
1- I could measure out from the walls some multiple of a board (so that it starts on a full board) and snap a chalkline. Then screw down some plywood scraps as backing, and then start laying flooring across the floor toward the opposite wall. Lay out a few rows, then remove those plywood scraps. Then rip a spline from thin plywood, put it in the groove of these first row pieces, and then turn around and lay hardwood back towards the starting wall. Like this:
2- I could measure out as above and snap the same chalkline. Then, measure BACK towards the wall and mark a starting line. (Can't count on the wall being straight after all) Then lay out the first row and carefully face nail these into the floor. Then proceed outward. If you did it right, both rooms will match up when they pass the stub wall. Like this:
The downfall of the 2nd approach, I think, is that I can see you need to measure very, very, carefully. The downfall of the first is needing to be pretty particular about fitting that spline. Am I missing anything else?
Is there another approach worth considering? How would you do it?
thanks
...art
ps: and yes, I do tend to overthink projects on occasion...
We're planning to put prefinished hardwood in our LR/DR (3-1/4", not that that matters too much). It's basically a big rectangle, so I'm not that worried. However the LR and DR are separated by two stub walls that stick out 32" into the room. Like this:
From browsing these forums over the past couple years, and from checking out a DIY video (for unfinished hardwood) I've come up with two different approaches.
1- I could measure out from the walls some multiple of a board (so that it starts on a full board) and snap a chalkline. Then screw down some plywood scraps as backing, and then start laying flooring across the floor toward the opposite wall. Lay out a few rows, then remove those plywood scraps. Then rip a spline from thin plywood, put it in the groove of these first row pieces, and then turn around and lay hardwood back towards the starting wall. Like this:
2- I could measure out as above and snap the same chalkline. Then, measure BACK towards the wall and mark a starting line. (Can't count on the wall being straight after all) Then lay out the first row and carefully face nail these into the floor. Then proceed outward. If you did it right, both rooms will match up when they pass the stub wall. Like this:
The downfall of the 2nd approach, I think, is that I can see you need to measure very, very, carefully. The downfall of the first is needing to be pretty particular about fitting that spline. Am I missing anything else?
Is there another approach worth considering? How would you do it?
thanks
...art
ps: and yes, I do tend to overthink projects on occasion...