Proper Nails for Wood Flooring
- For all the high-tech material and tools involved in laying a new wood floor, the first course has to be set the old-fashioned way: by driving plain old finish nails through the tops of the boards. The first course, set along the wall, must be the most solid, because the other courses press against it during installation. Lay the boards of the first course with the ``tongue'' side of the tongue-and-groove planks facing into the room. Hammer in 1 1/2-inch standard finish nails in pairs every foot or so for the length of the course, pre-drilling pilot holes first. Sink each nail head with a nailset.
- After the first course is hand-nailed, but before you can bring in your pneumatic floor stapler, you'll have three or four courses that have to be side-nailed (meaning, nails are driven down at an angle through the sides of the planks). A basic electric or pneumatic hand-held nail gun -- the kind typically used for trim or light construction -- is a good tool to have for this part. Tap each new board into place next to the previous one, get it tight, press your nail gun against the side, just below the surface, and fire at a downward angle. Nail the boards every foot or so.
- The pneumatic floor stapler is what has taken floor-laying from a strictly professional endeavor to a do-it-yourself project. The stapler, powered by an air tank, is set on the new floorboards (you need four or five courses laid by hand before you can use it), with the nose hanging down over the new course. Hit the firing pad with a mallet, which drives the boards together while shooting a long floor staple through the side of the plank and downward. Continue across the room. For the final few courses at the other end, you won't be able to swing the mallet (because of the wall), so those courses are installed with your nail gun and, for the last one, are top-nailed.
