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Fastening Foibles
I'm installing a solid prefinished floor, and I keep getting a small depression where the nail gun hits the floor. How can I avoid this.
Don Conner, technical director at the National Wood Flooring Association, answers:
Most manufacturers of ¾-inch solid prefinished flooring suggest using a special base plate on your nailer designed for this purpose. The plate disperses energy more evenly and eliminates the chips, splinters, cracks and dings associated with nailing these products. It also places the cleat or staple in the right location. A side benefit to the base plates is that when you set your nailer down, it doesn't fall over and dent the floor. So, the base plates eliminate a lot of claims and callbacks. Also, since the base plates disperse the energy more evenly, they can help avoid the problem you can have when two guys are installing on either side of the room and one is hitting the nailer much harder than the other, making the floor tighter on one side of the room.
It takes maybe an hour of practice to get used to using the base plates, and I know people who like them so much they use them for installing unfinished flooring, too. The plates are available from most nailer manufacturers, and you can also get ones that fit several manufacturers' nailers from some OEM suppliers and distributors. They cost well under $100 and last forever—a good investment for something that makes your life easier and eliminates the need for putty. We all know that customers do not like putty on a factory-finished floor!
Autoscrubber Answers
I tell my gym floor customers that they shouldn't use autoscrubbers on their maple floors, but many tell me they are going to use them regardless. Are there tips I can give them that will minimize floor damage.
G. Brent Sorbet, technical services coordinator at Dollar Bay, Mich.based Horner Flooring Company, answers:
These days, the reality is that due to the large size and number of the floors involved, as well as limited maintenance staff, many facilities regularly use autoscrubbers to clean their wood sports floors. Autoscrubbers apply wood floor cleaners diluted with water, scrub the floor with white or red pads and then squeegee and vacuum up the moisture.
First of all, brand new floors should not be cleaned with an autoscrubber. The more coats of finish on the floor, the better. Before a floor is autoscrubbed, it should be cleaned with a dry dust mop and any gum should be scraped up. With the autoscrubber, the objective is to use the least amount of cleaner/water possible and leave the least amount of moisture on the floor. To do this, it's important that the autoscrubber have a good squeegee without any nicks or cracks. Bad squeegees leave what are commonly referred to as "snail trails," or small streaks of water on the floor. It's also extremely important that the autoscrubber have a good working vacuum. Keep a careful eye out where the autoscrubber makes turns—water streaks are commonly left there. Corners always must be done by hand using the traditional cleaning method of a lightly dampened towel over a push broom. Any time you clean a floor, whichever method you use, air movement over the floor is a good idea. And, never be afraid to call the finish manufacturer or the autoscrubber manufacturer with questions.
Flattening Subfloors
Do I really need to flatten my subfloors. I've done some jobs where I think the floor is fine without bothering to do that.
Hank Wiley, the now-retired former owner of San Diego-based The Sandman, answers:
There are two reasons you need to flatten your subfloors: visuals and installation quality. If you look across a floor toward a sliding glass door or a big window, you'll see every low spot, and it takes away from the appearance of the floor. Installation-wise, low spots can cause squeaks and problems bonding the floor to the subfloor.
For a raised subfloor, check for squeaks and see if the floor is flat. If the floor has low spots, they are usually between the joists. There are many methods to correct this, but my favorite was always with 1 / 8 -inch plywood door skin. If the floor is going to span the joists, cut the door skin into 3-inch strips and glue and nail them between the joists. That way, you are only spanning 8 inches instead of 16, and the floor won't follow the low spots. If you are running the floor parallel, remember that you need an additional 1 / 2 -inch of plywood. Then cut the door skin to where it fills in the low spot and use an edger to sand off the high spot. If the low spot is more than 1 / 8 -inch, it might take more than one piece. It can be a lot of work, but it is well worth it.
When concrete subfloors aren't flat, floating floors will have hollow spots, and glue-down floors may not have adhesive bonding all the flooring. If moisture is an issue, the slabs need a moisture retarder that is compatible with the adhesive you are going to use. Then find the low spots and prime them with whatever is recommended by the self-leveling underlayment manufacturer. Large low spots can be filled with a selfleveling material, and the smaller ones should be filled with a patch material that can be troweled or screeded, depending on how big they are. When all the patches are dry, you can install the floor.