Installing floorboards with future use in miind?

[OLDBROWNDOG]

I am about to lay some old Kauri T&G floorboards (14mm thick) on a yellowtongue floor and i'd like to do it in such a way that they are not damaged for future use..
I assume there is a way to do this without using glue &/ or secret nailing as both these would damage the boards.

Can anyone recommend a process please?

[Camelot]

You will be lucky if the T&G is straight enough not to need clamping to bring the joints together while you fix it with secret nailing through the Grove. If you use lost head type nails/pins you can use a nail punch in the future and punch the nail all the way through the T&G to release the board.

[OLDBROWNDOG]

You will be lucky if the T&G is straight enough not to need clamping to bring the joints together while you fix it with secret nailing through the Grove. If you use lost head type nails/pins you can use a nail punch in the future and punch the nail all the way through the T&G to release the board.

Ok and you reckon you can get away without gluing it if do secret nail it?

[Camelot]

Ok and you reckon you can get away without gluing it if do secret nail it?

Well you have an advantage of not just being able to fix at the joist centres with you laying on a subfloor this means you can add more nails practically in arears where the T&G may not be straight.

Once you get a few rows down that will show how successful it's going to be, but the most important thing is to keep your joints tight, because not doing so will lead to what I call the "creep factor" in that any gap not closed together just seems to multiply (get worse) when laying further rows of T&G.

[r3nov8or]

Trying to repurpose it after secret nailing alone will probably result in split and/or broken tongues. If I had a more permanent use for the lovely 14mm T&G, I'd probably opt for something disposable for the immediate situation, e.g. cheap vinyl floor boards... but depends on the situation of course. "There's rarely something more permanent than a temporary solution"

[Camelot]

Trying to repurpose it after secret nailing alone will probably result in split and/or broken tongues. If I had a more permanent use for the lovely 14mm T&G, I'd probably opt for something disposable for the immediate situation, e.g. cheap vinyl floor boards... but depends on the situation of course. "There's rarely something more permanent than a temporary solution"

If you pilot drill the nail holes then that should help when punching them out later when you want to take up the floor, also if it's just a make do solution you don't really need to worry too much about being neat with it's installation, so joints not being tight will save on the number of nails.

[r3nov8or]

Assuming OLDBROWNDOG intends to protect the boards with something decent, if not clamped well, edge bonding could present further issues when trying to take them up

[OLDBROWNDOG]

Thanks for all the feedback, Essentially i am just trying to save the timber for future use, anyones, not necessarily mine. Since i was able to use these floorboards because someone in the past also did not use use glue, i'd like to pass on the favour. its beautiful timber and i expect it to be where im going to lay it down till well past my time.

It seems like theres not much info out there about how to do this, but i can only assume it was the norm to lay floorboards without glue once upon a time, so i just want some procedural info on how to do that.. But not necessarily at the expense of the boards bouncing on the yellowtongue or sounding like they are.

Just want someone to outline the procedure if they could, including type and gauge of nails, spacing etc to make that a possibility.. Seems a shame that in the modern world we glue the living hell out of everything..

[Bushmiller]

OBD

I actually finished laying a new floor in our house today. The boards are Oak of some description and solid timber 18mm thick. They are 75mm wide and of short random lengths varying between 1200mm and 300mm. I completed the majority of the house a few years back and had two rooms still to do. The old part was just secret nailed using a dedicated floor nailing gun and staples. I was pleased with the result laid directly on top of the old Cypress pine boards, but the floor does creek in some places.

For the last two rooms I have used glue (Selleys liquid nails, but any similar product would probably be suitable) as well as nailing and I did this in the hope the floor would be quieter. With staples, nailed through the tongue, there is no way to remove them. I probably mishit a dozen or so staples and they were completely immoveable. I kept a cordless angle grinder with a cutting disc handy to remove the protruding failures: They have to be removed, particularly with staples, or the next board will not close up.

Using your reclaimed boards it will be difficult to keep them straight using ordinary nails. In the past builders used floor cramps to close up six or so boards at a time. Without those they would use a large chisel driven into the floor joists and then levered the boards together. With your existing sheet floor, as with mine, that is not an option. The flooring nail guns are struck with a heavy mallet and this action assists straightening boards that have a bow in them.

No matter what system you use, you will have to ensure that your first row of boards are selected for straightness and lay them straight as everything else should be brought up to that line. You may be able to fashion up a leverage system by nailing temporary timber to the floor ahead of the floorboards you are fixing. Then you could use wedges to close up gaps. I had to do something similar as I laid the last few rows and got closer to the wall. The secret nailer can't get in there and I reverted to a conventional nailing gun. There are a number of cramping options around including ratchet straps.

You may be able to do as suggested and pre-drill and hand nail, but you are in for a very long haul and the floor may not sit as well as you hoped. While I applaud your idea of leaving these boards to be recycled in the future, you may be disappointed if all your hardwork comes up with a creaky floor.

This is similar to the nailer I used.

Flooring secret nailer.jpg

Regards
Paul

[Camelot]

So really not a temporary floor, that statement was misleading, you are really after future salvage for someone, which is fair enough, but you will have to document that somewhere because in the future no one will know your intent.

This also means the quality of finish is important because you will be living with it for the rest of your life, therefore keeping things straight are important for the floors appearance. There are a few things to consider when laying the boards, because you don't want to end up with a very small rip for the last row, so you might want to workout the layout and start and finish with equal rips.

It's good practice to lay the boards with a gap around the perimeter for timber movement if this isn't done then the floor may buckle (lift off the sub floor) causing it to make a creaking noise, but the gap will be covered by the skirting boards, however the gap will not help when applying clamping pressure so put temporary wedges in the gap up against the wall, for the clamping cut a few pieces of floor boards at say 200mm long and then rip them in half and use the tongue part to push into the groove (this will help protect the groove of your floor boards when applying clamping pressure) screw strips of timber to your sub floor and parallel to the floor boards (these strips will be moved along has you lay the boards) at a distance that will allow folding wedges to be placed between the strips of timber and the 200mm half ripped floor section, then get 2 hammers and knock the wedges together simultaneously until and gaps close and then nail either side of the 200mm piece(s) of half cut floor board.

[r3nov8or]

Thanks for all the feedback, Essentially i am just trying to save the timber for future use, anyones, not necessarily mine. Since i was able to use these floorboards because someone in the past also did not use use glue, i'd like to pass on the favour. its beautiful timber and i expect it to be where im going to lay it down till well past my time.

....

Ok. That's great. Advice as above re secret nailing. I laid a new Tassie Oak floor directly on joists for our extension 20 years ago. I face nailed it with a Paslode finishing gun and a nose accessory that allows for a larger gauge brad. No glue. This was all in keeping with the rest of the house. Used joist clamps to cramp a few boards at a time. It is also end-matched, and that's the only place where there are a couple of regular creaks, I call it character.