Installing Wood Planks

[Trixella]

Hello,

I'm wanting to instal 9 inch wide pine planks for my flooring. Does anyone have advice on doing so? Is it necessary to use glue or is just nailing the planks down onto the plywood subfloor sufficient? What's the likely-hood of the floors moving and buckling after moving it?

[HowieE]

I don't jump at the idea but how about some more info.
Trailer, plank thickness, tongue and grove or not, and condition of sub floor.
My first reaction was the weight my second was whether it should be installed as a floating floor

[ALANSD]

You need room for expansion as the wood gets hot & cold and dry and wet from the atmosphere...Gluing it down might not be the best as it could buckle and warp.

[Trixella]

Originally Posted by HowieE

I don't jump at the idea but how about some more info.
Trailer, plank thickness, tongue and grove or not, and condition of sub floor.
My first reaction was the weight my second was whether it should be installed as a floating floor

It's a gutted 1968 Streamline, the pine planks are tongue and grove I believe, and the subfloor is new 1/2 inch plywood (not marine grade). I think the wood planks are about 3/4 inch thick.

Originally Posted by ALANSD

You need room for expansion as the wood gets hot & cold and dry and wet from the atmosphere...Gluing it down might not be the best as it could buckle and warp.

I had a contractor tell me today that I should only staple the wood planks around the edges and let the rest just be held together with the tongue and grove.

[Mixter]

I'm interested in the responses too....

When I bought my trailer, the PO had glued down square tiles. They aged very badly and were a mess to clean up. (this was long before I ultimately lifted the shell and installed all new plywood subfloor on my new frame)

Based on how the stuff aged, and the mess to clean, I decided I would use the pre-finished real wood, tongue & groove flooring and nail it down with this: 2-in-1 Flooring Nailer/Stapler

I will leave expansion joint around the perimeter and cover with shoe molding or similar. My thoughts are that if I ever get a leak and the subfloor gets wet, the real wood would help dissipate and dry out, rather than stay moist under the foam used in a floating floor.

I also think that if I ever have to rip up a section of floor, I can sacrifice one of the tongues on the planks and pull up a section and be able to replace it just as easily...

Just my thoughts on the way I'm going to go, unless I hear an idea I like better.
Mic

[Mixter]

Looks like we posted same time...

Yes, one of my first concerns was weight, but I'm not so sure theres a huge difference between several boxes of vinyl tiles, or a roll of carpet, or the other manufactured products, versus wood. Just cant think theres that much difference.

I also think the contractor gave you advice I will likely follow as well. Although I dont think I'll rely solely on the tongue & goove, but rather take that as I wont use a ton of nails.

[Trixella]

Did you use marine grade plywood for your sub floors? I'm a little concerned about mine not being marine grade.

[thehandyman]

Nail or staple around the edges let the rest float. Would not worry about expansion after all you are installing wood on wood. They both will expand any difference will be so small it won't matter. The aluminum will expanded more than the wood with hot and cool. Would not run all the way to the wall inside cabinets in case of a leak.

[cwf]

Well, the floor is not where you should 'scrimp'. This is integral to trailer longevity. You did not say what plywood you DID use... the 'difference' can be immense. Plywood 'voids' in lots of 'construction' grades can cause issues. The Marine stuff should be of a grade that has less/no 'voids'... can you build out of cheap CDX grade? Sure.. but don't expect decent results.

Next is water... Marine grade is still 'wood'.. it will swell WHEN it gets wet.. yes, it will get wet.... plan on it. So, If you have used a lesser grade, all may not be lost.. if you impregnate with epoxy or fiberglass you will have 'waterproof'...and increase strength...

When doing these 'mods' you also add WEIGHT.... be prepared.. it adds up quickly!

We installed 'engineered' snap together flooring from Lumber Liquidators. it is NOT nailed ANYWHERE.. it is not glued either. However, I did 'trim' and fit each piece on the edges very carefully. There was 1/8' to 3/16 around the perimeter.. I then installed 'quarter round' and actually GLUED it to the walls and vertical cabinet areas... flush with the floor. The floor can 'float'... the snap together edges are impervious to dirt and have NOT moved. The flooring cam with a thin foam 'backing' and it has enough friction there is no discernible movement...

Also, I think it is lighter than your Pine you are considering. So, rethink this... you may be better off with a manufactured floor.. like ours, but, hey, it is YOUR trailer... have fun!!!

oh.. no, do NOT nail or screw them down. you might glue them to each other, but not to the floor.. just my $.02

I am in Round Rock.. you can come see what we did anytime... Pics can be sent, too. just PM.

[Trixella]

I'm not sure what grade of plywood the PO used. As far as the extra weight... my trailer is completely gutted, no cabinets, no walls, no bathroom... the only interior weight will be the floors so I think I'm okay on the weight front. This trailer is going to be a stationary (will have to move once to location) hair salon, the only other weight will be a couple of styling chairs and one shampoo bowl/chair put in after the move.

[cwf]

ah.. well, if that is your end goal, no 'standard trailer plumbing', etc, no 'movement'.. I would still go with the engineered, snap together stuff. When you try to sweep the hair and other products from between the cracks you will soon go crazy.

I would pour epoxy all over the floor, paying special attention to the perimeter to 'seal' the wood as best you can from the leaks you will have from the trailer seams and rivets.

Then install the plumbing... epoxy around the cutouts in the floor... then install the flooring.

Also, this may be a good time to discuss how to 'mount' a chair to the 'floor'.. you will have a lot of flex unless you beef up where the chair will mount... this alone will cause some 'working' of the plywood and more leaking potential.

Good luck.

[Trixella]

Do you have a recommendation for an epoxy? I've never used it before.

[cwf]

Since you won't be moving the trailer, you can get some around Austin... One place, although more expensive will be West Marine on SW corner of Burnet and 183.

Of course, you could just use the recommendations above... and save a ton of $$$ .. then in the future, if this is lucrative, do a frame up restore and retrofit to your exact needs.

[Wayward]

I have put pine T&G flooring into lots of homes. I have white pine T&G in our master bath. So here are my thoughts.

- For wet or moisture prone environments like a trailer, pre-finish the tongue, groove and both sides before installing. Pre-finish all ends after cutting. Sand and put a final finish coat on after installation. Do this and it will hold up to water and moisture.

- If you are painting it, knots will bleed through so pre-prime just the knots with a shellac based primer like BIN. (Shellac not recommended as whole board primer in moisture prone areas)

- For the trailer attach directly to the subfloor - no moisture barrier.

- Narrow width trailer so a 1/4" gap on each side is enough. 1/8" gap at ends.

- Use a good oil based floor paint or polyurethane finish

- White pine is easy to work with and inexpensive. It is soft and will accumulate slight indentions from normal wear. Some think this adds character - it is just a matter of taste.

- Yellow pine or heart pine is more dent resistant but harder to stain.

- You probably will not be happy floating a 3/4" wood floor. It will not sit completely flat.

- Use galvanized nails/screws to handle moisture in trailer.

- Avoid nailing past the bottom of the subfloor. Blind nail with a 15g or 16g finish nailer (or hand nail and counter sink with brads). Consider the nailing angle and subfloor thickness when choosing your nail length. Do not use standard T&G flooring nails with the 1/2" subfloor.


- When you need to face nail, consider using a countersunk screw instead. That way you can control depth. You can putty or plug them.

- Pine does not have T&G on the ends so you will have to biscuit or face nail/ screw the ends and the edge boards anyway so consider face screws with plugs on the entire job instead of blind nailing.



- Especially for wide plank, look for quarter sawn or buy where you can hand pick your boards to avoid the regular face sawn. This will minimize cupping on a wide plank floor

[Trixella]

Wow, thanks for the detailed information! That will be helpful.

Do not use standard T&G flooring nails with the 1/2" subfloor.

What type of nails should I use with the 1/2 inch subfloor?

[55AS]

When I replaced my floor I installed "engineered" oak flooring from Lumber Liquidators over a foam underlayment. Mine is completely floating (not glued, screwed or nailed down) with a 1/4" gap at the edges that is hidden under quarter round molding. Very happy so far.

[Wayward]

Originally Posted by Trixella

Wow, thanks for the detailed information! That will be helpful. What type of nails should I use with the 1/2 inch subfloor?

If you blind nail per the picture in my post, use 15g or 16g power nailer/stapler, or, hand nail and counter sink similar size finishing nails flush into the tongue with a nail punch.

Figure the nail will go in at about 45 degrees so pick a nail/staple length that will not poke through the 1/2" subfloor.

Also consider face screws instead of blind nailing, like in the other picture I posted. You simply countersink 1 inch screws about a 1/4 of an inch into the 3/4" pine then glue in a plug to fill the hole and sand flush.

Screws overall may prove less frustrating and a more solid bond to the subfloor. Blind nailing T&G by hand can be tricky a confined space if you have never done it before. and impossible once you get close to the side walls anyway.

You can cut the plugs from the same wood for a perfect match. Get a kit like this that has the drill/counter sink and a plug cutter.



Here is a video with an even slicker faster way...............

Self-Centering Plug Cutter Demo - YouTube

.

[Trixella]

That's a pretty cool tool. I'm considering using black nails on all four corners of each board and keeping them exposed. I think it will go with the kind of rustic look I'm going for.

I've got a question regarding the subfloor. The PO layed the plywood pretty tightly against the walls in spots... is there a tool I can use to shave those spots down without having to uninstall the plywood? It's tight mainly around the corners.

[Trixella]

Well, bummer, we just got rain last night so I just went out to check the trailer... looks like there's several big leaks. All that non marine grade plywood got completely soaked in spots. Ugh!

[Silverflames]

Sounds like it's time to seal that floor, and to start chasing down leaks. I used a oil based floor paint to sea most of my floor. Only down side is that it takes days and days to dry.


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