Hardwood Plank Floors
Why I Did It
Renovating the kitchen means attempting to replicate the hardwood plank flooring from my living room. The constant video logs I made while the floors went in should make this easier, but that meant I needed to review them. If I need to review them, I may as well blog them. I also chopped them together into a video.
The wood was sourced locally. I pictured a patchwork of wood of all different colours and widths. Five different hardwoods were delivered: oak, dark walnut, cherry, poplar and maple. I ordered 1 1/4″ thick boards. This is much thicker than standard. Possibly an overcompensation for the skinny boards I removed. I was unable to get it tongue and groove because of the thickness, but I was okay with this. I was unsure if I wanted tongue and groove anyhow. Not being able to get it made the decision for me. The board widths went from 3 inches to 6 inches.
Prepping the Underfloor
We tore up the old 1/4″ wood flooring. Good riddance. The underfloor was still good. I am told (by my Dad) that the angled strips of wood were standard underfloor at the time this house was built and would not need to be replaced. Works for me. We ran a level across the flooring. If it was off now would have been the time to level up. Luckily this was also good. Cork underlay was rolled out as far as we could get.
Prepping the Wood to Put Down
From what I had read the cork was rated well for hard wood flooring, it is environmentally responsible and should help reduce any squeaking. According to the manufacturers directions the underlay sheets were rolled out as close together as possible and stapled down but the overhang was not sealed. Space was always going to be an issue, the wood took up much of the floor, so work was done in sections.
Using a variety of colours made arranging the board complicated. Widths and colours had to be alternated as much as possible. I read many warnings against the perils of “H’s” in the floor – boards laid out in such a pattern would catch the eye and detract from the floor. It sounds easy to avoid, but it was harder than it sounds. Several rows were laid out at a time and boards cut to fit.
Once I had a section of boards organized I removed them and fastened them in one at a time. I did not start laying my boards from the side, this was to avoid the possibility of getting part-way across the room and finding all my lines angled. Instead I measured and marked a centre line in the room, plus two foot sections all across, and started my boards at one of these lines
Laying the Floor
Hardwood boards expand and shrink with the humidity in the house. They need to be pushed in snugly together and paradoxically have space to expand without popping up. The do not expand length-wise however, just width-wise. I purchased a quick-jack flooring jack to snug the boards up. There may be another way to do it, but this worked awesomely once I found some directions for use on the Amazon site. A small prybar served as a lever to push the board tightly end to end while they were jacked into place with the Quick-jack and screwed down. Once the sides were reached an inch of space is left between the edge board and the wall, again to allow for expansion and shrinkage without popping any boards up.
The flooring was screwed into joists. This makes it more secure and avoids loose boards, which also avoids squeaking floors. The hardness and thickness of the boards was a constant challenge. My drill was unable to make it through the boards. I was using J’s Hilti drill. The drill was so powerful the bits would smoke and heat up. I initially attempted to place the screws with a 3/8″ countersink for #8-10 screws but I found the holes too small. I switched to a 1/2″ countersink for #10-12 screws and had more success. In the end I used both. I made small pilot holes with the 3/8″ countersink and then made a larger hole with a 1/2″ countersink. 2 inch- #10 screws were put through the countersunk holes to hold the boards down. A lot of screws. So many screws.
I had planned to cut all my own dowelling bits with wood plug cutters to fill all the screw holes. It is important with the variety of woods to match each plug to the board. Again the hard wood caused me issues here, but also the interesting texture (can I call it gummy?) of the cherry wood. One drill press seized up on me and the plug cutters kept snapping apart. Interestingly, all half inch plug cutters are not the same size. I found a durable plug cutter that made pieces too big to fit into the countersink holes. In the end I bought dowelling from the local hardware store for whatever I could match, which unfortunately was not the cherry wood, and focused on cutting plugs for the rest. The wood plugs, or dowelling pieces, are easiest to use if you fill a container with wood glue and dip them into it. They are then placed into the holes, hammered in gently. I had purchased a lovely Japanese hand saw to cut the dowels, but there were too many holes. I cut them flush to the floor with an oscillating tool instead.
Finishing Touches
The floors were sanded down. I will not go into detail on how this was done in this blog. My advise is to find the videos from Ben at How to Sand a Floor and just do whatever he says. I finished them with a varnish that I will not name here because I hate it. It was purchased at local hardware store without as much research as it deserved. In my defense I was running out of time and needed to get the floors finished before I had to fly off to work again. We followed all the directions and attempted to be gentle with the floors but the varnish peeled up in small sheets. Useless. In hindsight it may have been because I sanded down to 120 grit. The product information stated that this was the finest grit you could use, it should have worked, but it did not. When I refinished the floors I only used 100 grit just to be safe. Rubio Monocoat 2c is a 2 part hard oil finish. The application instructions state that it is walkable in 4-6 hours and cured in 5 days. This meant I did not need to wait long until I could use the floors again. There are some restrictions to cleaning and care of the floors and it is pricey compared to a standard varnish. My Dad says “it looks expensive”, which I like. I also can buff out and add their renew product to any scratches and should never need to sand and refinish the entire floor again.