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Carpets, Lino & Flooring

Laying reclaimed floor boards on to joists

Anonymous user 01/03/2024 - 2.59 PM

I’m in the process of replacing the floorboards in a 1909 house. I’ve ripped up the floor, insulated and now need to replace. I’ve sourced some lovely reclaimed boards but stuck on how to fix them in place. I was planning on a second fix 16 gauge 50mm nail gun but 16 gauge seems really thin to me. They are straight edge not TG. The are being fixed directly to joists. Any advice greatly appreciated.

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4 Answers

BuildSense Bespoke Fitted Furniture

Rating: 5 out of 5
Aylesbury
Ideally you want a porta nailer tool (fairly cheap second hand) and t or l shaped flooring nails. Finishing nails are not going to work unfortunately as they just don't have the strength especially to survive the movement in the floor. For best finish, you could almost look at a biscuit cutter or router attachment to put some splines between boards to help them stay flush with one another
Answered23 December 2022
11

Fitting solutions

Rating: 5 out of 5
Sheffield
I would not recommend fitting straight edged floor boards directly to joists , better to have them machined to T&G But if you are going to fit them you will need to cover the joists with builders bitumen paper and screws Port snails will not work well on straight edge boards as they will only be fixed one edge with nothing securing the opposite edge
Answered9 January 2023
1

EGM Installations

Rating: 5 out of 5
Coventry
You could screw them down which will keep the board tight and help reduce movement and squeaking, Use floorboard mails, you should be able to hire a ports nailer and hire shop would have nails, porta nailer should have changeable heads one for hidden nailing through tongue and groove the other goes through top of board and into joist
Answered23 December 2022
0

Justwoodfloors

Rating: 5 out of 5
Epsom
They need to be left in the room for a minimum of 2 weeks to settle . Square edge boards will need to be clamped together using a floor board clamp , portanail the square edge and repeat cut boards on centre of joists , not next to each other , once fitted sand with floor sander and 4 lacquer buff between 2 /3 coat . Mark @ Just wood floors
Answered17 January 2023
0