Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Lessons Learned: My first install of unfinished hardwood

I was the guy with the question about installing during the high humidity days of summer.

I installed the unfinished red oak strip flooring over the last week, and it turned out very nice. No sealer, oil poly. Man the color is beautiful.

Thin Coats: I should have placed thinner coats of polyurethane than I did. One problem is seeing how thick the coat is when I apply it, it is hard to tell unless there is very good angled lighting.

Prework: I could have cut most of the strips to fit the width before I rented the nailer. That way I could have rented the nailer for a shorter period of time. Some cuts I would have had to cut during the nailing, but the majority could have been cut before and laid out.

Rent equipment from a shop that has extras: My pneumatic nailer kept getting stuck, then I traded in for a pneumatic stapler. That worked great, for a while. Then that got stuck, then switched to a manual nailer, then that got stuck. At the end I was drilling holes and slammin em in with the hammer and punch.

Refine my sanding technique: This was the most curious. I was extremely careful and slowly walked across the floor and dropped in the clutch only when I was already moving. STill, there are a lot of undulating slight waves that span the strips, which could only have been generated by the (had to be at least 120 pound weight) drum sander, even though I was only using 100 grit paper. I did not feel ANY rythmatic vibration as I sanded that would correspond to the waves left in the wood.

If you had it to do all over again, would you say it would have been worth saving up a little money to pay a professional, or would you still try to save money and do it yourself?


Would you say there is a steep learning curve, or was it easy for you to figure out?

I would have to say definately for the normal person to have a professional person do it.

For the handyman person, the professional should do it.

For an experienced plus very motivated handyman (where I fit in), one could do it, but had better study up hard, and get tips from others. I would say they might consider having the flr sanded part done by a professional. If on the other hand the floor has to be done correctly and it is critical that this floor be done superbly, yet this will be the first floor done by the experienced and motivated handyman, get it done by a professional.

For me, I got satisfactory results for the third floor of my house. If I tackle the first floor next, I would want to figure out how to sand correctly, the other problems I can adjust my technique for, the sanding is an art. My first floor would have to be done to a higher standard.

So now let me ask you thins question.......

If you had to do it all over again would you have gone with prefinished wood? And if so what type of experience level do you think could handle JUST the install job?? I ask this because installing and refinishing are such different jobs and sometimes requires 2 different types of people. I have seen some novices install floors wonderfully and did a TERRIBLE job finishing......and I have seen novices do a terrible job with installing and a satisfactory job at finishing. I even have seen pros who just install and do not finish or vice-versa.

Evan is right and I'll be the first to admit, I'm no painter!! Finishing is painting with clear coats, and I suck and get impatient.

To Carpets Done Wright: It was not hard to figure out how to do it, however there is a lot to consider, especially the humidity/dryness issue. I lucked out installing in the humid part of the year.

How did I find out? I read articles and went to the NOFMA site, and went to This Old House site and watched a video of a guy sanding the floor. Also tips from this site helped a lot.

You really have to think about everything, like how to tighten the 4 strips at the beginning wall and the 6 strips at the ending wall (I made a screw down block that I hammered a wedge between it and the strips to tighten them before nailing).

To Evan: Yes the prefinished 3/4" looks pretty compelling for future installs. In that case the the experience level needed would drop a bit. Never the less this still is a `major' job in my mind. You might need to level the floor. Let the wood acclimitize long enough. Have all the right tools including renting a pneumatic nailer. You still have the humidity/dryness issue, safety issues, you better be real good at swinging a mallet. Also, you have to do a fine 90 degree cut and either have a mitre saw or make a cutting jig for a power saw with a fine blade. Get ready for skin cuts. Better be in decent physical condition and have a real_good_back. It just goes on and on....

The problem in my sanding was this; that there were slight undulating waves in the red oak strips left after my sanding. They were only visible after the poly with the light bouncing off of the floor from the window. As I sanded, I had felt no rythym in the belt sander. Also, the waves were consistent, and spanned multiple passes of sanding. It was if some flaw in my sanding technique that left the waves on one pass, as I overlapped for subsequent passes, it picked up that rythym and perpetuated it, so that the waves go out a number of feet to the right and left. They are not deep at all, but visible if the light is at an oblique angle...

I thought my technique was good. This red oak floor was freshly laid, seemed real smooth. So used a Home depot drum sander, 100 grit. Sanded with the grain. Started on one side in the middle of the room and slowly and steadily sanded. One foot, heel, toe, then the other foot right in front of it, heel toe. When I got to the wall, I backed up, same speed to middle of flr where I pulled in the clutch. I then moved to the left a bit, overlapping the previous pass. As I moved forward I let out the clutch and did that till I finished half the room. Then I turned around and did the last half of the room. I did not do exactly half, I did more than half, starting two feet back, overlapping the first half.

Any tips? I have two more rooms on the first floor to lay wood on and would really like to solve this sanding issue.

Yep....sanding is not fun AT ALL!! Is the wave effect all over the floor or just around the edges? If it is around the edges then make sure as you reach the edge you do not stop and just go in revearse with the drum staying in one place. As you reach the edge slowly lift up the drum while still going foward. You may want to not go in reverse either.....just foward. Try not to go "super slow" either. If you are knocking finish off the floor you usually go pretty slow.......but with brand new unfinished wood you dont need to take 20 minutes per pass. I am not saying to sprint with the thing but maybe try to go a TOUCH faster to see if that helps. Another thing is, if this is unfinished wood maybe try going with a lighter grit paper. Depending on the wood it is usually pretty smooth and may not require 100 grit paper. With all of that said though it is hard to give perfect advice with sanding as it is almost a feel type of thing for me. It can be a VERY daunting task for a novice to sand a floor and get a PERFECTLY smooth and flat result. Hopefully others can chime in with some advice for you.....good luck.

We have always felt anybody can install a floor if there is a good sander and finisher following.
We actually didn't sand our own floor for a few years because we didn't have a finisher who could produce consistent results. I can sand and finish but I would only feel safe/comfortable doing my own house because if it doesn't look right I can do it again. A buff and coat, I can't do it as well as anyone.
The reason you have the waves is because of the sander you used. We have a sander identical to what you rented at the Depot but we call it the mini-sander. We have one that weighs almost three times as much. It keeps the waves out. We only use the little guy for small areas the big one doesn't fit well.
In our area you can't rent the bigger sanders so when we have a break down we use the little guys. They take a lot longer to get the same result. Also, we spend a lot more time with the hardplate on the buffer.
If you only see the waves in the "perfect light" then I would say you have a successful floor. If you wouldn't notice it walking into a furnished room and just looking I would say all is good.
By the main floor you'll be a pro.
Later
Bryan