Do You Staple Hardwood Floor On The Tounge Or Groove

How to install solid unfinished hardwood floor.

Do you staple hardwood floor on the tounge or groove.

Tongue and groove flooring staple nail down. We recommend nailing or stapling every 6 8 inches along the tongue of every board staying in approx 4 inches from each end of the floorboard. A flooring nailer has a shoulder that fits over the tongue for accurate nail insertion but a nailer doesn t fit on the groove edge. How to reverse a tongue groove wood floor.

If possible this is the ideal installation method. You can nail down a floor using either cleat nails or staples. 2 1 4 x 3 4 red oak strips installation. Tongue and groove milling is highly versatile allowing the floors to be stapled or nailed down glued and sometimes floated.

Diaz thinks staples have better holding power. The wood on the tongue is much thicker than the wood on the inside of the groove and less likely to split when you drive a nail. Top nailing is an option with wide plank hardwood or pine floors. After nailing the tongues of one course.

You must have a wood or plywood subfloor in order to staple or nail onto. Be sure to countersink the nail drive it slightly below the surface of the wood to prevent interference in the joint. The traditional method of nailing hardwood tongue and groove flooring is to drive nails at an angle through the tongue of a plank and into the subfloor below but this is time consuming and can. For instance solid hardwood flooring is typically nailed down during installation while tongue and groove engineered flooring is usually clicked together or completely glued down.

Top nailing with hard cut iron nails in addition to using the flooring stapler can give you that formal farmhouse kind of look. Most manufacturers allow the use of either flooring nails or staples but you should always refer to the manufacturer s instructions for proper nail staple size for a particular floor. The type of installation you choose will depend on your subfloor budget lifestyle and the type of wood flooring you select.