Subject: Re: Wooden Floor in Maple HELP!!!!!

From: Kit Davidson <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 10:10:25 +0000

In article <[email-masked]>, tom unger
<[email-masked]> writes
>[email-masked] (Geert Deleu) wrote:
>
>>hi,
>>I am busy pasting wood strips of about 1/2 inch thick and 3" width on a 
>>wooden surface to make a wooden floor.
>>I am glueing them on the surface with PolyVinylAcetaat glue...the classic 
>>wood glue. Also am I naling them every 2 feet with 3 nails!
>>Now here comes the problem: When i glue and nail them  on the underground 
>>everything seems normal, the joints are closed and the boards are flat, 
>>BUT afther about 3 hours the joints come open and the boards begin to 
>>curl in there width (not there length) if you could look at the boards in 
>>section they would look like a U-shape...
>>Can someone please help I am desperated, I have to do another 70 square 
>>meters and don't want to get the same result!!!!!
>>BTW: temp in room=18°Celsius and normal humidity, wood has been dried 
>>until there was only 7% of moisture left...
>
>>If you know the solution email me NOW!!!!!
>
>I, also, am not a flooring expert.  But...you should not be gluing
>these boards down.  They should be tongue and grooved and nailed on
>one side only (ever seen those funky floor nailers you hit with a
>mallet? they are at an angle so that when you hit them the board gets
>tapped in tight and the the air cylinder fires nailing it there).
>This allows the wood to shrink and expand (which it will). 
>
>You probably need some more detailed advice so my advice is this: stop
>what you're doing and get some advice!
>--
>Tom
>
>========================================
>more is better
>too much is just enough
>NO MONEY SPENT ON TOOLS IS WASTED
>
>[email-masked]
>========================================
>
Tongue and Groove flooring must never be glued. The previous
correspondents are correct. Use secret nailing through the tongues and
allow a width-wise expansion gap beneath the skirting boards, There will
be movement as the flooring adjusts to the ambient humidity. If you use
glue and prevent movement the boards will take their only course and
buckle
-- 
Kit Davidson

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From: [email-masked] (Rick Haver)
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 1997 15:16:41 -0500

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Geert
Deleu) wrote:

hi,

[email-masked]

**************************

 I imagine its the glue. Its water-based and causes the underside to swell.
If you must use an adhesive use a construction mastic. It'll help keep squeaks
>from  developing.

Rick Haver

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From: [email-masked] (Dave Lers)
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 1997 08:14:16 GMT

Kit Davidson <[email-masked]> wrote:
 
>>>wood glue. 
Try a mastic or a trowelable construction type adhesive. There is a
trowel on glue made for the 3/8" T and G flooring (solvent vs water
and flexible vs rigid). In brief the wood is warping due to the
moisture it is picking up from the glue.

>>these boards down.  They should be tongue and grooved and nailed on
This is true and it would make you a better floor all the way round if
you could mill a tongue a groove though the bits commonly available do
not provide the backside relief that insures a tight face.
>>
>Tongue and Groove flooring must never be glued. 
Never say never.
>glue and prevent movement the boards will take their only course and
Ah but remember they are glued down :). 

We have a local installer, the old guy just retired after I don't know
how many years of laying floors, gluing it down just like the old man
did. They don't use paper they use a coating of yellow glue that the
wood is nailed to while the glue is wet.

While I probably wouldn't do my floor this way I don't see a point of
failure and I don't see a large hardwood floor expanding and
contracting as a unit, what magic can bring hundreds of unattached
pieces closer together? I can see some outward movement (expansion, in
the case of glue down it would be compression) but don't follow
contraction and understand that you can expect to have some small
degree of gap when the weather is warm and dry. Note a previous thread
where someone was trying to figure out how to clean up the tongue and
groove on recycled flooring.
--
Dave Lers
[email-masked]
http://www.memes.com/~baywood/

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From: "Charles (Joe) Stahelin" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 14:08:06 +0100

In article <[email-masked]>, Kit Davidson
<[email-masked]> writes
snip
>>what you're doing and get some advice!

I agree.   Get hold of an expert and talk to him/her before you go
further.  Even if you have to pay for the advice (or for the job to be
done) you may find it cheaper than replacing spoilt timber.
-- 
Charles (Joe) Stahelin
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK