3/8" Oak unfinished install; change direction transition

[Hal]

Hi all. I am installing unfinished 3/8 Oak. I have a two part question:

First: We have removed a wall between kitchen and dining room and plan on extending the current Oak into the kitchen area. The new floor will be perpendicular to the current Oak and as per the picture, I have cut the current Oak directly across the room. At the transition (change in direction), my thought was to install biscuits to maintain an even transition. But I'm not sure if 3/8 is too thin to accommodate a #0 biscuit. I assume that the pros might install a spline, but my carpentry skills while relatively good, I am not sure that I want to experiment with routing in a spline across the length of existing floor. Alternatively, would face nailing and adhesive be sufficient. What would the pros do in this case?

Second: What size/type nails are best for 3/8 Oak?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Hal]

Anyone?

 

[Nick]

You can but it up to the transition and nail into the tongue with a floor runner every 6" in the field , and 1-2" on the ends ..
If it is not even you can shim where you need to with some rosin paper .. Takes a 18 ga staple.. you can buy a cheap one for $70.00 on Amazon..

 

[Hal]

Thanks for this response and advice Nick. Would adhesive (to the floor) help at all for the transition pieces.

 

[Nick]

You don't want to glue it .. it has to expand , and contract .. Shoot a couple of face nails in if you have to .. Home depot carries different wood putty colors to fill in the nail hole ..

 

[Hal]

Just one more question (I think). What length 18g? Into a 3/4 inch plank subfloor.

 

[Nick]

2 " staple , or nail.. I like the staple better .. You will need a different gun for that ..

 

[Nick]

Give me the width of the 3/4 " wood, and i will give you the correct nailing pattern for it ..

 

[Don Monfils]

I would use a 1 1/8” length staple.
I would glue the first row .
The 3/4” plank your referring to...
is the planks installed diagonally across your floor joist, correct?

 

[Nick]

That's the way it looks in the photo Don.. Just thinking , 30 lb felt is a 1/8 " if he spread that over the floor the 3/8 " would match up perfect with the 3/4 " ..

 

[Hal]

Sorry Nick/Don. Somehow I missed your most recent replies. I am only just now ready to proceed with he flooring.

The subfloor planks (yes, diagonal across the joists) are 4.5" wide. The new Oak boards are 3/8 thickness, 2 inch wide. Would appreciate your advice regarding the nailing pattern.

I was originally planning to use 1.5 inch cleats (the nailer I have maxes out at 1 5/8 length), but it does accept staples. I could use the 1 1/8 staple, but somewhere I got it into my head that with this thin OAK hardwood that there would be more risk of splitting the tongue with staples.

 

[Nick]

APPENDIX F FASTENER SCHEDULE Hardwood flooring must be installed over a proper subfloor. Tongue and grooved flooring MUST be blind nailed. Wood Flooring Type Fastener to be used Fastener spacing Solid Strip T&G ¾” x less than 3” 1 1 /2”-2” fastener, or 6d-8d casing or finish nails. On slab with ¾” underlayment, use 11 /2” fastener Blind fastener spacing along the lengths of the strips, minimum two fasteners per piece near the ends (1-3”). In addition, every 8-10” apart for blind nailing, 10-12” for face nailing. Solid Strip T&G ½” x 11 /2”, ½” x 2” 1 1 /2” fastener Blind fastener spacing along the lengths of the strips, minimum two fasteners per piece near the ends (1-3”). In addition, every 10” apart. ½” flooring must be installed over a minimum 5/8” thick subfloor. Solid Strip T&G 3 /8” x 11 /2”, 3 /8” x 2” 1 1 /4” fastener Blind fastener spacing along the lengths of the strips, minimum two fasteners per piece near the ends (1-3”). In addition, every 8” apart. Solid Strip T&G 5/16” Narrow crowned (under 3/8”) 1”- 1 1 /2” staples or 1”-1¼” hardwood flooring cleats. Space fasteners at 3-4” intervals for staples, 4-6” for cleats, and within 1-2 inches of end joints, or as recommended by the flooring manufacturer. Solid Plank ¾” x 3” or wider 1 1 /2”-2” fastener, or 6d-8d casing or finish nails. On slab with ¾” underlayment, use 11 /2” fastener Blind fastener spacing along the lengths of the strips, minimum two fasteners per piece near the ends (1-3”). In addition, every 6-8” apart for blind nailing, 10-12” for face nailing. To assist the nailing schedule, options are to screw and plug the ends of each board, or to apply adhesive. Engineered wood flooring Narrow crowned (under 3/8”) 1”- 1 1 /2” staples or 1”-1¼” hardwood flooring cleats designed for engineered flooring. Space fasteners at 3-4” intervals for staples, 4-6” for cleats, and within 1-2 inches of end joints, or as recommended by the flooring manufacturer. Subfloor over concrete Hardened steel pins, 11/4 – 21/8 Minimum of 50% of fastener must penetrate concrete. Space fasteners one per square foot or as recommended by the fastener manufacturer.

 

[Hal]

Thanks again Nick