Do you nail into the tongue or groove?

For tongue-and-groove flooring, drive a nail at a 45-degree angle through the tongue, then conceal it by engaging the groove of the next board. Be sure to countersink the nail — drive it slightly below the surface of the wood — to prevent interference in the joint.

What side of wood floor do you nail?

Begin your nailing from the left side of the room and always do your nailing from left to right across the floor. Use a rubber mallet to tap the boards tightly into place. To nail your flooring, strike the plunger at the top of the nailer with the rubber mallet.

Can I use a nail gun to install hardwood floors?

If you’re handy with a finish nail gun, you can use it to install a hardwood floor. A finish nail gun, designed for trim work, shoots a near-headless nail that does not mar the surface look of the wood, which makes a finish nailer effective for installing hardwood floors as well.

Do you need to glue tongue and groove flooring?

Don’t Glue Tongue and Grooves This is because wood flooring needs room to move as it expands. If the wood is glued both to the subfloor and between the planks, there’s no room for movement. In the long-run, limited movement leads to cracks, disfigurement and warping of your wood flooring.

Do you have to nail down hardwood floor?

Solid hardwood floors must be fixed into position by either gluing or nailing down to the subfloor. However, if you are planning on fitting your hardwood floor to joists, then you will need to secret nail them into place.

How do you nail down a tongue and groove floor?

The Process of Blind Nailing. The process involves driving a series of nails into the tongue of a floorboard at 45-degree angles; the angle allows each nail to push the board against the one next to it as well as hold the board to the floor. Each nail is fully set when the head is flush with the tongue, and because it’s angled,…

Can You Blind nail a tongue and groove floor?

Blind-nail the course you joined to the first one by driving nails through the tongues of the boards. When you are done, you will have two courses of flooring, each with a tongue facing out. This technique is useful when you lay flooring in an irregularly shaped room without a straight wall against which to start the installation.

What do you need to know about tongue and groove flooring?

The floor must be empty no matter what material you’re installing. Of course, the floor space must be void of stuff for obvious reasons. However, shelves, pictures, knick-knacks, etc., should go too, because of the dust from cutting and sanding the new floor. You also need to plan access to the room and to the other areas of your house.

Can you drive nails through a tongue and groove?

A power nailer develops enough force to drive nails through the tongue at the proper angle without splitting the wood, but when you’re driving the nails with a hammer, you can’t develop that force, and the angle isn’t automatic. These are two good reasons to predrill the holes for the nails you drive.

Do you nail or glue tongue and groove flooring?

If you are installing hardwood flooring then using glue may give you a more stable result. Do you nail the tongue or groove? For tongue-and-groove flooring, drive a nail at a 45-degree angle through the tongue, then conceal it by engaging the groove of the next board.

How to reverse tongue and groove wood flooring?

Spread glue on the other edge of the tongues and tap the groove-sides of the boards in the next course onto the tongue. Blind-nail the course you joined to the first one by driving nails through the tongues of the boards. When you are done, you will have two courses of flooring, each with a tongue facing out.