Face nail the first course as near the wall as possible. You may even wish to rip the groove off to get that bit closer and still have good wood to nail through and not split or damage the surface.
The second course you can nail through the tongue on an angle with a hammer. You are correct, drilling will make this go a lot easier. You are essentially duplicating the nail driver. Use a drill a little smaller than the gauge of the nail so that it is less likely to slide and squeak. Care must be taken not to damage the surface of the board when hammering. Use a suitable nail set or reversed nail. The angle does not have to be precise, sharp enough to come out the bottom of the board beyond the tongue will do. You never worry about driving the boards too far along, this is the main reason why even a pneumatic floor nailer will usually want you to initiate the shot with a mallet. It sets the board closer and tighter to it's neighbour.You may wish to tack a cleat or two to the floor to use as a point to assist bracing the new board tight to what is already installed when hand nailing. Remember, wood plank floors have long preceded those fancy nailers. Enjoy. Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype DaleLeavens Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dan Rossi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <BlindHandyman@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 3:06 PM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Floor question. > OK, I have a question about laying the hardwood floor. You can't use the > floor stapler on the first couple of courses since you are too close to > the wall. I have read about face nailing the first couple of courses. > You can try and face nail the first course very close to the edge and have > the shoe molding cover it up. The second course you can patch the nail > holes with stained filler. > > My question is, can you maybe face nail that first course, but then the > second and third course, you can drill pilot holes on a 45 at the tongue > and hand nail them so you don't have the issue of having to patch the nail > holes? > > I can see two issues. First, do you not do this simply because you are > much more likely to ding up the edges of the boards trying to hand nail? > > Second, do you need to face nail a couple of courses since that makes it > more resistant to pushing backwards when you start with the neumatic floor > stapler? > > Thanks. > > > -- > Blue skies. > Dan Rossi > Carnegie Mellon University. > E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Tel: (412) 268-9081 > > > To listen to the show archives go to link > http://acbradio.org/handyman.html > or > ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ > > The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. > http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday > > The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. > http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml > > Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various > List Members At The Following address: > http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ > > Visit the new archives page at the following address > http://www.mail-archive.com/blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com/ > For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man > list just send a blank message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.411 / Virus Database: 268.17.35/680 - Release Date: > 10/02/2007 > > To listen to the show archives go to link http://acbradio.org/handyman.html or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following address: http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ Visit the new archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
