STAPLE OR NAIL DOWN INSTALLATION

Tools & Materials:
- Power saw, hammer, chalk line and tool listed below
- Staple Gun: Stanley Mark 3
- Staples: 1 1/2” Staples For 1/2” for MIFS or 1-1/2” Power cleats for Model 445

Sub floor & Preparation:
Sub floors should be flat to 3/16” per 8’ radius. If sub floor prep work is required, “highs” should be ground down and the “lows” filled with an under­layment patch. Acceptable sub floors are the following:

Acceptable sub floors are the following:

• 5/8” minimum thickness, preferred 3/4” or thicker exterior plywood installed with long  edges at right angle to floor joists and staggered so that end joints in adjacent panels break over different joists.
• 1” x 4” to 6” wide, square edged, kiln dried coniferous lumber, laid diagonally over 16”   on center wooden joists. The ends of all boards are to be cut parallel to the center of the joists for solid bearing.
• 3/4 inch minimum O.S.B. on 19.2 inch center floor joists system properly nailed. New wood type sub floors should be checked for moisture using a moisture meter. In general wood or plywood sub floors should not exceed 12% moisture content, or 3% moisture content difference between hardwood flooring and sub floor. Adequate and proper nailing as well as soundness of the sub floor should be ascertained. Foreign material shall be removed from the sub floor surface and swept clean. The clean sub floor should be covered, wall-to-wall, with 15­lb asphalt saturated felt. Lap edges of this felt 4” when positioning it. Double the felt around heat ducts in the floor. Basement and crawl spaces must be dry and well ventilated. Crawl spaces must have a vapor barrier below sub floor on ground (6 or 8 mil. Poly)

General Installation Instructions (see NWFA for more details):

• Flooring should be laid at right angles to the floor joists and, if possible, in the direc­tion of the longest dimension of the room.
• All products have a UV-cured factory finish. It is important to make sure that the nail gun face plate will not damage the surface finish. 3M Blue tape can be placed on the faceplate to prevent damages.
• Starting to lay flooring: Begin laying T&G plank flooring in a room corner with the long groove of the plank facing the wall. Provide expansion space equal to the overall thickness of the wood flooring plank between the floor boards and the adjacent wall.
• End joints of plank: These should be staggered to achieve the best appearance in the finished floor. (minimum 6”)
• Nailing schedule for flooring: The first run should be faced nailed then counter sunk. All other runs to be nailed at an angle of 50° on 8” centers at the tongue, also nail within 2” of each end joint.  

Important Notes:

• Do not open flooring packages until you are ready to begin installation.   
• A concrete slab is considered below grade when any part of the slab is below ground level—for example, basements are below grade.
• Baseboards should be installed so that their lower edge is slightly above the level of the finished floor, but not nailed into the floor.
• Do not install over radiant heat floors
• Do not install any product with visible defects
• To avoid movement in hardwood floor, relative humidity should be maintained year round at 45% 55% Relative Humidity.
• The use of color coordinated wood floor putty to cover small cracks and gaps should be considered normal in hardwood flooring installations.
• See Warranty & Maintenance for more information.