Best way to have different hallways meet up with main hardwood floor area?


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Old 03-12-19, 07:16 PM
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Best way to have different hallways meet up with main hardwood floor area?

Please see attached picture.

Hopefully I am explaining my situation properly : )

I started laying 3/4" hardwood floor from the front door (upper right corner of picture), with the tongue facing in the direction of the arrow. When I hit point A, I laid a row of boards along the wall so that there would be continuity with the hardwood I laid from the front door and the rest of of the house. I extended that row all the way across the hallway that serves Bedroom 2 and Bedroom 3 and the bathroom.

My problem is that now I have a small hallway (exposed subfloor on diagram) that I have to lay flooring down for. I have to (I think) start by bedroom 2 and 3 and lay the hardwood towards the row of boards I laid across the hallway. What is the best way to do that? I can't lay the floor "backwards" with a flooring nailer can I? Or should I butt boards groove to groove and then work from my row of boards towards bedrooms 2 and 3?

At some point as I move toward that row of boards I laid across the hallway so that I have a straight line from point A across the width of the house, I'm going to have to cut a board and face nail it I guess? And also I assume I'll have to cut it at less than a 90 degree angle as the house isn't perfectly square but the hardwood is?

Thanks!

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Last edited by PJmax; 03-12-19 at 07:33 PM. Reason: resized/enhanced diagram
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Old 03-12-19, 07:33 PM
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You glue a spline into the groove side and then work in the opposite direction.
 
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Old 03-12-19, 07:43 PM
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Holy crap why didn't I think of that? I drew that picture out for nothing.

Thanks.
 
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Old 03-13-19, 04:52 AM
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I ran into a similar problem. Since I already has a laser line I shot a line down the hallway parallel to the wall. Measured off that line into the two legs of the "U" to serve as my starting point. Then started laying the flooring. I periodically checked the two hallways against the laser line to make sure they stayed parallel and the proper distance from the line. Then when I got to the main hall was able to simply lay the planking down the hall normally since both legs lined up.
 
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Old 03-13-19, 05:24 AM
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He-he......I doubt I would be able to pull something like that off. Somewhere, somehow, I'd be off by a little bit and by the time I hit the hallway I'd have to make a cut of some sort to fix the error : )
 
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Old 03-13-19, 06:10 AM
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When laying wood floors in a large continuous open space like that, you usually want to start in the middle of the room, such as where your circled A is, and put that spline in and work both directions.

2 advantages to doing that. First, you start out straighter, and can adjust that first row as needed to reduce any tapers you might meet up with once you reach a wall. (For instance, if starting out straight with the wall means you end up with a 1" taper on a crooked opposite wall, then adjust that first row by tapering it 1/2" so that by the time you reach the opposite wall, your taper is only 1/2".)

2nd advantage is expansion and contraction. By starting in the middle you cut the expansion down by half. The wood expands in all directions obviously, but the pressure is exerted on the fasteners. When you install in opposite directions from a center point, wood is forced to expand in 2 different directions rather than just one. This isn't critical in most small rooms, only in large, continuous layouts.
 
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Old 03-13-19, 09:07 AM
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Bummer. Didn't know that : ( I bought my flooring from a Mom and Pop flooring store and he spent about 30 minutes giving me initial install advice, but he didn't mention that........and I missed that point in all those YouTube videos I watched.

The installer (and the directions that came in the box) mentioned that to avoid problems with contraction/expansion, that I needed to leave 1/4" all the way around to allow for growth. Both the installer and the instructions also said to glue and nail the floor to help with movement as well, which is what I am doing.

As always, I appreciate the help.
 
 

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