Blueprint Request

[Joe]

http://somup.com/crleqZ0yGs

here is the link I mentioned – https://youtu.be/aH_vLiBJ6bg

[Tory]

Hi Joe, I did go with your suggestion of purchasing a hammer drill. This is the first drill bit that I’ve seen that was half round and half flat and it doesn’t fit for me (yet) nicely in the chuck. Any tips on using the included drill bit of https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-8-5-Amp-Corded-1-2-in-Heavy-Duty-Hammer-Drill-R50111/100520682 with https://www.homedepot.com/p/Tapcon-3-16-in-x-1-1-4-in-Star-Flat-Head-Concrete-Anchors-75-Pack-28350/314120116?ITC=AUC-68887-23-12140? Possibly these are incompatible and/or I need some sort of adapter?

[Joe]

http://somup.com/crl12O0zZ8

[Tory]

Good morning Joe. My “kick test” seemed to pass after securing my plank on concrete. However, for me, the Tapcon screws seemed to go through very cleanly with little to no thread to my naked eye. I had to place wood slits in all my initial 5 pieces. 1) I did notice that my pieces did not seem secure at all since I could probably lift them straight up from the left, right, and tongue edges, but definitely not from the locked in groove edge. I did the drilling and screwing with my recently purchased hammer drill. (As you mentioned previously, with your tips, I was able to use the bit driver that came with the Tapcon screws.) Have I secured them sufficiently? Should I go out and purchase a screw gun for better and possibly faster results?

• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by  Tory.

[Joe]

I would definitely use an impact screw gun. If you need to place small slivers of wood into the hole that is just fine to do.

[Tory]

Good afternoon Joe.

I attached another pic of the fireplace since my initial pic did not capture that the hearth would need to be surrounded by plank on all three sides and actually “angled” on the left and right sides. I was curious to see if that would change the approach that you recommended from our original blueprint (roughly 28:00-39:03). Secondly from the blueprint, you mentioned “You wanna act like this plank is going through the island” (44:20). Would this strategy apply to the walls between the kitchen (eat-in and “regular kitchen) and living room? Or it would still look professional without that level of detail? Also, is it safe to place plank under the frig and oven? (I had a coworker to recently mention that it would disallow the expansion and contraction of plank.) I think you mentioned somewhere on the site that plank could be put under the leg portion of the dishwasher.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by  Tory.

[Tory]

Of course, as previously mentioned, my “regular” kitchen has a bank of cabinents/countertops (with the sink and dishwasher on the South wall) attached to both the North and South walls.

[Joe]

http://somup.com/crlX2T0EZl

[Tory]

Good morning Joe,

1) In terms of my project, I’m at the 31:25 mark of my blueprint. Since my plank is Tapcon concreted secure, I’m free to move the furniture around to the other side of the living room, despite having not done the rows behind the Tapcon screws. Right? (It occurred to me that I’m not wanting to move away from laying the floor and start dealing with shoe molding or quarter round yet, unless I absolutely have to right now. If not, I may be in big trouble.)

2) I attached a picture of an area that I keep having trouble with. I have replaced both sets of (angle and regular) boards already, yet I still get a gap in front of my hearth, that I’m hoping to be able to tackle with your advice just before releasing the floor perhaps(?). Having looked at my original boards and the replaced boards, both locking mechanism looked to be intact. Because I’m at an angle in front of the hearth, how do I hopefully re-engage these 2 boards so that the gap disappears hopefully for good this time? Do I just use Elmer’s glue here? Do I just use wood filler here? Or something else?

3) I am proceeding in the order you that you laid out in my blueprint. To ensure that the project gets completed smoothly, after the respective rooms are completed, I should only then release the floor in the order you set forth in my blueprint. Correct?

4) When it’s eventually time to do quarter round or shoe molding, I was told I could do a finish nailer instead of buying both a compressor and a Bostitch Nailer for my size project. Any thoughts on that?

[Joe]

Yes, you can move furniture around and keep installing and finish the trim later.

As far as the gap goes that will be an easy fix and can be done when you unlock the floor. You can share a video with me by email and that would probably help me see it better so I can give the easiest advice.

Are you referring to a battery powered finish nailer? If so, they are worth every penny!

[Joe]

I would advise that you go in the order i shared with you in the blueprint video if at all possible.

[Tory]

I sent the video to the floormechanics email. I hope that’s the right place since your joe address keep giving me “Undeliverable” emails. The gap I’m trying to highlight here is the gap between the “angled” board and the regular board in front of the fireplace that is directly secured to the concrete.

2) I just noticed some “lift ups” in 2 boards that for some reason, possibly the way the light hit it, I didn’t see at the time. The furthest board is 3 rows back from where I left off last night and 4 rows in from the end North wall. Should I rip it all, is there a way to mask this, or will some other solution work?

[Joe]

You should fix that board. I would take it apart to get to it now before you get too far.

[Tory]

Good morning Joe,

1) Within my blueprint, you mentioned (0:38-2:05) that I have an end cap, baby threshold, or square nose separating where the now removed carpet met the existing builder hardwood floor and I needed to replace it with T-molding shown at the 35:42 mark of my blueprint, as a part of my last row in the living room. Would you happen to have a video where that is done on concrete? I would use the PL400 on that? Or is something else recommended?

2) Sorry, I failed to put the countertops in my initial blueprint. I have attached an updated blueprint for the kitchen only that now shows the countertops on the North and South ends of the kitchen and how close it is to the island that I previously had in my initial blueprint. Now that I’ve properly shown this, how would I (differently?) approach the kitchen highlighted in the red box?

3) At my discretion, I could just release the floor once all the “normal” flooring is complete in all rooms. Right? (I’m trying to move the furniture as little as possible, especially until I have addressed the flooring but especially the shoe molding and/or quarter round.)

[Joe]

Yes, you can release the floors whenever you are ready to do so. As far as the Kitchen goes, there really is nothing different I would do. If there is a place need help with then let me know.