Lay Your Own Wood Floors || Installing Real Wood Floors

Links below to tools and supplies:
Bits & Bits Precision Cutting Tools (10% off code- BOURBONBITS)
RZ Mask (15% off code: BOURBONMOTH15)

Grizzly Tools:

[AlucardWoA]

As a professional hardwood installer for the most part everything was correct. Couple of things I noticed. First one was you went the same direction as your joist. Typically you would go opposite of your joist to help prevent rolls in your floor in the future. The staples can easily be taken up with 4ft concrete scraper so you don’t have get down and hit every single one with a prybar. If you use the scrape at the same time you pull up the padding most of the staples will stay in the padding. Where you started was fine but you could also have used a grooving bit in your router to groove out your existing finished wood and put a piece of spline or what we call slip tongue into it and connected directly into the existing. Also anyone not using full length boards you will want to pull a chalk line from the corners of the walls. This will give you a nice straight line to measure to and will ensure your floor stays straight. I typically come out about a foot to start my measurements from the corners because the corners are heavily padded with drywall compound. I then mark a 16” mark and go to the other end do the same, then chalk your line. Last thing when dealing with bowed boards I’ve read a lot of the comments and your was worked to but a faster way is to just drive a flathead screwdriver along the tongue and pry back, nail and pull your screwdriver out. All and all great video! I love all your videos and you actually inspire me to leave the flooring business to create my own woodworking business. Sorry for the lengthy comment lol, figured I could give a little advice for anyone reading them.

[JeffKelley]

I did a DIY floor in our basement and I definitely had a gap around doorways that I would rather not have had. But you can easily solve that problem by selling your house and making it someone else’s floor!

[mikestofmikes]

You know, what I found super encouraging was seeing an ‘untouched’ room at the beginning, looking out into his finished hallway. It was a great reminder that even YouTube guys are working one room at a time, and everything is a work in progress.

[RB-vrmq]

I grew up getting dragged to job sites on weekends with my dad who started laying floors at 15. Video just brought back some good memories... and then there was the edge sander that caught fire, and thrown out a 3rd floor window. Good times.
Love seeing your son in the videos! He is a character!

[georgestgeorge]

Formerly having a business of installing all types of flooring for 25 years, i really didn't see anything "wrong". For a DIY kinda thing, it will be just fine. Your doorway transitions will actually help with expansion. Well done.

[philkugler]

Instead of using an expensive square to straighten the boards, you can screw a block down in front of the piece, then reverse the Rockler clamp you used earlier to push the flooring into place. Great job though! Thumbs up

[Mitrasmit]

'why oh why did they like barn doors so much in the twenties'
- Lemonade Moth Woodworking, 2041

[scibleimp]

Finally, someone who agrees with me about carpet! It's a filth sponge! Thanks for showing another option!

[johntailing]

Just gotta say, , ,
These are the most fun “masterclasses “ by someone who totally admits to not knowing what he’s doing- Great job 👏

[felixcosty]

Thanks for the video.
Just a suggestion, my Dad would start at the hardest to cut. So he would start at the door, this way you make all the hard cuts and you have a full width board at the place where people walk the most. Then move into the closet, and the easy part is last the rest of the room leaving you a small piece at the end. High traffic zones always need full width boards.
There is nothing wrong with the way you did the floor, my suggestion is there to make it easy for you the next time.

[aaronpreston]

Saddened by the lack of Rubio Monocote Cotton White in this video.

[plasmac]

Turned out way better than I expected with being painted. One thing to note though is I did not see an air return in that room for your HVAC system. The reason the door had such a large gap is so that the air return you probably do have in a centralized location (hallway most likely) can draw the air out of that room under the door. If your transition piece eliminated the air gap entirely or severely reduced it then the air in that room won't get returned and you HVAC system won't properly work. What exactly will happen if the air doesn't get returned? That room is going to be humid. It might not feel all that uncomfortable to any of your guests that use it. And I'm guessing any guests you have aren't staying for an extended period of time. But humidity also can cause mold issues. Wood floor, humid air, black paint, black mold. You might not ever even know mold is on the floor because it's painted black. Might be something to look into with a kid in the house. You might consider a different transition piece, adding a return vent to the room, or the easiest thing you could probably do is take the door down and trim the bottom by a quarter inch so you've essentially added back the air gap for the HVAC return.

[monicaagee]

When we were young and just starting out we used that same pine. We just polyurethane it. We got so many compliments on that floor. It turned a beautiful color over the years. The house I live in now years later I have hardwood, got to say I miss the pine floors. Thanks for the video.

[zell]

I’m very impressed with the pine and paint holding up as well as it has, especially under a desk chair! Those are murder on floors!

[juandefriedemore]

The recommendation here (I live in Norway) is to store the flooring in the house (preferably in the target room). Someone below recommends an under layer. Because you seem to be installing flooring in the shop foreman's room (on the second floor) another common practice is to add a sound deadening layer (multiple options are available available ranging from thin foams to 1cm thick fiberglass mats). Finally you can use screws instead of nails (using a similar jig). Another option for the thin last row problem is to glue it to the next to the last row segments before installation. Thankfully you didn't start on the subject of plank direction an room lighting direction.

[mackaronen]

When I get bowed boards I use a small piece of board, to protect the tongue. Nail a block to the subfloor/joist and use 2 wedges, hitting them both at the same time can force even the nasties board in place. I even 1"1/4 by 16" wide.

[jakedayley]

Putting down a moisture barrier will help with gaps and expanding/contracting. I always use roofing tar paper for my underlayment. It is waterproof and sticky to help keep boards in place over time. Also, when a board is slightly bowed, just put the power nailed right over the bow and whack it real hard with the rubber mallet. The force of that will close the gap and put the staple where it needs to be. Last thing would be to always try and glue where you cant staple. You still did a great job! Nice work!

[scottmorris]

Looks really good. And now you have some additional projects - trim the room, closet organizer, closet doors, bed, etc

[benjaminreinhardt]

Quick tip for carpet removal - cheap roll of duct tape. Costs just a few bucks and makes the rolls so much easier to carry out, especially the padding.

[headgieslife]

I love your humor and also how honest you are about not having a clue what you're doing. That's my philosophy and it usually works out pretty well too. Good job. The floors look great!