=20
"Art Greenberg" wrote in message =
ink.net...
| On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 13:38:51 -0500, PDQ wrote:
| =20
| You will not need a "decent" gap, 1/4 inch will do fine. If you =
pay
| attention to the gap you will not need the shoe moulding unless it =
is for
| aesthetics.
|=20
| The rest of the house, where the floors are wood or tile, has shoe =
moulding.
| So we're doing that to maintain consistency.
|=20
| I you are planning on hammer and nails as opposed to a pneumatic =
nailer,
| the shoe moulding might be needed to cover the surface nailed =
boards at the
| wall. I used a nail gun and was able to get right up to the wall. =
Not as
| much wear and tear on the old bod either.
|=20
| Agree about the wear and tear bit. I just purchased a small compressor =
and
| finish nailer for the purpose. I figured it'd be a good investment, as =
I can
| use it around the shop. And I'll need a compressor to nail the =
flooring down,
| too. Renting the flooring nailer.
|=20
| If you wish, "interior" works just as well for me. I have had =
hardwood for
| 10 years now and the boards have not changed over the seasons. =
What can be
| a problem is the temperature and/or humidity differences =
experienced over
| the seasons at the exterior walls. These differences do not show =
up at
| interior walls like they do at the exterior walls. This is the =
major
| reason fot the gap.
|=20
| In our previous home, we had oak strip installed during the summer. In =
winter,
| the strip shrank noticeably in some places - like right in the middle =
of the
| room. Where the joints were tight during summer, in spots you could =
slip a
| piece of shirt cardboard in during winter.
|=20
| I'm hoping that I can hold the humidity fairly high for this time of =
year
| while the wood is acclimating. So its between the extremes, and =
movement won't
| be as noticeable when the extremes do occur.
| =20
| Having said all this, you must live near the ocean to have such =
moderate
| weather. Here, in the cradle of the Great Lakes, we have days that =
are
| real sweaters when everything is a bit damp and others when the =
heat would
| fry an egg.
|=20
| Moderate? I'm sure your winters are colder, longer, than ours. But in =
January,
| we had a few days where the high didn't break 10F. Summertime will =
hit 90F
| easily, 95F a few to maybe ten days, and 100F+ isn't unheard of. Those =
95F+
| days tend to be the days we give in, and fire up the A/C. It isn't =
that its so
| moderate here, more like I think we are part reptile. Both my wife and =
I
| prefer to be warm with a moderately high relative humidity. We =
absolutely hate
| that we can't run the humidity up when its very cold. Fortunately, =
that kind
| of weather doesn't last too long here.
|=20
| BTW, we're in west-central NJ, north of Flemington, about 65 miles =
from the
| Atlantic Ocean as the crow flies, I think.
|=20
| --=20
| Art Greenberg
| artg AT eclipse DOT net

Not to sure what is up with the weather. Used to be real cold came from =
the West, this year seems to be coming up from the South as well.

No idea what some of the others will think about the finish nailer for =
the floors. That's what I used and it seems to be still holding well. =
I used 2 inch nails and 90 psi. Only thing I had to watch was the odd =
time the nail turned back upon me. A pair a side cutters trimmed them =
nicely.=20

Be sure to take the time to set the boards tightly before putting the =
hammer down. I noticed that the pneumatic floor guns needed a heavy =
hammer to set the boards and some of the yahoos laying flooring didn't =
like wasting time making sure the boards were tight.=20

--=20

PDQ
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