I've cut out about 1 metre square of floorboards at my front door after
water had been getting in and had rotted the original floor boards.
I've replaced them with new ones which are a tight fit!

Should I cut off a couple of mm to allow for expansion?

Is it ok to screw these boards in as apposed to nail in?

Cheers.

Your boards are more likely to shrink than expand as they dry out
inside the house.

I always use screws as you can remove them without smashing the wood.
Buy an electric screwdriver and a good selection of cross point screws.
I only use nails for things like door facings and skirting boards.

Drill a pilot hole through the floorboard first, make the size very
slightly smaller than the shank of the screw. If after you've removed
the screw several times the hole in the joist is too big, then plug it
and re-screw as before. Far better than nails.

Chris.

On Mon, 23 Jan 2006 15:54:01 -0000, "Steven Campbell"
wrote:

|I've cut out about 1 metre square of floorboards at my front door after
|water had been getting in and had rotted the original floor boards.
|I've replaced them with new ones which are a tight fit!
|
|Should I cut off a couple of mm to allow for expansion?

Yes they may get damp again and swell.

|Is it ok to screw these boards in as apposed to nail in?

Much better to screw flooring, with Posidrive heads, drill hole on the
board, countersink, and power driver, than to nail. You are sure to want
them up again, even if you can never see it happening ;-)
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
17,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! http://www.gutenberg.net
For Yorkshire Dialect go to www.hyphenologist.co.uk/songs/

Steven Campbell wrote:
I've cut out about 1 metre square of floorboards at my front door after
water had been getting in and had rotted the original floor boards.
I've replaced them with new ones which are a tight fit!

Should I cut off a couple of mm to allow for expansion?

No.


Is it ok to screw these boards in as apposed to nail in?

Yes. If they're at all subject to damp, use rust-proof
screws (not BZP).

Steven Campbell wrote:
I've cut out about 1 metre square of floorboards at my front door after
water had been getting in and had rotted the original floor boards.
I've replaced them with new ones which are a tight fit!

Should I cut off a couple of mm to allow for expansion?

Presumably you've cured the water ingress problem? It's moisture in the
wood that will cause it to expand, so assuming a normal warm dry house,
the boards are more likely to contract than expand. So, no.

Is it ok to screw these boards in as apposed to nail in?

Yes - opinions vary but IMHO it's usually preferable anyway because (a)
they are less likely to loosen off with time and start creaking
(especially in a high-traffic area like this) and (b) screws can easily
be undone to lift the boards if you ever need to.

David

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
Steven Campbell wrote:
I've cut out about 1 metre square of floorboards at my front door after
water had been getting in and had rotted the original floor boards.
I've replaced them with new ones which are a tight fit!

Should I cut off a couple of mm to allow for expansion?

Thanks all for the advice.
The water was caused by a bad fitting old wooden front door. When it is wet
and windy the rain tends to batter against the door and was obviously just
running down it and soaking in to the floorboards.

We are about to change the door for some UPVC number so that should
hopefully cure the water problem.

Sounds like a good idea but screwed down boards eventually become much
harder to remove than nailed ones. They rust in unless you use brass ,
the slots get rounded over or filled up, they get jammed tight due to
board movement etc. Also screws look messy. Neatest and easiest to
remove are boards nailed with round lost-head flooring brads, if you
cut the boardtongues off before you put them down.
You wont need expansion gaps unless the area is very damp in which case
you've got problems anyway. New floor boards are usually cramped as
tight as possible but they always shrink a bit unless exceptionally dry
to start with.

cheers
Jacob

PS basic rule of good woodwork anywhere; never use a screw if a nail
will do. Nails are cheaper, neater, quicker and can be easier to remove
- or the item easier to pull apart.

wrote:
Neatest and easiest to remove are boards nailed with round lost-head
flooring brads

Jacob, pardon me but WTFlip are they? If they're round nails
beloved of '60s construction, they don't hold, if they're ovals,
then I cannot remenmnber what I was going tro say.,


if you
cut the boardtongues off before you put them down.
You wont need expansion gaps unless the area is very damp in which case
you've got problems anyway. New floor boards are usually cramped as
tight as possible but they always shrink a bit unless exceptionally dry
to start with.

Yup.


PS basic rule of good woodwork anywhere; never use a screw if a nail
will do. Nails are cheaper, neater, quicker and can be easier to remove
- or the item easier to pull apart.

And.

Chris Bacon wrote:
wrote:
Neatest and easiest to remove are boards nailed with round lost-head
flooring brads

Jacob, pardon me but WTFlip are they? If they're round nails
beloved of '60s construction, they don't hold, if they're ovals,
then I cannot remenmnber what I was going tro say.,

They look like ovals but they are round in section with flat small
heads which end up neat and flush with the surface. Suprising how lots
of DIYers have never heard of them but they are used a lot and are best
for floors IMO.

cheers

Jacob