2x6 T&G flooring in loft, revisited

[sharbin]

Hello all,

I know that this subject was raised couple of times, but I could not find a staightforward answers to the following:

1- Do you install it before or after staining (if desired), before or after applying the Poly?
2- Is the Poly necessary to protect the flooring from curbing, twisting, etc. or is it only for protecting the surface from scratching and hence not need to apply it on the underside of the board?
3- With what do you fasten the boards to the joists (joists a 4' apart)? finishing nails? headed nails? nail guns? screws? what length?
4- How do you you apply the fasteners? 45 degress angle? on the tongue? groove? top nailing?
5- on some of the threads, it was mentioned that the first row should be face nailed. Is that true? if so then what to do with the nails/screws that are visible, especially at the middle joists? (my understanding is that the edge ones can be covered by the wall trim)

Thanks a lot.

Sharbin

[Redoverfarm]

Hello all,

I know that this subject was raised couple of times, but I could not find a staightforward answers to the following:

1- Do you install it before or after staining (if desired), before or after applying the Poly?

Depends on what the ceiling is suppose to look like. Are you going to stain the ceiling?  It is hard to finish the ceiling portion (V-groove side) in between the beams.

2- Is the Poly necessary to protect the flooring from curbing, twisting, etc. or is it only for protecting the surface from scratching and hence not need to apply it on the underside of the board?

I did it to protect the floor while I did the 2nd floor construction ( Framing, drywall, painting and etc..

3- With what do you fasten the boards to the joists (joists a 4' apart)? finishing nails? headed nails? nail guns? screws? what length?

Majority will have to be pushed or pulled tight. A finish nail will not hold IMO. I used deck screws at 45 deg in the tounge.  

4- How do you you apply the fasteners? 45 degress angle? on the tongue? groove? top nailing?

# 3

5- on some of the threads, it was mentioned that the first row should be face nailed. Is that true? if so then what to do with the nails/screws that are visible, especially at the middle joists? (my understanding is that the edge ones can be covered by the wall trim)

If you have a square room then place the first one against the wall studs and you can face nail, screw within approximately 1" of the outside edge ( Wall covering and base should cover).  You can also deck screw through the tounge as well.  You will be driving the rest of the floor against that first one.  You don't want it to move it.


Thanks a lot.

Sharbin

Although the flooring looks straight enough you will have to draw the boards to make the tounge tight. I used 4' pipe clamps with a scrap of T&G to pull them.  In fact I used several together because the length of the clamps will only get you so far. If I happened to miss something it may be in my thread. If not just ask. This is the approximate location of my flooring stage if you want to look

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=3613.msg49416#msg49416

John

[sharbin]

2- Is the Poly necessary to protect the flooring from curbing, twisting, etc. or is it only for protecting the surface from scratching and hence not need to apply it on the underside of the board?

I did it to protect the floor while I did the 2nd floor construction ( Framing, drywall, painting and etc..

So this is not really to protect the wood from deformation? In this case, if I do not want to stain  then I only need to apply the Poly after I install it and only on the floor side, right? (like yours the flooring will also be the cieling for below). On that note, do you stain the beams (if you choose to) and apply the poly in the same manner that you do for the flooring?

Thanks

[Redoverfarm]

I would use some type of sealer on all exposed wood.  Weither it be stain & poly or poly itself.  As for deformation I really don't think it will prevent any if they occur.  On the floor surface you will need something that will wear well.  Water based poly just don't get it in that catagory.  Fine for the ceiling and beams but not for the floor.  There are some new products for floor finish that are water based but I haven't tried them or spoken to anyone that has.  I used Oil Bases Poly on my loft floor.  There is also a product called Gymseal that is good.

[MikeT]

On my maple staircase, I used the following:

Sanding sealer- a thinned lacquer- 10 parts thinner to one part lacquer
180 grit sand paper
Three coats of polyurethane, specfically ZAR Ultra Max floor finish

The ZAR is a good product.  Water based, goes on easily, dries to the touch in two hours.  The hardened shell is very hard.

mt

[kenhill]

I just used Rustoleums Varathane Water based Diamond Floor finish on my T&G.  Looks good.  Not sure how it will do in the long run for yellowing.

[Don_P]

Check with the manufacturer but normally sanding sealer and poly are incompatible. We're getting ready to remove and refinish the waterbased varathane diamond in the kitchen/entry. I guess its been about 5 years, it is totally gone in the entry and the kitchen is pretty grungy where stuff has ground in through the worn spots. We have two dogs and as one lady I worked for said "I live in my house" so it does get abused. I'm putting down waterlox this time round. We used oil based poly the first time, water based the second. The oil based did hold up better but took too long to dry, the waterlox kicks overnight usually.