Problems with rubber mallet on hardwood floor installation?

12 years ago

I am having a maple, engineered flooring installed. When I went to Anderson Floors website's installation guide, they warn not to use rubber mallets during installation because it could damage the finish. This particular wood (Piazza) has a smooth, matte finish, so I am thinking that a dull spot would really show. Do I have reason to be concerned. The installer said that if he were to use a "tapping board" that the glue would be all over the place.

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Comments (3)

Laurie
12 years ago
I am not familiar with Anderson Floor's installation guide...did their guide mention the use of a tapping board?

When dh installed our Lauzon red oak engineered wood (glue down on concrete sub floor), he used a rubber mallet and a tapping board. We are just DIY people and not professionals.
Hopefully, a flooring installer with lots of experience will give you some good advise.

In our situation, it worked out well having two of us tackle this job. I had several rags ready for small smudges of glue that randomly appeared on many places on the finished surface of the wood.
I wiped it with what I think was called Mineral Spirits (might be paint thinner?)and then went back over that with a clean dry cloth. The mineral spirits did not effect the finish but the glue came off very well. Even though dh was very careful during install, these glue spots could not be avoided completely.

Our wood has a semi gloss factory finish that is holding up very well. I would call the Anderson customer service department before installing just to make sure.
bsspewer
12 years ago
I'd be very cautious of using mineral spirits on a finished floor.

Wood glue will wipe up easily with a wet cloth. Although the glue on the concrete under the slats is a diff glue, I imagine it could be wiped up with a damp cloth as well.
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You need to do a little more archeological digging still. You need to know the whole construction of the floor before you can decide how best to install something new. I'd take up that plywood piece in the kitchen and see what's under it. It's higher than the surrounding floor, so needs to go. You should also be able to see from there what subfloor is under the original kitchen hardwood. It's too bad the space under your entryway is finished, but I'd still do some exploring from below to see what's under there, and to figure out the fix to stop it from squeaking. Is it drywall below or a drop ceiling? I know it probably seems like a pain to tear out drywall, but if you cut out a clean patch, like 2' x the width of the joists, it'll be relatively simple to repair. Just make sure to cut it down the center of the joists so that there's room to screw the patch piece to it later. Cut the hole under the area that squeaks the most, if you can. Have someone walk on and watch the floor from below to see what's moving. It might be as simple as pounding in a couple shims from below, or face-nailing a loose board from above. You want to find out what's underneath the hardwood. It might be laid directly on the floor joists, or there might be 10" wide boards that the hardwood is nailed to. Another thought is to take out a board in the hallway, since that's not original and you want to replace it. See what the subfloor is there. I am a bit puzzled at why, when you've stripped the kitchen down to the original hardwood, it's still higher than the hallway floor. Is your current surface perhaps not the original kitchen hardwood? Peeling back the plywood area will help determine that. BTW, I haven't heard of that stop squeaking product you linked to, so can't offer any personal opinion. And don't pour self-leveling compound over top of hardwood. It needs to go over plywood.
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Redroze, I'm just getting back online and seeing your questions, so I'll try to answer what I can. My new floor in the LR/DR was not pre-finished, it was all site-finished. I did put a pre-finished floor down in my office (no pics, sorry) because I work from home and didn't have time to be without my office for the week it would have taken to have floor sanded etc. The pre-finished does have a different feel to it than the site-finished. I wouldn't say it's grooved, just a more defined difference in between the individual planks. The office doesn't adjoin any other room, except the tiled hallway, so I didn't worry so much about the wood being different there. I see from your pictures what you mean about running the planks the same way and wanting to be sure things don't look odd. One idea might be to take up some of your FR planks, like the first 12 or so, and then put them back down interwoven with the new planks. That way there's not a clear line in between the 2 rooms, but rather a more gradual blending. Here's another couple of pictures, this time of my family room. The first one is a before shot of the hardwood floor + a rug-like carpet. The floor created a frame around the carpet. I had the carpet taken up and new hardwood put in where the carpet originally was, then everything sanded and refinished. You absolutely can't tell where the old wood was vs where the new started. In this case, the new is random width because it opens directly to the kitchen (as opposed to the LR/DR which is all the same width). So, one house, all new site-finished floors in the LR & DR, all new pre-finished floor in the office, original/refinished in the kitchen, and half&half refinished + original in the family room. Boy did we have dust! Hope this helps! New:
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What kind of wood is it? Solid or engineered? You could have them cut out those pieces and redo? The baseboard would have to come off as well but it is really not a big deal to fix if it really bothers you. The last board in the room has to have the protruding groove cut off so the last board is slipped in place and then face nailed. You could have them redo if you have extra board but like the above response explains...wood does shrink and swell so you may want to see how it looks in the summer before deciding to fix. I don't even see any face nails in your photo so maybe that accounts for the wobble which is not normal. Maybe they forgot to nail it in from above altogether? I have a few boards that I didn't have the guys face nail in so I could rip out the tile next to it and those don't move at all even without nails.
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floorguy
12 years ago
I agree with the installer. I have seen the paper in the Anderson flooring, and laughed.
Yes, beating the crap out of the surface to get it to go together, will eventually do some damage.

... but a white rubber mallet, that comes with the floor nailer, does not leave the scuff marks like a hard black rubber mallet will.

Your not beating with it. I use it to tap on the board to vibrate it in the glue, while I'm pulling with my fingers, or a strap clamp.

There is a time and a place for a good rubber mallet. Not all rubber mallets are made the same.

I have tried all taping blocks and the only thing I'll stick into the glue to tap with, is my Lam-Hammer. Then you have to be very careful not to damage the edge of the boards.

Problems with rubber mallet on hardwood floor installation?

Comments (3)

Laurie

bsspewer

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