Do I Need To Nail Hardwood Floor To The Joists

A flooring contractor howard brickman responds.

Do i need to nail hardwood floor to the joists.

To remedy this situation cut a piece of joist material 2 8 2 10 or 2 12 depending on the circumstances to fit crosswise between the two joists under the soft flooring. Nails approximately 2 inches in length pass through the inch plywood and still provide plenty of length to secure the plywood to the joists. With hardwood floors drive ring shank or cement coated flooring nails into the seams between boards. Although you can secure inch plywood sheets to the joists in a subfloor with long nails you don t generally need extra long nails for the floor to stay in place.

First renail the existing plywood subfloor so that the old nails are tight and add new nails to achieve a maximum nail spacing of 6 inches. Countersink all the nails. You ll need to figure out how to lay hardwood floors for your room size shape. Drive 6d or 8d flooring nails through the pilot holes and then drill additional pilot holes through the tongue at a 45 degree angle spaced as directed by the manufacturer.

Separate wooden bridging members to eliminate noise problems. You should also lay red rosin paper on the subfloor before you apply the wood to eliminate squeaks caused by the subfloor and hardwood rubbing together. To fix a floor covered with deep pile carpet drive a wallboard screw through the carpet and pad into the floor joist. If you re silencing floorboards you can place the screws strategically to stop the squeaking but if the subfloor is lifting you need to find the floor joists with a stud finder and sink 2 inch.

If the subfloor is stiff enough there is no reason why solid nail down strip flooring can t be run parallel to the joists. Solid hardwood flooring only can be installed on or above ground level with a plywood subfloor. Mark the walls to show the location of the floor joists. No matter what you do you should eliminate squeaks on the subfloor first by screwing the floor down through the sub floor to the joists anywhere you can hear squeaking.

Always check with the manufacturer s instructions to determine if your hardwood floor can be installed over an in floor radiant heat system.