I recently picked up 510 sq. ft of hardwood floor (5" hickory for $0.88/sq ft) and plan on putting it down...... It is tongue and groove flooring, so should go down easy.... question here is fastening..... I can rent a Porter Cable air assist cleat nailer for $90/week.... I can possibly justify buying a Bostitch manual cleat nailer for this project, but cannot see myself buying a Porter Cable or Bostitch air assist nailer..... Looking through ebay, I find some nailers that have no brand name that I believe are knock-off Bostitch air assist nailers..... They are about $150.....

Do I rent a gun and hope I can make it through this in a week, buy a manual nailer (not seeing how this is going to be good on elbows), or take a risk on one of the knock off air assist guns?

Having flooring company install is not an option.... they wanted too much money for installation......



Thanks DTR team of experts.

 

depends on how skilled you are with a skil saw and how much time you have to dedicate to the project. I replaced a bathroom floor that was about 20 sq ft on a saturday. but that was taking it to the subfloor and replacing the tiles.
Also, do they have a day rate on the nailer? Can you rent on a friday and return on monday for a one day rental?

 

I did almost 200 square feet of 4" t&g in roughly eight hours with a manual flooring nailer. It was on a porch, so it didn't involve a lot of cutting, basically just one cut per board for the right length. But without too many obstacles to cut around, and with the right tools at hand for the job, I can't see why you couldn't do 500 square feet in a week.

 

1 room square, other room is mostly square minus a small area, so it should go pretty easy..... i have all other necessary tools around.... Now that is solved, any good suggestions on getting the flooring from garage to 2nd floor without carrying small bundles?

 

I would just rent a flooring nailer or stapler (the mallet actuated kind, not sure if this is the same as a cleat nailer). Like the other guys said, it should go down fairly quickly, especially using 5" wide boards.

As far as getting it to the second floor...carry small bundles or invite several buddies over and form a chain going upstairs, you'll have it up there in no time. Oh yeah, don't forget to aclimate the wood to the room for a couple of days once it's in the house.

 

Beer. Get some and bribe a few friends to help you carry it.

 

YES!! That is VERY important unless you want gaps or buckling.

We have a 5" plank in our house. Doing it during the evenings, it took me and my wife about a week to do approximately 900 SF. Mine is a floating floor though. No nailing was required.

 

I am a hardwood flooring contractor if you are in CA. I could let you borrow one for free and giving you some pointers.

 

He's in Ohio.

Guys,

I think the reason he mentioned the weekly rate is because the rental houses discount the weekly rates to make them more attractive. I would suspect that at $90 for the week that the same unit would be darn near $45 for just a day. That's how the work it.

When we do a lot of aerial work in the spring and summer I always ask the weekly rate even if we are only going to be on the job for three days. Heck, a couple years ago we had something like the 2nd largest manlift in the world on a project... We used it once the first day, moved it out of our way the second day and sent it home on the third day, but it still cost me $3600 (Weekly Rate). When I called to ask what the daily rate ($2100) was just to make sure I stuck with the weekly rate. No biggie, I just wanted to put more of the customers (large, well known production company) cash back in my pocket after all the dough I've shelled out watching their movies over the years!

 

Thanks for the offer Hardwood, but since I am 3/4 of the way across the country, I think that may be a bit difficult

Any tips you can provide online would be good to know though...

Thanks all.

-Trey

 

Yeah, $90 for a weekly rental on an air-powered flooring nailer seems pretty reasonable. I remember the daily rate being somewhere around $35 or so on a manual one. At those prices, I say rent it for a week and don't overwork yourself...

 

Does the nailer reantal include the compressor? Do you have one if it does not?
Just asking....

 

No compressor included, but I have compressor..... which can stay outside so i dont have to listen to it...

 

I would suggest renting. I do alot of hardwood floors and the maintenance on those things is high. I rent for 25 dollars a day. Nails or cleats are usually more $$ than the rental charges. I do 5 to 6 hundred feet in a day no prob. Do you have a moisture meter? Check the moisture.

 

I rented a Bostich. Only way to go, it really sinks them in. I put about 550 sq. feet down in 1.5 days with two guys (chopped up) in and out of rooms, around corners, etc.

Open areas are sweet, you can put down a lot of material when you not cuting every third peice.

Bring that wood indside and stack it up atleast 48 hrs. before you lay it. I used Rosin paper in between the subfloor, not sure why, but they told me to?