Fortunately the Brazillian cherry is finished. I will remember to keep about 4 inches from the ends of the boards.

You say that the finish nailer didn’t work for face nailng the areas that could be reached with the flooring nailer? I have a Paslode 16ga. finish nailer to try. It will drive a 2 1/2 in finish nail into oak but maybe the cherry might be too much for it. Anyway, thanks for the info

We really didn’t have to do much different to install it. We use a Bostitch Stapler, and didn’t really have any problems as long as we didn’t staple within about 4 inches of the edge of a board. Stapling close to the edge is a sure way to split the tongue and make that part of the floor just a little weaker. The times we did have problems were when we had to top-nail something. We were using 16 gauge finish nails in a Porter Cable power nailer. Several of our nails simply crumpled into the surface of the wood without really penetrating. The only real way to avoid this is to pre-drill smaller pilot holes. But with a power nailer, it’s pretty tough to hit an existing hole, as I’m sure you know. Your other option is to top nail with a good ol’ hammer and nail set.

Anyways, I hope that helps. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

-Steve

An update on my experience with the glued down particle board underlayment.

It wasn’t nearly as bad as you had described. This was probably due to the fact that the glue some 26 years ago was inferior to todays glue.

I found that the best tool for removing the particle board was a good old roofers shovel. You know, the ones they use to take up old shingles on a roof. It worked extremely well.

The problem I had was removing slate from an entry way. It was laid on plywood. What a nightmare!! I ended up ruining the subfloor under the plywood underlayment and had to replace a small portion of the subfloor.

I replaced all of the particle board with plywood. I am now ready to start the flooring.

Do you have any tips for installing 3/4 inch Brazillian Cherry flooring? I have laid both Bamboo and oak without issues but this cherry is really hard. Any advice would be most appreciated.

Yes we were able to remove the particle board. It’s basically a matter of cutting it into a grid of 4 inch squares (with a circular saw). Then find a starting place of maybe 3X2 squares that you’re able to remove. Once you have that, you can get a “tapping block” that’s about an inch thick, 3 inches wide and about 12 to 18 inches long. From there, what we did was put the tapping block in place next to three squares of particle board, stood on the corners with a sledge hammer held out in front of us. Then we’d swing down between our legs, hitting the tapping block hard about 3 or 4 times. That process usually loosened about 12 of the squares, which we proceeded to simply pick up off the floor.

It’s hardly 100% though. You gotta hit the particle board where it has a good, intact, square side. Sometimes you’ll hit it from the sides and they’ll just crumble. That’s when you have to get creative… We ended up using an orbital sander like the one in the picture at http://www.toolweb.com/pics/MLW5540.jpg, only with a sanding disc insteat of a polisher. We just sanded down the parts we couldn’t get up. Ours was a very aggressive sander (same kind as in the picture) and had a 9 inch sanding disc, and we probably used 50 or 36 grit sandpaper. You just have to be careful not to sand divots into the subfloor… although if you’re putting down a plywood underlayment, you probably won’t have to worry about a few dents here and there. You also have to be careful of nails that will tear up a sanding disc in no time flat. I would get at least three discs.

That’s about all the advice I have on that one. Let me know if you have any other questions…

I quess I will suffer the consequences of FOLLOWING the instructions of seemingly knowlegeable people. (Capp Homes)