Jay Markanich's Blog

This is typical of one of those problems that crop up during floor installations.  It it at the edge of the entry where the original hall flooring and our new flooring meet the bottom of the stair case. 

It could have been harder.  I might have had to notch out a spot for that trim piece.

This one is straightforward, with a little wrinkle.  You can see that the tongue on the new piece still needs to go into the groove of the original flooring, but also accommodate a small 1/8" bump out of the stair piece, and then an easy notch for the molding piece. 

How to do that and still maintain straight lines?

I have a tool.

Surprisingly, this is called a "Japanese Pull Saw."  It has its own case to protect it while in the tool box with the other bourgeoisie tools.  It likes to be set apart!

What a wonderful tool.  It is not like a traditional saw where you pull and push.  This saw is just pulled. 

It makes very fine, very exact cuts.  You simply pull gently and let the saw do the work. 

Working with hardwood flooring isn't exactly like working with furniture.  But close!

This is what it looked like when finished.

The floor molding still needs to be nailed into place.  But I wanted you to see how it looks at the end of the process.

It fits pretty well!

This right view is the opposite side left by the builder - two large gaps visible.

That was installed by the flooring "professional" ten years ago.

So, how do you get the floor down so as to mix grains, and textures and colors?  How do you make it not only look pretty but also with very little waste?

I am using Armstrong flooring that comes in various lengths inside boxes that are about 7' long.  Each box has 84 board feet.  For each box, I am getting less than 12" of waste.  That is pretty good. 

Here is one technique below to be able to mix and match, with little waste...

This is a dry fit technique.  You simply lay out the boards ahead of time, placing together colors and grains that are different.  You also want to put them down so that edges do not come together in the same place.  There is one spot in the upper center which looks like the two seams are together, but that is an illusion.  The longer piece is on top of the one below and there will be about 3" cut off. 

Onward and upward!

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