I have already ripped out all my carpet and I started to install this Brazilian hardwood planks. I am installing these planks on particle board. When I started to nail them down I noticed that the nails would just curl up inside and not go into the floor. The nails are going in a 45 degree angle to nail it down to the particle board. Is there anyway to make it so the nails don't curl inside the hardwood?
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I am not sure I understand what you mean by curling up. What kind of nails are you using? And how are you putting them in? air nailer?
The installers that came to try to do this job used a compressor. I believe they used 2 inch nails to do it. When I say curling they are just bending and breaking inside of the wood. You have to pull them out and try again and hope that the nail doesn't bend.
How well are nails going to hold in particle
board? Some brazilian wood is extreamely
hard. you may need to drill holes first
Is this tounge and groove?
board? Some brazilian wood is extreamely
hard. you may need to drill holes first
Is this tounge and groove?
it may be because the p-board ( wrong product to install hardwood anyway)is to dense,are the nails going tru the hardwood ,but are not strong enough to go tru p-board? also willie makes a good point the nails wont hold in just p-board.
whats under the p-board and how thick is it?
whats under the p-board and how thick is it?
This one is a mystery to me. Maybe there isn't enough pressure on the compressor? Yes, Brazilian cherry is very hard, but installed with the proper flooring nails/staples/cleats there shouldn't be a problem.
Ken Fisher
South Florida
[This message has been edited by KD Fisher (edited July 29, 2003).]
I have had this problem before when a customer insisted on installing over particleboard. It seemed to me that because the particleboard is so dense that it did not allow the nails and screws that held down the particleboard a place to get out of the way of the flooring nails. (Plywood is softer and nails are just driven to the side or set in when hit with a flooring nail)
Because there are tons of nails and screws holding down the particle board the odds of hitting one are pretty good. It is also possible that because the particleboard is so slick that the nails can't grab into it. Kinda like comparing a dry driveway to an ice-coated one.
I think the solution is to just remove the particleboard and nail to the 1/2 inch plywood below it. The best way to do this I have found is to get a large 1/4 inch nailset and drive all the nails clear thru. Often the sheet will come up in one piece. I have made plenty of shelving for my shop out of particleboard that I have taken up.
Franklyn
http://www.WoodFloorist.com
