“Racking Out” Cocobolo Hardwood Flooring for Pattern and Install Bellingham WA
This particular wood flooring utilizes 4 different widths. When the wood mill sent the flooring, it was just delivered as a single pallet all intermixed……….
Read MoreCocobolo Subfloor Bellingham,WA
- Sand all wood 2×4 sleepers to rid of paint and pollutants to ready for gluedown of plywood
- Screw down all sleepers every 6″ to ensure solid base (note screw seen in this picture is previous work by others)
- verify flatness of substrate plane and plane/sand to remove highs
- each plywood sheet is cut and 2 screw-”loose laid” for dry fit.
- Any issues get an “x” for fix. Once fixed OK approves next step.
- apply 2 beads of glue per 3.5″ width for guaranteed bond
- screw down all sheets every 6″ and within 1″ of sheet edge
- leave approx. 1/8″ gap for expansion
Moisture Tell Tale!
So, I’ve been working on this house prepping the sub floor prior to the new wood floor install. I have cut 48 sheets and loosely installed. After all were cut and put in place, the next step was to remove each sheet, apply glue and screw down. In the 2 days since starting this work, I have noticed that the plywood has become slightly crown shaped acting like a cushion of air is underneath.
Now, the plywood has been on site for about 6 months, but stored in pallet form thus in dry storage. However, laying the sheets over the radiant heat has dried the wood even more.
Moisture testing proved my theory. On the bottom side facing the heat source the moisture is 2% lower than the side up, or side away from the heat. As the side is dried it shrinks and gets smaller. The up side is slower to dry thus creating the warped plywood.
Again, Acclimation! Acclimation! Acclimation!
Read MoreFranz works on COCObolo Substrate
What good is awesome expensive hardwood flooring when the substrate base is poorly installed? On this project, Franz is installing the 3/4″ sub deck!
Professional workanship is built into every floor even from the beginning steps!
Acclimation of Wood Flooring is a Must!
Gorgeous is an understatement when describing this wood! A beautiful exotic wood, milled into flooring.
The last thing you want to do is not take care in the handling of the wood flooring and preparations to ready for installation.
As you see in this picture, the expensive exotic wood has been stacked for “seasoning” or “acclimating.” This adjusts the wood to its new environment. At this project its been onsite for almost a year now. Now, this is not standard for acclimation but the ability to store and handle the wood has allowed the wood the absolute optimum seasoning.
Normal acclimation times of a 3-7 day period are recommended. If more time is available and space for storing, season the wood for longer! I recommend this!
Read MoreCocobolo Detail Trouble
Our job isn’t only to “put blinders on” and do our job as hired but to also keep the owner of the property up to date as to problems that arise.
Such is the case when during the sub-floor prep, I noticed that the granite fireplace hearth was loose, moving and had a crack under the bonding material.
Would it have been OK for me to just say, “not my problem?” Installing my wood floor next to the un-structural slab granite would have created longevity issues, primarily for the stone company and the homeowner.
Before the wood is installed net minus 1/8″ next to the granite, access is easier and readily available for fix! Additional further inspection revealed the granite was not in height tolerance and will need to be raised to flush with wood flooring
Cocobolo Flooring in Beautiful Bellingham Home
Before any good installation is started, prep of existing home components is a must. This installation will be over radiant heat. The wood 2×4′s have had paint and dirt spilled over them.
Process: We must sand the 2×4′s to ensure a good glue bond. The 2×4′s are loose and will be re-screwed to the sub-floor. A stable 3/4″ plywood is installed over the “sleeper” 2×4′s. Generous glue usage and screw down of plywood to 2×4′s will give a long lasting base to the new wood Cocobolo wood floor.
After this is completed, then the flooring is racked out for further stabilization.
Read More