Laying pine floorboards - is this ok to do?

[AlanUK]

Hi, I've bought my redwood floor boards, which are now mostly laid in the room above the garage, but aren't fixed down  (I'm letting them acclimatise for a bit) .  One of the walls consists of a large full size window - see the attached image.  On the three sides where there are concrete blocks I've left around 20mm gap, but I don't want to do that by the pictured door, where such a gap will not look good.  Is it ok to leave them cut flush as I've shown, or is there something else I should do?  I don't really want to put a skirting board up there, as that wouldn't look good either.

 

The boards will be nailed or screwed down on that base board , and so won't be able to move much.  Can I leave them flush like that?

Thanks,

[nod]

Yes you can 

Leaving 20 mil around the other edges is more than sufficient to allow for any movement 

[ProDave]

20mm gap will be too big to cover with your skirting though?

[AlanUK]

No, it will be fine as the plasterboard isn't up yet

[AlanUK]

23 hours ago, ProDave said:

20mm gap will be too big to cover with your skirting though?

No, it will be fine as the plasterboard isn't up yet.

 

And also, as I've not fixed them down I can add more along two of the walls to reduce the thickness.

 

Should I use screws or nails in your opinion?  I like the removability of screws (to cure squeaks etc.) but clearly nails are likely to look better.

[joe90]

I would secret nail it through the tongue at an angle, you can hire a special nailer to do this, no fixings on Show give a better result IMO

 

https://www.hss.com/hire/p/floor-nailer-manual

[AlanUK]

2 minutes ago, joe90 said:

I would secret nail it through the tongue at an angle, you can hire a special nailer to do this, no fixings on Show give a better result IMO

 

https://www.hss.com/hire/p/floor-nailer-manual

Good call - I've not heard of one of those before.

[ProDave]

I used Tongue Tite screws for mine

 

https://www.screwfix.com/p/tongue-tite-screws-3-5-x-45mm-200-pack/85991

[AlanUK]

Thanks, they look ideal. I guess for the first board I'll need to put nails or screws in the other side of the board to keep it in place. Or is there something else I should do for that one?

 

[TonyT]

I’ve just laid 28mm t&g floorboards to  match the old part of the house.

 

i used a plug cutter in an off cut of flooring to make plugs, drilled the corresponding hole diameter in the first board, screwed it down and then plugged the hole waited until glue dried and chiselled and sanded the plug flush with the floor.

 

i used ring shank nails and nailed them into each tongue and punched them in with a nail punch.

the joists were filled with 200mm of kingspan insulation first, 2 staggered rows of 100mm.

 

 

Edited December 12, 2020 by TonyT
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[joe90]

1 hour ago, AlanUK said:

I guess for the first board I'll need to put nails or screws in the other side of the board to keep it in place. O

yes, as you have yet to plasterboard or do skirting the nails/screws won’t be seen. If they will then just make 20mm spacers out of scrap on the joists to keep it away from the wall and not move while you fix the boards.

[AlanUK]

Yes, I forgot that I can easily hide the nails with the plasterboard etc. Sounds easier than the plug cutting approach. Thanks all.  That nailing device looks pretty clever but I'll go with the  tongue tite screws. Saves the hire cost.