How do you nail a floor to the wall?

When laying a wood floor, you’ll most likely use a floor nailer or a nail gun to secure the boards to the subfloor with drilled pilot holes. With either instrument, you may strike a mallet or pull a trigger to drive a nail at a 45-degree angle into the tongue sides of the boards.

Unfortunately, both tools require clearance between the board you’re nailing set and the wall, which is typically in short supply in tight locations like corridors. In such cases, the only realistic alternative to applying adhesive is to put on knee pads and nail by hand.

Installing Flooring Planks and Wood Planks

Begin by laying the first course of flooring. Most of the time, it will be against a wall, but some room arrangements may force you to put it down the middle of the corridor. Leave a 1/2- to 3/4-inch expansion space between the flooring and the wall.

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Drill pairs of 1/8-inch holes through the boards’ faces. Place the pairings 10 to 12 inches apart, with one inch between each end of the board. In each hole, insert a 2-inch finish nail and sink the head with a nail punch.

Faces of the Boards

If you have to lay them along the middle of the hallway, use a table saw to slice splines from scrap flooring to fit into the grooves of the first course’s boards.

Splines are artificial tongues that allow you to face nail into the tongues of the boards rather than the boards themselves, so there is no hole through the face.

Set the table saw fence 1/2 inch from the near side of the blade and pull off the tongue or groove side with an old flooring board. Run the board through again to create a 1/2 inch broad strip of wood.

Reset the fence to 1/4 inch from the near side of the blade and feed the strip through once more to create a 1/4-by 1/2-inch spline. Make as many as you require in this manner.

Glue

Apply carpenter’s glue to one side of the splines and insert them into the grooves of the first course of boards. Tap a second course of boards onto the splines with the tongues facing the opposite direction.

Whether the first course is against the wall or in the middle of the floor, nail the remaining boards by hand through their mouths. Drive 2-inch finish nails at a 45-degree angle with a hammer into holes pre-drilled with a 1/8-inch drill bit. Nails should be spaced 10 to 12 inches apart. Using a nail punch, set the heads below the surface of the board.

Table-saw

Use a tablesaw to rip the boards in the last course so that they fit in the space between the second-to-last course and the wall, allowing for a 1/2- to 3/4-inch expansion gap. Make a point of ripping off the tongue sides of the boards.

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Lower the saw blade and tear the bottoms of the grooves on the last course of boards. Drop the boards into place, tap them together end to end, and nail them through their faces the same way you did in the first level.

Wood Filler when Flooring is installed

Use hardwood floor filler to repair the nail holes. If you’re installing unfinished flooring, do this before sanding the remainder of the floor.

If you’re installing prefinished flooring, use a putty knife to distribute it into the holes and scrape out any excess before it hardens.