How to Install Top-Nailed Wood Floor

Remove everything in the room, including baseboards and floor trim. Take out everything, exposing the subfloor. Sweep and/or vacuum the subfloor with a wet/dry vac.

Examine the subfloor to make sure it is level. Installing a top-nailed wood floor on an uneven subfloor may cause the floor to crack. Sand the floor to make it level but do not sand any deeper than 1/32 inch. Sanding deeper will expose the nailheads.

Inspect the floor for nailheads that protrude above the floor’s surface. Countersink the nailheads to 1/8 inch below the surface using a nail set.

Cover the floor with a vapor retarder like rosin paper or plastic membrane sheeting. Start at the wall perpendicular to the floor joists. As you unroll the vapor retarder over the subfloor, staple it to the subfloor with 5/16-inch staples. Allow 4 to 5 inches of overlap on each row of rosin paper. Mark the floor joists with a straight edge and chalk as you lay each row.because when you top nail the boards through the floor, the nails have to go through the floor joist to remain solidly fixed to the floor.

Snap a chalk line or draw a line using a straightedge on the rosin paper subfloor so it is parallel to the longest side of the wall. This will give you straight first row. Find the longest, straightest board from the wood floor boards and line it up along the chalk line. Keep laying the floorboards, butting the ends together over the floor joists. Leave about 1/4 inch between the end of the boards and the wall. The molding will cover this open space, but this will allow the boards to fluctuate with the changes in humidity. Measure and cut the last piece to fit.

Find the longest, straightest board from the wood floor\boards and line it up along the chalk line. Keep laying the floor boards, butting the ends together over the floor joists. Leave about 1/4 inch between the end of the boards and the wall. The molding will cover this open space, but this will allow the boards to fluctuate with the changes in humidity. Measure and cut the last piece to fit.

Drill pilot holes into the ends of the pine floorboards over the joists. Drill through the wood floorboard into the joist below, keeping the depth of the pilot hole a third shorter than the nails you are using. Secure the first row with 1.5 to 2 inch nails every 1.5 inches from the ends along the wall section. Use a drill bit that is smaller in diameter than the nails you are using. Predrilling the holes are important to keep the wood from splitting.

Lay each row of floorboards in this manner, top nailing the wood boards every 7 inches along the face. Remember to stagger the ends of the boards of each row so they do not run straight across. There should be 6 to 8 inches between them.

Measure the space left for the last row of floorboards, allowing for a 1/4 inch on all sections that line the wall. Cut the floorboards to fit in the allowed space and nail them into place.

Examine the floor to make sure that the nailheads are counterset below the wood’s surface. Sweep the floor and then reinstall the baseboards and floor trim.