Amish made hardwood

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 Post subject: Hardwood to Tile Level
PostPosted: Sat May 19, 2018 8:25 am 
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I have 3/4" hardwood that I want to put next to tiles, but the level is different.
https://image.ibb.co/iWPno8/P5193342.jpg

How can I do this? The problem is made worse because the tiles go at an angle as seen in the picture, so even if I somehow can bring the hardwood down when it's parallel, when it's at an angle, I still wouldn't know what to do.

Maybe I first have to make a border of hardwood similar to the border the tiles have, and the border pieces shaved at the end to match the level?

What tool is used to bring a plank down a little on one side to match a lower level? I heard a table saw, but no idea how you'd put the wood through to do that. Sitting on the groove side on the saw table with the blade tilted? Sounds difficult to push it all the way through without fingers being close to the blade.

Once you do this, do you need to adjust the tongue a little so the next piece fits in nicely, since the plank is at a slight angle now with the floor?

Any ideas would be appreciated.


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 Post subject: Re: Hardwood to Tile Level
PostPosted: Sat May 19, 2018 2:51 pm 
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Sorry that you didn't have any help from the tile person. If the flooring is at the job when the tile is placed you will have a better chance to get everything just right.
I use an electric hand planer to take off one edge from the bottom to match the flooring elevation just a little above the tile edge, then use a colored sanded caulking, with backing foam put into the gap so the caulking is no more than a quarter-inch thick so it can cure well. You absolutely do need to make a frame of one row of the hardwood using a full length piece of flooring for each row. I like to make a gap of one half of the grout width, don't try to make it touch the tile, gluing the first row in place. If you have a nail gun, you can carefully nail into the bottom of the groove to keep things in place as the glue hardens. Where the field joins the frame, you may want to use some 80 grit paper to ease the edge, staining the bare wood where the micro-bevel meets.


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 Post subject: Re: Hardwood to Tile Level
PostPosted: Sat May 19, 2018 7:15 pm 
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Pete A. wrote:
You absolutely do need to make a frame of one row of the hardwood using a full length piece of flooring for each row. I like to make a gap of one half of the grout width, don't try to make it touch the tile, gluing the first row in place. If you have a nail gun, you can carefully nail into the bottom of the groove to keep things in place as the glue hardens. Where the field joins the frame, you may want to use some 80 grit paper to ease the edge, staining the bare wood where the micro-bevel meets.



Great, thanks for the advise. Yes I figured there is no other way, I already started testing with the table saw to make a border. It works OK to cut them standing on the groove side with the blade up 2 inches or so.

The grout is one idea, another could be a very thin metal transition piece, but it's a bit costly. I am doing this to sell the house. I'd put caulking for myself though.
I can't see how I would ever get the nail gun between the tile and the wood? Maybe on the tongue side you mean? I do have one, 18 gauge.

Is there a reason to not touch the tile? In my case I think it's a very good idea to keep it a few mm away, because it helps align the future planks once I get past the angled part, but I'm just wondering in general.

I'm not sure what you mean by field and frame,.. Do you mean just on the angled section? That makes sense because I'll cut those pieces and butt them against the border, so they will lose their bevel. I just hope I can find a similar stain.

Biggest question now is, how do I make sure I end up perfectly flush after the angled section..
I've seen some installs where they worked up the angle, and ended up not meeting flush to the long side, so they ripped the piece just before the long row to adjust, but it ended up having a small 1 inch wide piece in there. I think this may be the only way to do it, is this correct?

In my case the width(height probably?) of the angled section is almost absolutely perfectly matched to the width of 6 planks, so I have to ensure my distance from the tiles is very accurate. I guess I have to do a test fit, put some shims in then put glue down, floor on top and push it against the shims so it can set in the correct place. I could use some 18 gauge nails on the tongue side I guess,.. the cleats will probably shift things so it's not advisable?


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 Post subject: Re: Hardwood to Tile Level
PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2018 1:13 am 
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The frame surrounds the tile. The field is the main part of the floor. What is the point of the metal strip between the tile and the flooring other than not needing to make a transition? A bevel on the bottom of the frame will give you the height that you need to match the tile. You can not make a bevel 6" wide with a table saw. An electric hand plane will make a tapered bevel on the underside of the frame, on the boards next to the tile. I would rip the tongue off then use glue to hold the flooring with a finish nail into the bottom of the groove side that would be away from the tile intersection.You can make a groove to fit the field boards to the frame with a grooving bit or slot cutter before the flooring goes into place which will make the T&G joint where they meet, but you would need a router and a way to secure the planks as you use the machine.Make spline or purchase it ready made.
Cut the boards for the frame, bevel the bottom of the frame, then fasten it down. Cut the field to fit then make the groove where the field meets the frame if you are going to use spline.Use sandpaper, or a block plane to duplicate the micro-bevel where the frame and field meet, staining the fresh edge. Fasten the field where it meets the frame with glue and the spline. You don't have to always have a spline and T&G, glue alone will work. You can apply the sanded grout after taping the flooring off. Pull the tape before the caulking has hardened, rub gently with a wet T-shirt rag to smooth the caulking, and you will have a great looking floor. An electric hand plane will help you to get the correct fit between the field and frame, but a block plane can work, too.


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 Post subject: Re: Hardwood to Tile Level
PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2018 6:37 am 
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What is the height difference between the top of the tile and the top of the hardwood?


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 Post subject: Re: Hardwood to Tile Level
PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2018 7:45 am 
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otterslide wrote:
I have 3/4" hardwood that I want to put next to tiles, but the level is different.
https://image.ibb.co/iWPno8/P5193342.jpg

How can I do this? The problem is made worse because the tiles go at an angle as seen in the picture, so even if I somehow can bring the hardwood down when it's parallel, when it's at an angle, I still wouldn't know what to do.

Maybe I first have to make a border of hardwood similar to the border the tiles have, and the border pieces shaved at the end to match the level?

What tool is used to bring a plank down a little on one side to match a lower level? I heard a table saw, but no idea how you'd put the wood through to do that. Sitting on the groove side on the saw table with the blade tilted? Sounds difficult to push it all the way through without fingers being close to the blade.

Once you do this, do you need to adjust the tongue a little so the next piece fits in nicely, since the plank is at a slight angle now with the floor?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

A router would be a good choice to remove wood off the bottom of the hardwood. Make the wood border to match the profile and angle of the tile border. If you remove wood off the bottom of the wood border you can let it cover the edge of the tile. Have the border wood tongue facing away from the tile. Cut the abutting boards at the appropriate angle and re-groove the ends to fit over the border tongue. A router with a slot cutting blade works well for doing the re-grooving.


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 Post subject: Re: Hardwood to Tile Level
PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2018 8:00 am 
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An easier alternative is to use a matching wood reducer, and install without the wooden frame - I personally don't like the look of a tile frame and a wooden frame next to each other, we typically get tiles finished with a schluter and install our threshold pieces tapered down to meet the tile for a clean, flush look. Given the tile is already done with the frame, I'd consider the reducer, especially if you aren't confident you can make the threshold pieces yourself.


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 Post subject: Re: Hardwood to Tile Level
PostPosted: Wed May 23, 2018 12:58 pm 
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I ended up using a table saw and it worked fine. I think I should've shaved off more from the bottom though, but everyone said it looks perfect.

The planks are 3.25" so I put the blade up about 3 inches at a 2 degree angle.
The height difference was very minimal, only 1/8" had to be taken off.

The subfloor isn't perfect either, so places it matches perfectly some places below/above the tile.

https://preview.ibb.co/bDOo38/P5233349.jpg
https://preview.ibb.co/czjZbT/P5233350.jpg
https://preview.ibb.co/eWWEbT/P5233351.jpg

I ended up right against the tiles on the long row, because of how things lined up. The tile border was not straight, pushing everything out. I shaved the groove end on the router a little. It was that or grind the tile down. I think a little filler and it will look pretty good.

I should've went even further out from the tiles at the very bottom, then I wouldn't need to shave any planks.. But it seemed all good when I did the dry-fit.
Everything was tongue and grooved, but on the 45 degree angle I realized later than I should've used glue and I didn't.. too late now. I used glue for the border tongue/groove on the 45 degree join at the top.
I can still use glue now on the remaining border pieces where they join with the first piece.

I hope the wood touching the tile is OK? It's glued down anyway, so I don't think that allows for any expansion already? I'm still confused how the instructions say to allow 3/4" gap, but it's ok to glue or go against tiles this close. At least the humidity is quite high right now, so I think there won't be much more expanding.. Will it just expand in the other direction, since it cannot expand on this side?

Thanks for all the advise.


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 Post subject: Re: Hardwood to Tile Level
PostPosted: Wed May 23, 2018 2:22 pm 
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otterslide wrote:
I'm still confused how the instructions say to allow 3/4" gap, but it's ok to glue or go against tiles this close. At least the humidity is quite high right now, so I think there won't be much more expanding.. Will it just expand in the other direction, since it cannot expand on this side?


Exactly - you can go flush on one side of the room as long as you increase the gap on the opposite side a little. As long as the wood has somewhere to move you'll be fine.


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 Post subject: Re: Hardwood to Tile Level
PostPosted: Wed May 23, 2018 2:57 pm 
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WestonKris wrote:
otterslide wrote:
I'm still confused how the instructions say to allow 3/4" gap, but it's ok to glue or go against tiles this close. At least the humidity is quite high right now, so I think there won't be much more expanding.. Will it just expand in the other direction, since it cannot expand on this side?


Exactly - you can go flush on one side of the room as long as you increase the gap on the opposite side a little. As long as the wood has somewhere to move you'll be fine.


Ok, that's a relief.
How about nail spacing? I'm reading anywhere from 6 inches to 10 inches in between.. instructions say 8-10. Some people say 6 online..

Are more nails better or worse? I think the more extra nails I put, the harder time the wood will have to settle properly, so it's probably best to go with 10 inches nail spacing on longer board, and 3 inches from each end?


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