How to Replace Old Pine Flooring
Pine floors generally don't last as long as oak or other hardwoods, because pine is softer and more susceptible to damage, warping and rotting. If you have to take out an old pine floor and want to replace it, you may still want that unique country look of pine. Modern prefinished pine flooring holds up a lot better over time than older versions of it, and installs in the same manner as other wood floors. See your floor dealer for the right type of nailer for your flooring. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Hammer
- Pry bar
- Felt underlayment
- Utility knife
- Stapler
- Tape measure
- Chalk snapline
- Prefinished pine floorboards
- Floor nailer
- Miter saw
- Table saw
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Instructions
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1
Remove the trim from around the edges of the room using your hammer and pry bar, which should reveal a 1/2-inch gap between the edge of the floor and the wall all the way around the room. Set your pry bar into that gap and pry up the first course of floorboards.
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Pry up the next course of boards with your pry bar, working from the side where you started and going across. Use the hammer to work the pry bar under the boards where necessary. Take up all the boards on the room and discard them. Hammer down any nail heads that are left sticking up on the subfloor.
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3
Lay out your felt underlayment in overlapping courses over the entire floor. Staple it down.
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4
Lay a starting line for the flooring courses along the longest edge of the floor, using your chalk snap line. Position the line so it's half an inch away from the wall.
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Set the first pine floorboard on the starting line, at one end, with the grooved edge facing the wall and positioned half an inch from it. Nail it down with your floor nailer, putting the nails every 12 inches along both edges of the board.
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Lay the remaining boards of the starting course along the line, locking them together off their ends by their tongue and groove milling. Use your miter saw to cut the last board to fit at the end.
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Lay the second course alongside the first, snapping them together at their sides. Nail them down through their sides instead of the through the top as you did the first course, putting the nails in at an inward angle from just above the tongue, one every 12 inches. Stagger the boards so the ends don't line up between the two courses.
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Lay each subsequent course in the same manner as the first, building across the floor course by course. Continue staggering the ends of the boards between courses. Cut the last board of each course on your miter saw as needed.
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Cut the boards for the final course along their lengths on your table saw so they fit along the last wall, leaving a half-inch space there. Floor trim will cover the spaces.
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