Hardwood throughout (most of) first floor

[MDdiyguy]

Well, here goes nothing... We've been in the house 20 years, with mostly a combination of fake hardwood laminate and horrendous builder-grade carpet. It's time for some upgrades. The fireplace went in first (mostly wood heat through the winter), and we're also replacing the kitchen cabinets. The plan is to put the hardwood in first, and the cabinets on top - yes, I know there's a great debate over that, but that's not what I want to discuss in this thread! I've attached a layout (hardwood in all non-shaded areas), and my plan is:

1. Start at the red line, and lay the wood in opposite directions.
2. Expansion gap of 3/8" around all edges. I've removed all baseboards and will replace with new, painted baseboards - at least 9/16" thick - I'd prefer not to use quarter round.

What else do I need to consider?

 

[MDdiyguy]

 

[highup]

Solid 3/4 inch wood prefinished and nailed down?
"I know there's a great debate over that, but that's not what I want to discuss in this thread!". That's funny.

 

[MDdiyguy]

Solid 3/4 inch wood prefinished and nailed down?
"I know there's a great debate over that, but that's not what I want to discuss in this thread!". That's funny.

Yes, thanks - I forgot to specify - Solid 3/4 inch wood prefinished and nailed down. 3-1/4" wide planks. Pretty standard fare, it seems. Canadian red oak.

Regarding the great debate, it's still actually raging in my head! I probably won't know exactly which way I'm going to do it, until the day I get to it. One flooring guy suggested setting 2x4s just slightly inside the planned footprint of the cabinets - tall side up! If I do decide to just run the hardwood up to the cabinets, I'd only shim them to the height of the finished floor. Any higher would seem to introduce more issues than I want to deal with...

 

[highup]

I think you have the starting point in the best place., Just install a tongue in the groove and reverse the planks on the other half. About the thing you didn't want to talk about.....
Kitchens are a potential wet area. By fitting to the cabinets think of the difficulty of repairing or replacing some of those planks if damage occurs. Instead of laying 2x4's on edge, maybe lay 1x4's flat exactly on the footprint of the cabinet bases. You could even caulk the inside of the cabinet perimeter to further lessen water damage if a leak occurs. They make pans for dishwasher s to set on in case they leak. You have time to plan these suggestions so do some preventative thinking.
Those 1x4's should be really close to the same thickness as the wood flooring, so there won't be any height issues.
Many years ago I installed a glued down Hartco wood floor in a new home. The owner wanted it to go under the dishwasher. I talked him out of that. I made a tapered shim the same height as the new wood floor and glued it across the cabinet opening. Next, I installed some vinyl flooring inside the area. I cut the back wall and two sides of the vinyl am inch and a half too big so I could heat the vinyl and let it run up the walls, making a bit of a container. I even drilled a hole in the center and epoxied in a short piece of 3/4" PVC pipe as a drain.
Depending on budget, you could have a sheet metal shop make a shallow pan with a drain soldered in. Dishwashers are probably more of a concern than pipes under the sink.

 

[MDdiyguy]

I hear you with regard to water. As a matter of fact, what kicked this whole project off some time back was a dishwasher leak. A previous leak covered part of the laminate floor, but the top surface of the material held up well. The next leak got between the subfloor and laminate and the laminate sucked up enough water to deform a few planks and separate a couple of joints... I like some of your ideas to redirect leaking water away from the wood. Perhaps that and a couple of well-placed leak sensors would alleviate some of this concern.

 

[highup]

They make sensors from simple noise makers all the way to phone notification and even valves that turn off the water when triggered.

 

[MDdiyguy]

 

[MDdiyguy]

Just ordered all the wood and ended up expanding the project by 50% (see layout in previous post). I'm now planning to do the entire first floor, with the exception of the bath and laundry rooms. Red lines indicate where I'll use splines to reverse direction. A couple questions:

1. From the center line above the dining room, can I run all the way through the dining room and sunroom without any expansion joints? Its 31' from the top of the staircase to the back wall of the sunroom. Any concerns with expansion over that distance?
2. As I work from my starting point at the staircase towards the front door, how do I ensure everything lines up when my boards converge on the end of the staircase closest to the front door? Is this something to worry about, or will I just be ok as long as I install all boards tightly.

 

[highup]

Do you plan to keep the home heated and relatively stable for eternity? Just asking, because wood and more specifically solid wood, expand and contract. Your location will determine how much the wood will expand and contract from Summer to Winter. Is the house relatively new construction or an old home?
Now, I do not install solid wood flooring, so I'm just bringing up some things to think about.
Under ideal circumstances a home would be heated year round to an exact temperature and the humidity would be controlled to an exact amount 24/7 all year long.
Under those impossible circumstances the wood will not grow or shrink so in theory you would need zero expansion for the wood itself. However, if you live in an area where the humidity changes drastically from Summer to Winter your house itself might expand or contract slightly, so fitting the wood with no expansion gap obviously isn't realistic.
I did some calculations and I don't know if I'm accurate or not but if each plank shrunk or grew one 128th of an inch, in 31 ft you'd be approaching or exceeding 3/4 inch growth of shrinkage. The shrinkage or growth is almost totally in its width. There's very little shrinkage or growth in length.
I'm just hoping the questions I ask and the responses you give might help if someone else enters this conversation, .....Someone that actually installs nailed down wood.