Saw a 1920s floor in an old Tacoma library that made me think

I was in the old Carnegie library branch in Tacoma last week, and they had a section of the original maple floor on display. The boards were only 2 inches wide, and the nails were hand-driven, not a single staple in sight. It's a different kind of craft now, with all the click-lock and floating floors we do. Anyone else run into these old-school installs and just stop to look at the work?

3 comments

3 Comments

anthonynelson8d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy redid his kitchen with reclaimed pine, and the installer used an old hand nailer for the whole thing. Watching him work was like seeing a different trade, where every single nail was a choice, not just a trigger pull. The floor just has a soul to it now that a quick install could never match.

roberth668d ago

Yeah, you can still find that quality if you look for it. My guy uses a manual nailer on site-milled oak, and the difference in sound underfoot is huge. It just feels permanent in a way modern methods don't.

kevin3318d ago

Manual nailer, huh? How much longer does that process take compared to a pneumatic gun, and is the extra time a big part of what makes it feel different?