[psp]

I will be puting some new oak pre fab stairs on in the next couple of weeks; however, i have a couple of landings to deal with half way up the stairs as you make 180 degree turn.

I will be installing oak bullnosing pieces for the landings and prefinished tongue and groove flooring for the landings.

Questions:

1. Should I install the landing bullnose piece ( has a groove in it) first and then work off of it to complete my 4x4 landing?

The benefit of this would be the bullnose piece will be in the perfect position and I would not have to rip it to a thinner width; however, I would not be able to nail the tongue part of these boards to the floor because - in a sense I would be working backwards - Installing the tongue into the groove idea - rather than nailing down the tongue section first then sling the groove over the nailed down section.

2. Is it ok to glue down tongue and groove planks off of a nailed bull nosing piece? This is only for a 4x4 landing.

my situation: I dont have the tools to cut a new groove in the bull nose piece so for example if I work off a straight edged wall by the time i hit the front of the landing I may have to rip the bullnose piece to a narrow width and would not have the ability to use the pre existing groove section.

What should I do?

thanks

 

[woodman58]

With a table saw you can take a piece of scrap wood and cut what is called a slip tounge.
You do this by measuring how thick the grove opening is and cutting the scrap to this thickness. Make sure it fits into the grove. If it fits cut several. Then put 2 groves side by side and measure the width of the opening. Cut them to this width. Lightly sand the corners to make them rounded. You now have a tounge to put in the stair nose so you can start your install and nail it properly.

 

[DannyT]

you can also buy ready made slip tongues at places that sell hardwood also. I had to use them in my family room when i was going around the fireplace. They worked great.

 

[psp]

thanks for the replies

So it looks like I will need to "backlay" the hardwood flooring on the landing using slip tongue splines - I didnt know that existed actually - cool.

I will contact my local HW flooring store to see if they have pre made ones. I dont have the patience to make my own LOL

 

[cguntharp]

What about glueing the hardwood flooring to the landing?

 

[Hardwood Head]

Mark the locations as to where you want the bulnose to sit when complete. measure back and rip your 1st row so when you get the the bullnose install it is the full width.