More sisalation & starting with particle board

Continued on with what we started yesterday.  Got to start putting down some of the particle board too.  Many ways you can lay it.  Full sheets can be put down into position and then cut to shape afterwards, or it can be cut before hand.  On Rich's house we are going to precut.  On the particle board there is a specified side which should be facing down, and the other is to be the floor surface.  The first sheet that we put down was in the center mark of the house (which sits on top of the center bearer line).  Special glue was applied to each square section cut out from the sisalation along the joist (that the sheet was going to sit on).  It is important to move quickly once the glue is applied as it sets in approximately 10minutes time.  The glue is really important, as it obviously helps keep the floor fixed tight, but also can help in reducing 'squeaky' floors as well.

The particle board is then laid down and moved to ensure that is sitting flush and straight before it is nailed down.  It is important that this is done, as otherwise it will throw out the rest of the floor sheets that are butted up against it, as they will all subsequently be lined up with this one.  As the particle board is prone to damage, aligning the sheet to sit plumb was done using chisels to lever it into place (rather than hitting the hammer on the edge which could chip the board, & create an uneven surface for the next sheet to sit against).  

Once aligned correctly, it is nailed into place using flooring nails.  Along the edges where they sit on a joist the nails should be fixed at least 10mm away from edge (to avoid chipping) and at increments of 200mm.  On the edges, nails are placed at each joist that the particle board lies on (again 10mm minimum from edge).

When the next sheet is added, it must be butted up as close to the previous sheet as possible.    Glue is applied to the edge of the already fixed floor sheet and again along the joists in the cut out squares in the sisalation.  This time the board is levered in using the chisels as close as possible & of course straight as well against this fixed particle board.  Whilst people are holding it in, the same process is used to fasten it into place.   The sheets are going to be attached in a pattern so that they are intervaled, and certain areas of the house are going to have different sheets as they are wet areas.  In these places we will be putting ply down, which is why we have to cut different pieces of timber for different areas of the floor.  

If a mistake is made when laying down a sheet of flooring, and is removed, it is important to try and do before the glue dries, as otherwise it can cause damage to the particle and make it un-usable.
It is best to let the glue dry on the particle board and then plane it off.  Where there is residual glue left on the joist and edges of already fixed sheets, this really needs to be removed well, as it will cause the next sheet being put in this area to be uneven and not level.  As the glue dries it expands out, so it is best to wait for this to happen before chiseling this away & removing.  When applying the glue along the edges, Rich also said to keep it towards the top and in a flowing line, this way it shouldn't ooze too much under the board and make it unlevel - but rather out to the top.  Its usually a good sign that you have aligned the floor board well if it gets a bead of glue at the top as well.