Thanks for your explanation. I’d go with the spline connection, if only because if the direct nailing doesn’t keep things level it will be an even bigger job to pull it all up and re-fit the splines. Somebody will be spending a long day with the router to cut the grooves in the plywood edges, though.

Aside from the look, was there any reason you went with plywood rather than strip flooring? By my calculation the materials were probably cheaper - $2/s.f., but the installation can be tricky - especially in the corners.

Good luck - and please keep us posted as to what you decide to do.

It took some serious searching but we found a cabinet grade plywood with a thicker veneer face (about 3/16 of an inch). This would allow us to sand it down some if needed but I hope that is not the case. I know in architect (Michael Huber’s) home floors look incredible and they have been in for several years. They are protected by a couple of good coats of poly which ours will be as well.

As far as joining the pieces together let me tell you it’s been a dilemma. We are trying to decide between cutting a channel and sliding in a joining piece or just nailing it straight to the sub-floor. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I thought about biscuit joining the pieces together but there are some serious challenges when you have to join more than one one side together at the same time.

Jason

Thanks for the generous pictures. It helps to be able to see what’s going on.

I have a question about the plywood flooring. Are you cutting tongues and grooves into the edges to help hold the panels level with each other? Or are you using biscuits, or just relying on the fasteners to hold everything in place? Also, some veneer plywoods have a very thin (1/32) face veneer that does not allow for sanding, refinishing, etc. Does your plywood have a thicker face veneer that allows it to be sanded if needed at some later date?

Yes, I am a design control freak. I wanted a very specific brown and they offer a limited number of colors in the pre-painted products. We will have to finish painting the siding next spring, but I am excited about the colors we have selected.

Jason