Maple for flooring

[Mike_M]

We have a large amount of Big Leaf Maple on our property and I was wondering if it could be used for hardwood flooring? I know it is softer than the maple on the east coast, but is it too soft? Once it comes out of the kiln what equipment is needed to make flooring and does it have to be T&G on the ends? Thanks

                                   Mike

[Tom Sawyer]

The answers to your questions are:  yes, no (lots of people put pine on their floors and it isn't softer than pine is it?), something that will put a t&g on the sides (moulder is probably the best way), and no.   Others might say that end matching is necessary, but I have never seen a floor have problems without it.

Make sure you post some pics when the floor is finished!

Tom

[Riles]

The Silvics manual ( http://www.na.fs.fed.us/Spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/table_of_contents.htm ) suggests  that Bigleaf Maple is not suitable for flooring. I would think that the finish you put on the wood is at least as important as the hardness of the wood, and technology has improved. I'd try it.

[Dodgy Loner]

I wouldn't hesistate to use bigleaf maple for flooring.  I find our local red maple (which is also a soft maple) to be quite durable- comparable to cherry or even walnut, both of which make fine flooring.

[WDH]

I wouldn't hesistate to use bigleaf maple for flooring.  I find our local red maple (which is also a soft maple) to be quite durable- comparable to cherry or even walnut, both of which make fine flooring.

You would not hesitate to use any wood for flooring :D :D :D :D :D :D.  The plight of a wood lover :.

[Dodgy Loner]

Aw, c'mon.  You know I'd pass on balsa or basswood.   ;)

[WDH]

You are right.  Balsa would be a poor choice ;D.

[Kelvin]

for making flooring for the small guy a shaper is the way to go.  moulders require exact sizes of stock, so say you want to mill 2", 3" and 4" wide flooring to make the most of your odd sized boards.  The shaper doesn't care. Just joint well and rip to width.  No need for end grooving.  I've done this for flooring and local guys here charge $2.20 or so just for milling the flooring if you bring them lumber, so use the common machines you might have.  Even a router table with a big router could make t&g quite well.  On the shaper, a power feeder is real nice to keep joints consistant.  I've used our local soft maple here in michigan for flooring w/ no trouble, like others have posted, pine is used and so is cherry and walnut.  Look up density of big leaf maple and see how it compares. 
One other note, don't be chincey on the poly.  Home depot sells minwax, which is crappy and cheap.  What you are buying is the solids and i could take a bucket of good poly, add 2 buckets of thinner and you would have Home depot stuff.  I used Benjamin Moores product, but anything over $50 a gallon is the way to go.  Use oil based on heavy traffic areas, and water based where you don't need to worry like in rooms.  Water based is low solvent and much better than it was 10 years ago.  Real handy if you are trying to get back into the house quickly, and don't want to get cancer putting the stuff down.  You'll save a lot of time.
good luck, KP

[Mike_M]

Thanks for all the replys. How about the bottom of the flooring, does anything have to be done such as a grooves? I am going to put some down in my home and then hopefully try to market some.

[Dodgy Loner]

Mike, this is just my opinion, which isn't worth more than the paper it's written on ( ;D), but I don't think the grooves on the bottom of the flooring are necessary.  I made some cherry t&g flooring for my dad's house about 3 years ago and installed it on top of some 30-weight tarpaper, and I've yet to hear a squeak.  If you were just making it for your own use, I wouldn't worry about the grooves.  However, since you're going to try to sell it, you probably ought to go ahead and mill them, as many consumers will expect it.

[Tom]

The grooves aren't necessary, but they can aid in preventing cupping on floors that aren't vertical grain.  They also help to keep the board level and in contact with the subfloor if it isn't level.   

Moulder/planers, like RBI, Woodmaster, etc. offer back knives for doing this.  The older fellows would, sometimes, just run a saw kerf or two down the back.

[Dodgy Loner]

I'm sure it becomes more of an issue with wider flooring.  Most of what you see today is only 2.5-3.5" in diameter, which isn't wide enough for cupping to be much of an issue.  The cherry flooring I made was random-width, with widths of 3, 4, and 5".  If I had a moulder, I probably would have gone ahead and milled the bottom grooves, but I was just working with a (underpowered) router.

[iffy]

I just had a bunch of ponderosa pine milled into 8/4 x 6 and am making loft flooring out of it. Went down last night and helped the guy run it thru the planer first pass. Man! talk about figure and character!  smiley_turkey_dancing Knots stayed tight, lot of grain pattern, a small amount of blue stain. Was trying to figure out what color I wanted to stain it, and I don't think I want it stained at all. The bottom side will be visible as it is on 10" dia loft joists with a flat on the top of them. Wll post some pictures in a few months when I get to that part of the construction.

[Riles]

Or you can save yourself all the trouble and do what I did, recycle a high school gym floor. Goes well with the frat house columns recycled onto the front porch. Lots of nice figure in old maple floors.

[WDH]

Way to go, Riles 8).

[Riles]

The columns, by the way, are redwood. Came from a frat house they were tearing down at Duke University. They had to cut about three and a half feet off each one and I'm trying to figure out what to do with the leftovers. Put it on a mill and make redwood flooring?

[Norm]

Very nice Riles. 

[SwampDonkey]

What's up Riles? Hate to give up the University life, so your bringing it home? ;D :D

Nice castle Riles. 

[SwampDonkey]

Down at grandmother's place, on dad's side of the family, they used hard maple throughout and it was 1-1/2" wide. No grooving. Make sure it's dried good to lessen the seasonal movement. Soft maple would be fine in my opinion. Some folks use larch for flooring as well.

[nas]

I installed this 6" cherry floor in my family room two weeks ago.  I tongue and grooved it freehand with a router.  It took about 10 hrs to router 800 linear feet.  It turned out really beautiful.  I glued the boards down with one bead of PL premium down the centre of each board, and stapled with a flooring stapler.  We have had the woodstove going in the room and nothing has moved, and there are no creaks.

[beenthere]

nas
The floor looks great. Nice job.

As far as cracks and creaks, they probably won't show up for a few years if they are going to happen. A bit early to tell, in just two weeks. How dry was the cherry before milling it and laying it down?  Did you staple in the tongue?

Thanks for the pic.

[nas]

beenthere
I kiln dried the cherry to 6% in my solar kiln, and after I milled the T&G it sat in the room for 2 weeks stickered to aclimatize.
In my experience the cracks and creaks start to show up fairly quickly, especially when the wood stove is on.
Nick

[metalspinner]

They had to cut about three and a half feet off each one and I'm trying to figure out what to do with the leftovers.

What about a couple of planters for the front porch?  Or plant stands?