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Another pine flooring thread...

Started by shinnlinger, January 01, 2016, 10:24:23 AM

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shinnlinger

Hello,

I am putting on my second pine floor incorporating lessons learned from putting a similar floor on my main floor 4 years ago.  This will not be a trophy floor but rather one that will have rustic character and won't bring tears to my eyes very time a piece of furniture dings it or a dog scratches it.  It is white pine after all!

First I went and pulled some  boards I had milled a year or so ago.  They have been stickered under tin in my field and "pretty" dry.

4 years ago, I clamped a 16dft piece of angle iron to my table saw and re-ripped/edged each board.  This time I decided to do it in bulk and re-edged the boards 10+ at a time on my mill with a new band.

The end result was not perfect, but "good enough" for me for upstairs bedrooms. We know the boards will shrink some, but they didn't much on my first floor.  If it really becomes a problem, I can always wedge hemp rope in the cracks.   Needless to say, it  was significantly faster bulk edging on the mill than one at a time on the table saw!
Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

shinnlinger

Next step was to hump them up to the second floor, but I got my daughter to help and she even said I didn't have to get her anything for Christmas as I was putting a floor in her room!

my stack eventually got re-stickered....

I put two box fans on them and let them blow for a couple of weeks.  Every few days I repositioned them.  Last time I built a tent and put a dehumidifier in there as well but I figured air volume was my friend this time.  I did not blow on the end grain though as I wanted to dry them slower, so I always blew in from the sides...
Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

shinnlinger

Tremont or masonry nails are a nice look, but I also figure a case of tendonitis.  I paint the heads black on ringshanks for my air nailer and turn the pressure up.

After giving the boards a few weeks inside with the fans on, the dust had gone from slightly damp to dry and it was time to install.

I cut them to length and butt them up, biscuit jointing the butts.

Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

samandothers

I am enjoying this thread with your pictures!   :P

Thanks for taking the time!

shinnlinger

I am going with random widths, but each row has to have the same width obviously. 

And this is about where I am now.

I will post more pics as progress occurs but I will sand in place with a floor sander at some point.
Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

fishfighter


shinnlinger

On my main floor 4 years ago, I installed roughly every 7th row barkside down or "happy".  Someone suggested that would allow those to expand when the others contracted to fill the gaps. It didn't make sense to me then either and time has seen minimal shrinkage regardless.  An issue with installing boards that way is "shelling" where the heart wood is more likely to splinter, so I am doing my best to install the boards this time "frown down" or barkside up.  That said, it is not so significant an issue that I will waste a waney board.

IN the thresholds I just ripped a piece the thickness of my walls and put a biscuit where the boards butt up.

One room down, two to go.

there is one gap Im not too excited about, but overall I believe using the mill to edge the boards as worth the significant time savings.  I had a few gaps with the table saw method too and simply paying closer attention to constant widths in each row would have prevented my issue.That is why I started in the kids rooms.... Live and learn.

Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

beenthere

Anxious to see that floor after you do the sanding and finishing. Has potential for sure.

You mentioned shelling from the heart side, but from the spike knots showing in the flooring and the large through knots, the raised knots may be a much bigger issue. Time will tell.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

shinnlinger

Hmmmm,

I have knots all over my main floor and they haven't been an issue in the 4 years they have been down.   They are installed over radiant tubes as well. 
Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

starmac

When rough sawn flooring is installed, how exactly do you sand it smooth?
Is it less labor intensive that using planed lumber?
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

rasman57

Very interesting and thanks for the great pics.  Looking forward to your updates.  Your daughter will be happy to have that pretty new floor too.

shinnlinger

I use a floor drum sander that you can get at almost rental place.  The sander makes every board on the same level, so arguably better but the reason I sand in place is hauling 2500 bdft down to the shop  and sending 16 footers thru the planer and hauling them back up to the house is a lot more work. Keep in mind too this is white pine.   It will dent fairly easily, so my logic was the more perfect you make the floor in the first place, the more disappointed you will be when it gets damaged. 
Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

shinnlinger

So here are some pics of the floor I did 4 years ago.  I had piles of boards from cutting the timbers for my frame, but they were all different widths, so I didn't have enough of any one width to stretch the entire 53 ft of my house, so I put some of it at 45 degree angle.  To give you the idea, here is an overall shot.

I started in a back room and placed the butts on the joists with plumb cuts.  This worked fine but there was a fair bit of waste as my workable lengths didn't  jibe with the layout and the wide boards meant a bunch of useless big triangle scraps.  Probably could have done a whole other room with those but the cookouts were well supplied for a while...

For the other areas, I just let the lengths fall where they did and carried on with square cuts.  This method had little waste. 
Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

shinnlinger

One thing I am pleasantly surprised at is there is little shrinkage in the winter.  Maybe an 8th, and this is over radiant tubes.

Note the gaps and dents.

They are there, but not alarming so.

Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

kensfarm

Looks nice.. I like the paint your own building blocks.. they look cool w/ the diff. pictures.

Ljohnsaw

Had to take a double triple take on the kids room.  The sticker stains fooled me - thought they were the ends of boards and you had a few courses ending at nearly the same point.  +1 can't wait to to see the finished product.

I like the random angle feature on the main floor.  I'm stuck with on the 45 for all of it (engineer requirement).

You mentioned painting the nail heads - does the paint hold up to the air nailer - no chips?  I haven't decided if I want to have flush nails (that will get sanded) or counter sunk like you did. IIRC, my engineer is calling for 3 nails on 8" wide boards - but that might just be at the ends of them.
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

WDH

It is just a floor.  It is meant to be walked on and used, not hung on the wall.  Good deal.  Looking forward to the finished product.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

shinnlinger

The paint on the nails held up well regardless of flavor used.     I'm sure there are chips but I can't notice.  You have to turn the pressure up (or countersink by hand) the nails because of the sanding.  For engineer world, I would think the subfloor would end the conversation but these boards are a full one inch thick, so if countersunk a quarter inch (and I doubt I'm even doing that) there would still be 3/4" of holding wood.   If you needed more holding wood you could mill thicker boards.  I would try to avoid a nail in the middle, because if you do have shrinkage, you would be more prone to cracking.  Try to sell him on the biscuits. 
Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

shinnlinger

The main attraction for me with this floor system was the cost and relative ease.  I already had the boards and the tools to do it myself.  Using my air nailer is cheap and easy but also allows me to use leftover nails elsewhere.  My main out of pocket expense was the finish.  Tung oil and varnish.   
What has grown on me is the character and comfort.   It is not a perfect floor but it fits the house well.  Does it squeak once in a while? Yes, but who cares?   I will know when my kids are sneaking out to parties.  If squeaking is a concern for you I bet rosin paper between layers would help.  You could even put strips every few feet if $ was an issue. 
Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

thecfarm

Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

brendonv

"Trees live a secret life only revealed to those that climb them"

www.VorioTree.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vorio-Tree-Experts-LLC/598083593556636

samandothers

You mention center nailing may lead to cracking.  I thought if the board shrinks and swells with grain the best point to nail would be the center as it would move out from center in each direction.

Ox

Thanks for taking the time to post all these pictures, shinnlinger!  I'm loving it.  Old fashioned, simple, rugged, rustic.  It just doesn't get any better.
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

fishfighter

Your flooring looks nice. I might do that in one of the bedrooms in my camp. ;D

Bruno of NH

I use 30lb roofing felt under the wood flooring helps with the creaks  .
Bruno
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

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