Q:
I am going to be milling my own wood for my post-and-beam house. In addition to Douglas fir, I have quite a bit of white fir that I would like to use for flooring. Is it hard enough to be used as flooring, or is there a better use for it?
Darren D. Pedersen, Ashford, WA
A:
Charles Peterson, a flooring contractor in Gales Ferry, Connecticut, replies: Softwoods work just fine for flooring as long as you don’t mind a slightly distressed appearance over time. In fact, there is huge demand for old pumpkin-pine floorboards that are “predistressed.”
White fir (Abies concolor) is near the bottom of the hardness scale for wood flooring, but softer woods are used. If you want to use the wood you’ve got while minimizing wear and tear, use quartersawn boards. They’re harder than plain sawn. Your choice of finish can help to hide dings, too. Normally, I like water-based polyurethane better than oil-based, but not in this application. Because oil-based polyurethane is softer than water-based poly, it won’t crack when softwood fibers are crushed. Waterlox (www.waterlox.com; 800- 321-0377) tung oil is another easy-to-apply choice that should work well with white fir.
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