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I have a large number of pine boards. I would like to use them for flooring. Can this be done? My idea is to edge joint all boards and then biscut joint them together. Is this a good idea? Labor is not a factor its my home. Be kind guys this kind of crap runs through my mind often.
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I wouldn't biscuit them but just tongue and groove the edges, even the ends. This would end up just like standard milled strip flooring.
I wouldn't do this on any plank style boards say 4" or wider however.
Mike
*A Large antique store in Snohomish WA has a floor with 12" pine floor with simple butt joints. Don't know if this was laid over plywood or not but suspect so "cause there is little deflection.
*Seems like you could do a sline joint easier than biscuits.
*I agree with Michael Rimoldi. It's fairly easy to tongue and groove the boards with just one router bit in a decent table. I did a house with white oak milled on site, up to 9" wide in varying widths. At times, with boards that have some wave to them, or knots that cause a bend, this can get difficult to stay level, resulting in a tongue or groove that is not perfectly centered. When that happened, we either shortened the boards or flipped them over and made another pass, resulting in either a thinner tongue or a wider groove.If you can pay attention board by board, it won't be frustrating to install, and not too sloppy a fit either.When it comes to pine, it's hard to lay a floor perfectly that stays that way anyway, depending of course on straightness of material and thickness, installation practices. Hopefully it's nice and dry.I don't like the biscuit idea very much. Even if it was just a pain the butt (knees), and expensive--biscuits, glue, etc. I don't think it would work too well--biscuits are meant to be glued on both sides of the joint, and you can't glue flooring together and nail it down too. If you don't nail it down, it would be one strange, I think noisy, crackly floating floor.Were you planning to glue in the biscuits and nail the floor down?
*ASSuming?Hey, no problem. You'll certainly give your biscuit jointer a good workout. Hope it's not a PC or Makita, ha ha...You're right. It beats TV, or lots of other wastes of time. Sometimes my wife questions why I'm putzing around with one project or another, instead of focusing on a more important task. I justify (at least to myself) that doing some other task is still better than sitting in a bar, or watching TV. That's only for when I can't fish...Good luck with this. I think the biscuits will help for alignment. What will you nail through?Be sure to let the wood acclimate to your house's humidity for a long time before you install the wood. Is it dry? This time of year your house is dry, most likely.
*ASS uming? Hoping my thoughts did not make me look like an ass. Thanks for your replies. I will be nailing through 3/4 plywood and 15lb felt. I have a Dewalt biscuit joiner but after reading here I may just go buy some router bits.
*Hey Darrell,You deleted your own post, where you first used the term, "ASSuming" which I'm sure was a typo on your part. I just led off with that because I thought it funny, and maybe you'd pick it up where I left off.FYI, we breaktimers tend to frown on deleting posts, unless it either is inflammatory, or posts bad information. Just tellin' ya, not trying to lecture.I asked what you were nailing through, meaning what part of the pine boards. I'm pretty sure you'll be angle nailing through one edge of your board into the floor, but remember that the nailers are made to shoot through a tongue. You might want to practice on a piece to see if it will sink the nail deep enough, and still hold your board before committing to the process, though it seems like you're having second thoughts.I think your biscuit plan COULD work. But you'd have to biscuit the boards before you put them down I think, which is a better idea anyway, than biscuiting them on the floor. But how do you get the biscuits to line up?Why do you have to biscuit them first? because if you do it as you go, you'll have some inevitable variations in heights due to subfloor conditions, stuff (like biscuit dust) getting under the wood, slight bends in the boards, varying thicknesses, etc. All that would throw off the heights of the biscuits, (which is the only thing they are helping with) although maybe not enough to cause any more of a headache than extra sanding. But I don't like extra sanding. It's the most tedious and suffering part of putting in a floor to me.Maybe I'm being too anal, (back to you now)MDPS-I got a T&G router bit at Woodcraft for $40 that is good enough for this job, and can make tenons as well for other joinery. It's a good bit to have in your arsenal.
*Luke, If you are planning on running your own matched boards, I would suggest you seriously consider using a moulder or shaper instead of a router. You will be better off running the boards rather than the machine. I did about 1000sq of 12" pine boards last winter for a floor and used a router with table. It did the job, but seiously taxed the routerr. But it definitely is the way to go, especially with wider flooring boards as it gives a little bit extra coverage when you encounter the seasonal movement.I also found it is easier to use a slotting bit in my router for my end grains. Then I use a spline, dry fitted after the two ends are layed. I have my splines cut to length and just drive them into the slots. A lot easier than trying to match ends.walk gooddavid
*Thanks for the information David. I have a 2hp Makita router made in Japan. Its old but does a good job. I would love to have a shaper. Mad Dog, I just thought it was better to remove anything that may offend anyone. I have been reading this board for about three years and it gets interesting around here.
*I installed 12" wide x 5/4 white pine flooring in my house. I am a firm believer in square edged when it comes to wide pine floors. Put down a layer of 15lb. felt under the boards. This will prevent moisture entering the boards from below. When the poly finish is applied you will have sealed up the boards fairly well. I screwed down the floor and plugged with a dark red cedar so the plugs would stand out.I purposely did my floor in the winter and let the stock climatize, stickered, in the living room for about a month. Fifteen years later the floor is still flat as a pancake. In the winter the gap between the boards is about 1/16" and in the summer they are tight. I think this floor will still be going strong in a 100 years. A buddy of mine has a 200+ year old house with wide pine flooring. It is hard saying how old it is but it looks beautiful, full of character.GOOD LUCK
*imho, I don't believe it is necessary to tongue and groove a wide pine floor. I agree with ricky espo. Letting the floor acclimatize to the house is really, really important. Screws and plugs or cut nails will work fine ....... aim for the floor joists. I do prefer an oil finish such as Waterlox to poly ........ think it it is more tolerant of the ineveitable dents and dings and easier to touch up.
*Is it necessary to t+g 6" boards that I plan to face nail for flooring. Also will a masonary nail have the holding power necessary, or do I need to invest in the Tremont cut nails. The flooring is 3/4 the subfloor is 5/8 what size nail should I use?Thanks N.E.T.
*net... 1.5 " to 2 " would be fine.. if you can get cut nails , they work and look great for face nail.. other than that.. the Tremont are good nails.. and nails are cheap..