A Half dozen years ago, I purchased 2 3/4″ x 7 1/2″ yellow pine shop flooring from the YorkTowne Cabinet works in York PA – paid $1/sq ft. It is random length and has 13/16 x 1/2″ deep grooves on the long sides only for splines – and it is very old.
I finished a second floor over my garage that is built into the side of a small hill which will be my woodshop. The floor joists are full 2 x 10 oak from a local sawmill – been in place for several years so they are stabilized. I’m now covering the 2nd floor with 3/4″ T&G fir plywood (couldn’t turn it down at half price!) to provide a work surface as well as a primary place for fastening the yellow pine floor.
I will scan the floor boards for metal, then pick the best side and run it through my thickness planer for uniformity – I will sand the floor once it is completed. The question is – do I let the splines “float” between the boards or do I shoot my nails through the top corner of the spline and through the bottom half of the floorboard to the plywood and a little bit of the oak? My inclination is to just shoot the floor boards in and let the splines “float.”
I don’t anticipate any floor movement – the wood is proably 100 years old or more, it is “contained” within the upper floor framing and I will ensure each piece sits flat on the plywood.
Even though I love a penetrating oil finish, I suspect the best way to protect this wood is with a urethane.
Any thoughts, suggestions regarding the plan?
Replies
2 3/4" thick is overkill on a subfloor. How heavy are they?Have you thought about resawing them to 5/4. You would have twice the amount of flooring,though you will lose the spline. If you have stock left over, save it for other projects,yellow pine with orange shellac makes nice looking projects.
5/4 boards can be face nailed with a 15 gauge nailer and 2 1/2" nails.Because they are so dry,I wouldn't bother with a spline or t&g.
mike
Ditto Mike. Since ytou are putting down a layer of 3/4 ply, there's no reason to use full thickness pine boards. Resaw to half the thickness, and alternate top & bottom so you have a half-lap joint. No splines needed.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
see my reply to Mike - I want the mass that the system delivers to give me a solid floor that doesn't shake when I'm using hammers/mallets on a bench. Remeber this floor came from a 2nd floor woodshop - they also wanted a dense, solid floor surface. Because of the prices I paid for this material, I can afford the overkill. Plus all the resawing, planing is a lot of work - I have a floor ready to go now.
SYP that thick has no need for a subfloor to be solid. That is why the suggestion to remill it to double your coverageBut face fasteners and floating splines otherwise, IMO - for a shop.
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Face gasteners through 2 3/4" material is a stretch - and I see no evidence of face fasteners when the boards were in the cabinet shop. In fact, I see no evidence of any fastening - only spline slots.
My question in the original post is do I nail through the coner of the spline slot and let the splines float or do I shoot through the spline and bottom half of the flooring?
It's not a subfloor - the 2 3/4" is the main floor - the 3/4" T&G fir is the subfloor. Yes I could resaw/plane it but the shear density of the floor over oak beams will give me a very solid woodshop floor.
I realized the plywood was the subfloor, that's why I had suggested resawing the flooring. I had figured that 3 1/2" of total thickness was overkill. Are you sure your joists can support the weight, after all you will also have machinery and materials on it.
If the oak joists can take the weight ,lay your floor and enjoy your shop.
mike
I don't anticipate any floor movement ...
When the humidity changes your floor will move - guaranteed. Plan for it. Age has nothing to do with it.
There are two dimensional changes that occur - one is the further drying of new wood so that it stabilizes with your environment and the second is the seasonal changes due to temperature/humidity which continue to occur for the life of the wood. I have adjusted for the second type in the plan; the first type I pointed out is non-existent because of the age of the wood.
Kinda painful to visualize th finished product. Nail down such nice wood? drill some holes, screw it down in the holews, plug the holes over the screws. Your choice of plug mat. Jim
I agree - painful. I will not do that; I will shoot the floor in either through the spline slot or through the spline and bottom half of the floor.
I still don't see you getting a finish nailer to drive a nail thru 7/8 old yellow pine( the bottom of the groove) 3/4 inch plywood and then sttick into dried oak joists.( you said the wood was 2-14 inch, minus 1/2 inch groove = 1- 3/4 divided x 2 = 7/8). Just don't see it happening. Jim
I'm using a framing nailer and shooting a 2 3/8" round head nail - tried it and it works fine. Everbody seems hung up on all the details I've already solved - no one has answered my question as to whether the splines should float or not.
Floatthe splines. Thee's nothing to be gained by glueing them in place ... they will resist expansion and get ripped apart.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Thanks - that's my feeling but I just wanted to check.
Make sense to me, if they did not want them to float they would have been t & G. I have seen that decking for roof use here in very old buildings.
If you like the colors of the old flooring, then I suggest using a water base varnish instead of an oil base. I put an old heartwood pine floor down on the second floor of a carriage house for a shop/weaving studio, and the oil base varnish hid a lot of the red/white/brown individual colors beneath the orange-yellow of the varnish. I wish I'd used the water base.
There is something really satisfying about reusing the old wood, ONCE you've got it installed. I had to clamp every board though to pull it up snug before nailing it down.
Dusty and Lefty
Thanks so much for the input - I've not used water based products before and will experiment on a scrap piece before making a final decision. My shop is similar to your application - it is designed as a carriage house with a 2 bay garage on the first floor (and 2 additional bays for storage) and a large, open second floor with exposed oak timber framing. The design combines elements from the main house built in the 1700's and a stable over 100 years old - all on the National Register of Historic Places.