Paint Grade Wide Plank FlooringSuggestions?
damunk
| Posted in General Discussion on
Looking to blind nail and PL 400 a hardwood floor that would then be painted. (The boss wants to put down a big rug so you’ll barely see it). Wanted something that takes paint well but that’s not too soft and w/o loose knots. The regular impefections I can bondo. Looking for something that is nice and stable at an 8″ face. I have a mill upstate NY that can do almost anything. I hear Red Oak is a bear at 8″ and White Oak is pricey. Poplar is too soft. Birch? Beech? Elm? Ash? Heart Pine? Any one ever do this or am I the only cheap dummy?
Replies
Here you go
Do as the frugal did in NW Ohio at the turn of the century (no, not the most recent turn-the one b/4 that).
Take your nice stable good flooring-run it around the perimeter-infill the center (big per the boss) with ply-lay the carpet.
You got the good looking stable high dollar wood (that will be covered with the furnishings you place around the room and she has the area rug she wishes.
What's to lose?
It'll be years before she picks out rug. Any idea how stable white birch is at 8"?
Nope, sorry-my experience w/birch is very minimal.
However, the stability aka-moisture content relative to it's surroundings is a key ingredient to boards remaining flat and true. Different woods expand and contract at a different rate (and all will do so most of the time).
You mentioned heart pine. The hp from years ago was a nice flooring-the trees were huge and qtrsawn and/or well seasoned heart wood (vs. sapwood) was prevalent. Todays hp (if there in fact is any) would be much quicker growing and certainly less seasoned and stable than the old stuff.
Here, old growth poplar was a native tree-so many old milled flooring of the area found it used for sub and finished flooring. Same goes with fir. These are not hardwoods by any means, but the warmth and color/graining (fir) is pleasing. Remember tho, poplar has a "green" hue that might be hard to bring about the color you wish.
White oak and to some extent, ash are a good choice for flooring. Much less wild grain that red oak. Easier to color to your liking.
edit: ooops, painted flooring.
My very limited experience with birch is that it's hard and tight-grained -- doesn't take stain well but varnishes up nice and should paint pretty well. I *think* it's pretty stable, but, as I said, my experience is limited to a few furniture pieces.
The mill has white birch (paper birch), which is 2x harder than Poplar and Eastern White Pine, but a third softer than Red oak and other birch (Sweet Birch Yellow Birch). Just never worked with a solid birch, so I have no clue how it behaves. The birch ply we use sands and paints great, so maybe the white birch will behave similarly.
Birch is hard enough more or less ( dog toenails will mar it tho)
But not all that stable at 8"
white oak would be best choice or possibly maple IF you can buy it that wide.
I like heart pine. It is both hard and stable. Seems a shame to paint any good figured wood though.
Ash may be OK.
For any - to limit movement in wide board flooring, I hit all four edges with shellac after acclimation and before insalling