Replies

1. 
   fengelman | Nov 11, 2008 05:57am | #1

   tom silva did a fix on one episode of ask this old house...they used to be very common, but the joints opened up seasonally...he caulked it with rope

    

    

    

    

   I wish I didn't know now, what I didn't know then
2. 
   arcflash | Nov 11, 2008 03:49pm | #2

   Its called wide plank flooring. Very common with early American construction. I thought about using it at my house, but the cost of the subfloor was going to be too high (I would have to build up a slab).

3. 
   Piffin | Nov 11, 2008 04:31pm | #3

   You do want the T&G, even if face fastening for rustic effect. I did a floor in my place with 1/16" pine because I had it from milled on my property. But I still milled the edges to have a lock joint. That keeps things from moving so much.
   Got lots of photos later if you want them.

    

    

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1. 
   john7g | Nov 11, 2008 04:56pm | #4

   1/16"?

1. 
   rez | Nov 11, 2008 07:57pm | #8

   1x16" I believe is what he is saying.Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. [Theodore Roosevelt]

1. 
   john7g | Nov 11, 2008 08:08pm | #9

   like a veneer?

1. 
   TomW | Nov 11, 2008 08:13pm | #10

   16" wide planks, 1" thick

2. 
   Piffin | Nov 11, 2008 10:02pm | #13

   I wish! 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

3. 
   rez | Nov 11, 2008 08:15pm | #11

   Don't really know.

   I'd wager the boards were recycled of an old barn or homestead and found use as the flooring.

   Probably an actual 1inch thickness with old growth toughness.

    

   be 'course then again I'd been known to be mistaken...once.

   Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. [Theodore Roosevelt]

   Edited 11/11/2008 12:17 pm ET by rez

2. 
   Piffin | Nov 11, 2008 09:57pm | #12

   Yeah, darn good band saw guy!15/16" 

    

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2. 
   mdcc | Nov 11, 2008 10:38pm | #15

   I would love to see some pictures if you don't have to do a lot of searching to find them.

1. 
   Piffin | Nov 12, 2008 01:18am | #17

   OKfirst two () 00015 and sewing rm) are same floor/room in a 200 year old house before and after, unless I have my catalouging wrong. White pine floor is always going to look a little rough after a couple years unless you do the stocking feet and slippers thing all the time - with no kids and dogs.I like the lived in look myself. But in my house, we have heart pine in the living room where it sees a lot of company and busy traffic.Last two numbered ones are my pine bedroom floor.That was quite a rack of photos for me!;
   ) 

    

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1. 
   mdcc | Nov 12, 2008 03:14am | #20

   Thanks. appreciate you digging in the archives. Now I can show my wife some good examples of what I am proposing. I know for sure I could sell that upper hall floor, that looks fantastic! Selling the idea would be one thing.....finding the boards might be a little tougher. How wide are they?

1. 
   Piffin | Nov 12, 2008 04:27am | #21

   Those are 1x12 white pine from herehttp://www.aesampsonandson.com/I'm sure somebody down east your way does similar product
    

    

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4. 
   hammer1 | Nov 11, 2008 05:32pm | #5

   It's fairly common to use plain square edge boards for a finished floor in Maine. White pine is available at any lumber yard as it would be in your area. You don't need to have T&G edges. You just have to realize that wood moves and there will be cracks between the boards. Pulling wide boards tightly together can be very difficult and they will still shrink. It takes a large amount of plugs that have to be cut flush and sanded. I've seen pine board floors that were well over 100 yrs. old. It will be a real challenge to take up this type of floor if you decide to replace it someday. There are manufactured products that mimic the look. Pine boards are inexpensive but the labor installing such a floor isn't. If your labor is free, it's certainly an option. The older the floor gets, the more rustic it looks.

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

1. 
   mdcc | Nov 11, 2008 10:34pm | #14

   I was actually thinking pine. I did that in small room of a house I used to own as a test. Unfortunately, sold the house two years later and didn't get a real good feeling for how well it was going to last. For the cottage I think it would be great for a rustic look. I also have a decent handle on the time it takes from doing that small room. The good thing is that this is a long term project for my family and I don't have a completion date I have to hit. Labour costs are low because I don't pay myself very well!!! I told my wife I work for tools.

1. 
   smslaw | Nov 12, 2008 01:19am | #18

   I have a section of my house that is 200+ years old. I needed a new floor in one section and had our builder put down 6-and 8 inch wide pine.  I had them use cut nails.  Eastern White Pine is pretty soft and will scratch and wear, so should be considered a pretty informal finish floor.   You might rethink the trouble of drilling, screwing and plugging what will look pretty rustic anyway.

   I just looked at Piffin's photos (dsc0002 and 4) and his floor looks a lot like mine.

   Edited 11/11/2008 5:20 pm ET by smslaw

   Edited 11/11/2008 5:21 pm ET by smslaw

1. 
   Piffin | Nov 12, 2008 01:37am | #19

   that's cuz our trees had same genes, Cuz!;) 

    

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5. 
   frenchy | Nov 11, 2008 06:18pm | #6

   I did exactly that with my floor.

     ( go over to the left,  go into advanced search and enter 85891.1& 94941.1 scroll thru them because I don't remember which has the flooring pictures)

       I took one extra step though to  avoid seeing the subfloor through the gaps that will occur when the wood dries out during the dry winter.

     I ran a router past the edge and cut a grove on each edge then I slide a spline made of the same wood into that groove..

     Making the plugs is a pleasant afternoons work with a drill press.  you can do it without a drill press using just a drill and the correct size plug cutter (couple of bucks) .  What you do is take the scrap ends you cut off and make as many plugs as you can on each piece of scrap.  Make them significantly longer than the holes are deep, but don't go all the way thru the boards.  if the boards are finished the same on each side  you can make some from the other side as well.

     There are two ways to get the plugs out.. first you can insert a small screw driver and snap each one loose  or second if you have a band saw you can slice the boards in half and the plugs just fall out..

    If you want a interesting effect you can make the plugs of a differant colored wood..

    I went the opposite way and tried to make the plugs out of the same shade of wood and even spent an extra moment  to align the grain of the plugs in the same direction.  As a result the plugs virtually disappear.  You have to look hard to spot them. 

    Now as for time.

    I could bang a a floor in using strip flooring in about a days worth of work.  Doing things this way it took me three weeks of work on my knees.  My problem was the work was compounded because some of the boards were less than perfectly straight and they were randome widths..  a 3 inch wide board next to a 14 inch wide one etc.. Since they were random lengths (varied between 18 feet and 4 feet) I spent a great deal of time sorting through the piles to find ones that both looked good and had character.   

    Don't use a regular drill bit drill your holes.. use a forstner bit of the correct size. A regular drill bit will make a roughly triangular shaped hole while a forstner bit will make a perfectly round hole.  Plus a regular drill bit will tend to spinter out the wood whereas a forstner bit will make a nice smooth perfect hole.

     You need to drill three holes.. The first hole is with the forstner bit, the second hole is to taper the bottom of the hole (a regular dill bit works for that)  and the third hole has to be a little larger than the shank of the screw to allow for wood movement as the bords shrink and swell caused by humidity. 

     A far easier rustic look is with face nailing with ornamental headed nails.  You still need to drill a hole to ensure the head of the nail is below the surface so you don't sand the head off when you finish the floor (or tear up the sand paper when you do your finishing)  but it's a much faster job.

1. 
   BryanSayer | Nov 11, 2008 06:47pm | #7

   Why not drill the plugs all the way through, if your plug cutter will do it? Saves a step, especially if you have a lot of them to do.Another way (other than spline or T&G) is to use a half-lap joint on the edge. Mill one edge up and one edge down on each piece. Not saying it is better, just an alternative.

2. 
   mdcc | Nov 11, 2008 10:50pm | #16

   Thanks I will check out those threads. The drilling/screwing is what I guess I am most curious about. recommended spacing, type of fastener, should all the holes leave room for expansion or just the ones along one edge of each board. I think for the plugs I am going to get a tapered plug cutter from lee valley. still haven't decided on whether to use contrasting wood for them or not.