Replies

1. 
   luvmuskoka | Apr 11, 2003 05:16am | #1

   Sorry, the first pic is of another job.

   Ditch

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Apr 11, 2003 05:53am | #3

   I can relate - here's picts of a walnut floor we worked on last week - the picts of the completed work are still in the camera which to my consternation I realized I left on the site - - we finished laying the cherry floor in the guest bedroom this morning - ran out of oak for the living room yesterday with 150ft to go - -

   gotta question,  if you would help - - the walnut was milled to close tolerance,  and we used a 'jitterbug'  sander to even it out with little problem - - the oak is more uneven and will require more agressive sanding to smooth - would you suggest a strategy for getting the good surface?  36 grit on a drum sanding diagonally to start? - thanks,  DOUD

1. 
   CAGIV | Apr 11, 2003 05:55am | #4

   Not to hijack this thread, but houses the house for that guy going?View ImageGo Jayhawks..............Next Year

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Apr 11, 2003 06:04am | #6

   well,  good,  I guess,  but slow by its nature - - if we hadn't run out of oak,  we would be sanding floors so we could finish trim - got 3 more doors to jamb and hang,  15 openings to trim (manufacter trim,  then apply) - major chair rail - mechanical systems are near complete - lottsa outside work to do - I'll reactivate the Gallery thread with fresh picts tomorrow,  if the camera doesn't dissapear -

1. 
   CAGIV | Apr 11, 2003 06:05am | #7

   thanks for the update

   View ImageGo Jayhawks..............Next Year

2. 
   Houghton123 | Apr 11, 2003 05:31am | #2

   I don't know where you're operating from, but I'll assume it's East of me.  So, you drive West on Highway 80, all the way through Nevada and California, until you get to State Highway 12, just before San Francisco.  Turn West on this and go about 45 minutes, until you get to Main Street in Sebastopol.  Turn left here, go about half a mile to Litchfield.  Watch for the blue house, white trim, on the right -- about 1500 square feet.  I can pay you as soon as I win the lottery.

   My Gawd, that's nice work!  Walnut's one of my favorite furniture woods, but as a floor -- pure, sinful luxury!  Keep on postin' so's we mere mortals can see what nice work looks like.

   Bill Houghton

1. 
   Snort | Apr 11, 2003 06:03am | #5

   How about some full shots of your doorway signature technique, does it look like that in the next room? Not that I would take your idea and use it for my own financial gain, or anything like that....does Frenchy know your doing this? EliphIno!

1. 
   tdickhout | Apr 11, 2003 09:58pm | #8

   Kaufman wrote about a technique in thread #29502 message number 4  - general discussion  Hardwood Floor, direction and inlays april 9 2003

2. 
   luvmuskoka | Apr 11, 2003 11:28pm | #9

   Hey Billy,

   Area is tight....best I could do:Ditch

   
1. 
   johnnyd | Apr 11, 2003 11:42pm | #10

   I like the sapwood contrast...did it take sanding and finishing any differently than the heartwood?

1. 
   luvmuskoka | Apr 12, 2003 12:31am | #11

   Johnny,

   When sanding soft hardwood like walnut or cherry, I'll step up a grit and start with 60. Then, if need be I'll hit the floor twice with 80 paper. That keeps the soft sap wood from dishing out. I'll also sand to 180 grit instead of stopping at 120.Ditch

2. 
   Snort | Apr 14, 2003 03:02am | #23

   Ditch, that is pretty. I'd steal it in a heartbeat!<G> EliphIno!

1. 
   luvmuskoka | Apr 14, 2003 02:46pm | #24

   Hardwood floors have made a huge comeback. Inventory levels are low and sales are approaching that of the boom years of the 1950s. The trend in flooring species right now is character grade timber. Wide plank pine has gone thru the roof as well as hickory/pecan in common grade.  Antique/remilled and river reclaimed lumber are what the big dollar crowd is looking for in high end new construction. Hand scraped and distressed finishing is also in vogue. I remember the white floors of the 80s, those are floors I'm grinding down now and finishing in natural. Even cherry is losing it's appeal and beginning to come down off it's highs.Ditch

2. 
   fdampier5 | Apr 14, 2003 07:45pm | #26

   Ditch,

         I've watched the wonders that a good floor guy can do and I'm wondering about what I should consider doing myself..  As you know I'm scratch building a timberframe so I do have the ability to work ...  (as long as I can give my 54 year old back a break now and  then, {it doesn't help that my day job is mostly sitting})

      Money is tight but I'm also not penny wise or pound foolish.. so I'll gladly trade time for dollars  and it doesn't need to get done right away.. But if I'm renting a floor sander and need to keep it for over a week maybe I'd be better getting that part done?  Any idea of how much sanding a floor should be?  How would you estimate a job like that? 

    What about finishing a floor?  My brother-in-law was going to finish his own floors but found out that the two estimates he got were very close to his cost for just the materials..  Apparently the pro's lower cost of materials almost paid the labor bill..

      finally.  I've got wide planks, and that was my original thought, however the brother-in-law was able to lay his floor in a few hours using the nailer on strip planking.  I know that if I screw and plug  those wide planks I'll be days/weeks doing what he did in a few hours.. In addition I'm concerned about dealing with the swelling that comes with wide plank floors.  I was on a floor last winter that was only 10 inches wide and the boards shrank so much the tongue came out of the groove in a couple of spots exposing the paper below.. since some of my planks are 22 inches wide maybe I should rethink the wide plank idea..

     any thoughts?

3. 
   luvmuskoka | Apr 15, 2003 12:01am | #27

   Frenchy,

   I can't remember where you are..... Great Lakes states? Wood movement varies greatly from region to region. The higher your RH swings (species specific) the more movement the floors will undergo. Walnut doesn't move a whole lot so wider floor boards aren't that big a deal. When I say wider though I'm referring to 4" to 6" compared to 2-1/4". Anything over 6" is asking for trouble.....not just in movement but in cupping.

   There was a heated discussion a while back concerning cupped flooring. The moisture DOES NOT  have to come from below the floor, to create cupped boards. Anytime the top dries faster than the center or bottom cupping can occur. Remember, the groove side of the floor is 1/4" to 3/8" thick, that part of the board will give back moisture faster than the rest of the board and tend to cup.

    A concrete contractor friend guaranties his concrete jobs not once but twice. He guaranties that it'll get hard and he guaranties that it'll crack. Same with wide plank in my region. We experience RH swings exceeding 50% from winter to summer, (unless the house has a humidifier). I promise my customers that 4"+ will shrink and swell noticeably and that in time it'll probably cup too. You can acclimatize for as long as you want, but the floor will still do what's it's gonna do.

   Contact me by email. My email server is going to be down for a few days. When you are ready to sand and finish I'll get you hooked up so you can do it yourself and get good results. Just tell me what city your near.

   Ditch

4. 
   andybuildz | Apr 21, 2003 12:03am | #28

   Ditch

       Geezzz.....I better reclaim (save) the wide plank flooring in my kitchen before I knock down that part of the house. That side of the house is under 80 years old at most but the floor looks like it was saved from the original somewhere (353 yrs old). Soon as I get my camera up and running I'll shoot some pics to show you. I've already set aside planks I pulled from the upstairs that was "under" the floor of the batroom I gutted. Its like 1x14 and reallyyyyyy distressed. Even saved all the nails that I could. Some of the flooring was "painted" dark green....ugh.

   BE old and walked all over...lol

                                  Namaste

                                           andy 

    

   In his first interview since the stroke, Ram Dass, 66, spoke with great difficulty about how his brush with death has changed his ideas about aging, and how the recent loss of two old friends, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, has convinced him that now, more than ever, is the time to ``Be Here Now.''

   http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM

2. 
   andybuildz | Apr 12, 2003 12:38am | #13

   Bill...

      WOW....I'm from LI NY but spent a week with my family looking for property in Sebastopol with a wonderful real estate agent(Cee cee). I bid on 11 acres and it was denied.Spent a full week there. Funny enough its still for sale.

   Be  a cool town

                    Namaste

                                andy 

    

   In his first interview since the stroke, Ram Dass, 66, spoke with great difficulty about how his brush with death has changed his ideas about aging, and how the recent loss of two old friends, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, has convinced him that now, more than ever, is the time to ``Be Here Now.''

   http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM

1. 
   Houghton123 | Apr 12, 2003 05:55am | #19

   Yeah, we get frustrated with some of the growth and stuff, but it's still a nice place.

3. 
   andybuildz | Apr 12, 2003 12:33am | #12

   Ditch

          What can I say? Absolutly f'n gorgous.

   You're a true craftsman. Far and few between.

   Feel proud to care as much as you seem to

   Be a ditch

           Namaste

                       andy

    

    

   In his first interview since the stroke, Ram Dass, 66, spoke with great difficulty about how his brush with death has changed his ideas about aging, and how the recent loss of two old friends, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, has convinced him that now, more than ever, is the time to ``Be Here Now.''

   http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM

1. 
   luvmuskoka | Apr 12, 2003 01:56am | #14

   Andy,

   Thanks Bro! Jobs like this I can't wait to get up in the morning, makes up for sanding off wax and varnish the other 50% of the time.Ditch

4. 
   fdampier5 | Apr 12, 2003 02:29am | #15

    what finish did you use?  Looks really wonderfull .  I'm courious, did anyone object to all the juvinile wood?  I don't want to break anyones heart but the sawmill I buy from cuts all that off and it goes into the grinder..  All I get is heart wood..

     (except now that there are strong buyers in the market willing to pay premium prices I'm starting to get a little juvinile wood here and there.)

1. 
   luvmuskoka | Apr 12, 2003 03:22am | #16

   The finish is OMU sanding sealer followed with 2 top coats of OMU semi-gloss. All Bona Kemi products.

   Actually the owner, and I agree, wanted the contrast of sap and heart. This actually is graded as a #1 common and better floor. The packs are made up of not more than 20% sap, not less than 20% select, and 60% #1 common dark.

   The sap wood seems more apparent than it is because your eye is drawn to it.Ditch

1. 
   luvmuskoka | Apr 12, 2003 03:33am | #17

   Here's another view:Ditch

   
1. 
   fdampier5 | Apr 12, 2003 04:22am | #18

   that is really a great floor.    Walnut is soooooo much nicer than the usual oak or maple!     Was there  much of an up charge for walnut over oak?   Around here Maple is more expensive than Evan Black walnut. 

2. 
   goldhiller | Apr 12, 2003 06:05am | #20

   Mighty nice lookin' floor, Ditch............ as per usual. Good to see someone using walnut........ probably my favorite wood to work.

   Don't know about there, but around here I can buy walnut selects for far less than oak or most anything else. Since it's just not in style and hasn't been for some time, the mills just can't move it. Everybody still wants oak or cherry. And so the time has come to buy a big bunch and sit on it. It's only a matter of time before it brings top dollar again.

   Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.

1. 
   luvmuskoka | Apr 12, 2003 11:13am | #21

   Gold, Frenchy,

   Thanks! Yes, I can sell a Walnut floor for about the same as Red or Wht Oak. That's amazing, 10 years ago  Walnut was something like $6.00 a s.f. , today less than $3.00. We 3 could pull our money together and probably corner the market right now.Ditch

2. 
   goldhiller | Apr 12, 2003 05:02pm | #22

   Pick it up at the mill 15 miles from here and kiln dried 4/4 Walnut selects are $2.20 bf! Air-dried is $2.00!

   If you buy more than 200 bf it drops $.20 bf.

   At these prices, it's a no-brainer. Gives a whole new meaning to the term stock investment.

   Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.

3. 
   fdampier5 | Apr 14, 2003 07:23pm | #25

   Actually based on what I'm paying now for the odds and ends of black walnut I forgot to order with my original purchase,  I think we may have missed the boat..

     Lately the sawmill has been getting 9 to 12 dollars a bd.ft. for veneer grade logs, before they're sawn up!  Well over 2 dollars a bd. foot for mill run from the lower grade logs rough and green at the mill.. that would make flooring prices around $6.00 or $7 dollars a sq. again!

     the one nice thing is I've still got well over 10,000 bd.ft. of walnut that I only paid 17 cents a foot for!!  

     I would suggest  that if your supplier has any of that low priced Black walnut left you take out a loan and buy what's available..