The Log house Project begins........

[MarkV]

If #2 common fits the look you want you might also consider #2 white oak also. White oak is a bit denser and harder with a tighter grain that will take a stain more evenly if you want to stain the floor. Just what I have learned in 25 years doing hardwood floors for a living.

MarkV

 

[MotorSeven]

Thanks Mark, I would prefer white oak, ash or maple, but all the closeouts and sales seem to be in red. I think I am just going to use a clear Tung Oil based product...no stain.

 

[brin]

Thanks Mark, I would prefer white oak, ash or maple, but all the closeouts and sales seem to be in red. I think I am just going to use a clear Tung Oil based product...no stain.

Motor...When we built our house we used all Solid 4" Red Oak and polyurethane...That was 7 yrs. ago and all the floors still look as good as the day they went down.

 

[tnmike]

I dont think tung oil will hold up nearly as well as polyurethane on a floor. You can get a low gloss type that will mimic the tung oil.

 

[MotorSeven]

I've got a line on reclaimed oak flooring....80-ish years old for .50 cents a sq ft. I am going to look at it in the morning with cash in hand. If it is in good shape that will be a heck of a deal.

Brin, yes red oak is very durable, I was just hoping to fine something in a lighter color, but when scrounging ya get what ya can

Mike, they actually make tung based floor coatings. I am sure they have additives in it to give it a little more durability. WaterLox is one of them and I just bought 5 gallons for the ceiling/rafters, so I can try some out on the floor.
Waterlox original tung oil wood sealer finish protection for floors, countertops, furniture and cabinets
No...it ain't cheap, but there is a log home supplier near Kingsport that stocks it for a little over $50 a gallon.

 

[tnmike]

a little over $50 a gallon

That is pretty pricey. What is the coverage?The 50 cent wood sounds like a deal.

 

[MotorSeven]

Well, I drove down to Maryville yesterday and looked at the flooring. All in all it's in pretty good condition. The guy selling it ownes a demolition company and said it came out of a big old church South of Knoxville. It's 2 & 1/4" wide and various lengths out to 12'. It's stamped with a lumber yard name from Alcoa TN and another from Murphy NC. I will do some research to see if they are still in business, but I doubt it.

Half of it has carpet glue on it(WHO PUTS CARPET OVER OAK PLANK FLOORS????....they should be shot:laughing The glue scrapes off easily, so a floor sander will have no problem with it. The seller was putting it down in his house and showed me the finished product...it looked great.

He had over well 3,000 sq ft left out of 10,000. My neighbor is also building a house and rode with me to look at it. He liked the look of it too, so we bought all of it. So for $750 each we have enough flooring to cover the floors in both houses. I will have enough to do the main floor and the loft with plenty left over.

There is 6 bundles of the shorter stuff on the trailer and one big bundle of the long planks on the truck flat bed. I am guessing it was a 8,000lb load:

 

[MotorSeven]

The one in the middle has carpet glue on it:

I figure around 6,000 nails oughta do it. What's the opinion of tar paper under it if it's going over a full basement? Is it needed?

 

[ENG18LT]

Great find. You couldn't come anywhere near that price for new stuff. I always preferred a little character in wood flooring, rather then the uniform looking high gloss floors you see mainly these days. Don't forget pics when your have it finished. :thumbsup:


Even with installing it over the full basement you should put down an underlayment to help reduce noise (squeaks). Even with stapling every 8" the wood will still contract/expand with changes in weather cycles, not much but some. I would mostly use red rosin paper when doing an install, but if your basement is damp then go with a 15lb. felt to create a moisture barrier so you avoid cupping. 2 1/4" oak is not something we see cup very often, unless you have a damp space under it and don't put down a barrier.

A box of 2" flooring staples should be plenty for your place. There is 7000 per box. Do youself a favor and either spend the money on a good pneumatic stapler (Bostich) or rent a good one. Also get quality staples. You do not want to be wadding up staples every third board.

 

[MarkV]

Good find. From what I could see it looks like a select grade of white oak. We put 15# felt under any flooring we install. Besides being somewhat of a moisture barrier it puts something so wood is not directly against wood. The floor is going to expand and contract with the weather conditions so it loosens up to a degree. Wood against wood is often when you get squeaks in the floor. I would say use the felt and leave expansion room along the walls that you can cover with base board and shoe molding.

MarkV

 

[ENG18LT]

One other note - be sure to allow 2-3 weeks acclimation time inside the house before installing. VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MotorSeven]

Mark, I'm going 30' wide x 36' long, so is 3/4" enough for expansion all the way around? Another question, where the flooring meets the french door thresholds, do I leave a gap then cover it with a custom transition threshold board?

 

[MotorSeven]

One other note - be sure to allow 2-3 weeks acclimation time inside the house before installing. VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!

I have a moisture meter, and I will check it, but I don't think it will show much swing between the subfloor and planks. The guy had it stored on a second floor not heated or cooled, so it should be acclimated already. It took 4 guys 5 hours to get all that flooring out through a balcony, onto a forklift then onto my trailer.........

 

[MarkV]

Mark, I'm going 30' wide x 36' long, so is 3/4" enough for expansion all the way around? Another question, where the flooring meets the french door thresholds, do I leave a gap then cover it with a custom transition threshold board?

Yes 3/4" around the perimeter will be fine and is the recommend amount. You have a bit of a plus or minus factor so it doesn't have to be exact. Go ahead and run tight to you door thresholds, it is common practice. The remainder of the floor will have enough freedom to make up for expansion.

Just to be clear the amount of expansion is not going to be dramatic but is enough to buckle a floor if it is run too tight. In your case without using AC in the humid months it is important to have room for expansion though. You also have the advantage of using antique flooring that has really stabilized over decades, is my guess. Suppliers have not supplied boards over 8' in the last 30 years. That is so they can fit in pallets on a semi trailer. Who knows how old yours is. It should be nicer straight grain old growth oak than you can buy these days. There just aren't that many old growth trees anymore.

MarkV

 

[MotorSeven]

Thanks, yes the guy said he thought the church was over 80 years old...sometime around 1930-40 so first growth trees are a real possibility. I did get a quote for "cabin grade" 5" red oak from a local factory @ .75 a sq ft, but mostly short planks. I think this reclaimed stuff is a much much higher grade and I like the narrow planks better and of course the price was a bonus.....

 

[woodlandfarms]

We have red oak over slab. Installation for the slab was quite interesting. they mopped the floor with a sealer, then put tarpaper and plastic down. Then take 1/2 plywood cut into 2 foot widths spaced 1 inch apart going against the top wood grain direction,

I think I have pix if you want them.

 

[MarkV]

Thanks, yes the guy said he thought the church was over 80 years old...sometime around 1930-40 so first growth trees are a real possibility. I did get a quote for "cabin grade" 5" red oak from a local factory @ .75 a sq ft, but mostly short planks. I think this reclaimed stuff is a much much higher grade and I like the narrow planks better and of course the price was a bonus.....

Well you got a real find. I did flooring in Atlanta and was involved in a historic restoration project in the Baltimore Hotel. I had to have old growth oak reclaimed from old beams and re-milled to to match the flooring standards the specs called for. I paid $8.75 a foot for that in 2 1/4, it was all about the antique quality for the project. That is way high for todays Select and Better oak flooring. Oak prices change daily like the stock market but you would be under $3 per ft for current material. It would be pretty but not as nice as your straight grain old growth. I wouldn't worry too much about expansion with your flooring. By the way it is a tedious job to remove old flooring and the old cut nails plus keep the flooring in as good of shape as you showed.

Let me toss this out to think about. I know you are an accomplished DIY guy. You might want to consider having the floor sanded by someone who does it full time though. The biggest reason is the type of equipment you can rent. Our sanders cost about $8k, run on a 220v feed and weight around 150#. The power and weight is what makes the sander do a clean even cut. Kind of like a heavy boxblade and a light one. Rental sanders I see are much different. We use drum sanders and the roundness of the drum is everything for a good non rippled finish. It cost about $500 a year to have them trued. Rental sanders lack that. The non-drum sanders that you see are not going to have the cutting power for your glue and multiple layers of vanish.

For what they are worth, just my thoughts. Happy to answer any questions my years of flooring can help with. Again, great find. I'd use it in my house.

MarkV

 

[Obed]

Wow! What an awesome find regarding the flooring. Personally I would install it "by the book". That flooring is too valuable to take chances or shortcuts with. We stored our red oak flooring in our house for 3 weeks prior to installing to make sure it was acclimated to our house's environment. Last spring I can remember hearing the loud popping noises as the wood moved around as moisture conditions changed. That wood will move some as conditions change.

Yes, you definitely want a barrier between the concrete and hardwood.

I'm excited for you. That floor is going to be awesome!
Obed

 

[MotorSeven]

Ok, I have read the reviews, do I hear a big {gasp} if I say I am going to go buy the HF 2 in 1 flooring stapler?
2-in-1 Flooring Nailer/Stapler

Cleats or staples....Lee...Mark?

 

[brin]

Ok, I have read the reviews, do I hear a big {gasp} if I say I am going to go buy the HF 2 in 1 flooring stapler?
2-in-1 Flooring Nailer/Stapler

Cleats or staples....Lee...Mark?

Motor...I just got this 20% off coupon For HF...but you have to use it quick...I hope it uploads..