Carpentry Strut Time

PATXPATX 2,820 Posts
edited January 2009 in Strut Central
I just went to Build It Green And bought some of these heavy ass 3" beams to make a floor.These things shouldn't really have any warp in them right or do they need to rest for a while? Any tips for attaching them to the floor properly? Right now they are on a layer of shitty lino tiles and a layer of carpet underlay. The underlay can go, but removing the tiles would probably make the floor much rougher.

  Comments


  • HAZHAZ 3,376 Posts
    Just to be clear, you're going to use those planks to make a wood floor? Will the whole room be done in wood? Just out of curiosity, how big is the room you're looking to do?

  • dukeofdelridgedukeofdelridge urgent.monkey.mice 2,453 Posts
    "JAAAAM"

  • PATXPATX 2,820 Posts
    Yes, a wood floor 4ft x 17ft. Just what you see in the second pic. It will be a sort of hall way. Kitchen counter is going to be where the gray carpet is now.

  • GaryGary 3,982 Posts
    that's way out of my league dude. I think most people get their wood flooring from home depot and shit.


  • billbradleybillbradley You want BBQ sauce? Get the fuck out of my house. 2,885 Posts
    Without a Tongue and Groove on the boards I'd imagine warping or movement with the boards would be inevitable. I'm not carpenter but most wood floors are made with Tongue and Groove. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongue_and_groove

  • LoopDreamsLoopDreams 1,195 Posts
    I'd use 5" skrews, countersunk. Match the countersink hole with a wood dowel and fill the hole with the round dowel, glued, then cut it flush. That'll be one solid freakin floor... you gonna give it a good sand and varnish?
    As to the warp, let the wood sit for at least a week, IN the room where it's gonna be installed, you don't want it to shrink or warp after it goes down.

  • GaryGary 3,982 Posts
    I thought you only read rap threads.

  • LoopDreamsLoopDreams 1,195 Posts
    Put the skrews 2' apart and make SURE they hit the support beams under the sub-floor.... if the don't the floor will move.

  • If you have a router and skills you can toungue and groove them but if you had those skills already i wouldn't imagine you'd be asking on soulstrut.

    Leaving them in the room a couple days will help them acclimate to the average temp and humidity, i would do so before cutting. Aside from that, adhesive to the subfloor (i would nail down plywood) and quarter round on the mouldings. But hey, i'm no flooring dude. Sand, stain and fill to taste.

  • LoopDreamsLoopDreams 1,195 Posts
    Gary, I, like you, have a wide variety of interests.

  • oops, late on the draw

  • knewjakknewjak 1,231 Posts
    If you have the capabilities I would advise slicing the boards down the middle (3" thick to 1.5"). This way you will only need to buy half amount of wood. But you need some heavy duty equipment to do this.

    Yes, they will warp regardless of what you do. However, fastening them down to the existing floor will minimize the movement (I would use large antique/barn nails). Also, until a board is secured on the floor, you should not keep them sitting on ground level. The moisture on the floor will rise and cause the boards to bow (no matter how thick they are). So try keeping them about 3' above ground level for the time being. You should also periodically rotate them (turn them over) to counter act any warping that does occur.

  • PATXPATX 2,820 Posts
    OK is this gonna be another speaker table thread where people who have never made speaker tables tell me it cannot be done

    Tongue and groove is for proper flooring. I have some of that for other areas. These are old beams, 3" thick, and I'm assuming they are less prone to warping considering they hold houses up and stuff. They have already sat for 3 days in the room - procrastination is useful like that.

    I did think about some sort of liquid nails type thing because the wood would sit nicely on it but was worried about f*cking up the wood for any future uses I might have for it... I'm odd like that. But I guess it could be sanded off no problem if I decide to dig them up again. Maybe liquid nails plus 6" screws will do it. Antique barn nails would look the best but will probably cost a lot in NYC.

    Anyway, I think I just need to go for it. I'll let you know how it turns out.

    Yes, sanded and varnished. It will have a natural unevenness, but apparently that's better for your feet.

  • GaryGary 3,982 Posts
    are you going for a rustic look?

    i mean maybe you should really go to home depot and see what hardwood floor pieces usually look like and then go from there.


    But don't trust me. I'm a woodworking nightmare.

  • PATXPATX 2,820 Posts
    Next project:


  • Were those planks salvaged from an old pirate ship or something?

  • rookrook 357 Posts
    the countersink option mentioned is probably the best. especially considering your subfloor is probably not level. you might pour some webcrete to even that shit and/or put down some underlayment. it wouldn't be that hard to rip those boards with the right table saw.

    what are you using for a threshold from the planks to the carpet?

  • PATXPATX 2,820 Posts
    Were those planks salvaged from an old pirate ship or something?

    Basically.

    The carpet is coming up and the fake oak floor is going down. Don't know what the threshold will be yet. I might make a border with 2x4s as they are the same height as the planks.

    It's gonna be mad rustic with minimalist flourishes.


  • It's gonna be mad rustic with minimalist flourishes.

  • PATXPATX 2,820 Posts
    Update: planks are sanded, need a bit of a plane here and there. Later.

    I nearly found God while laying the laminate flooring. That shit is retarded. I'm getting it so cheap I might get more though.

    Then I found this guy in my oak ply. WTF???



  • Saw these and thought you carpenter doods might like:


    wooden bike wheel dude



    wooden supercar dude

  • id skip the glue...
    go with countersunk screws
    you can tongue and groove those yourself if you got access to a decent tablesaw. not too hard. definitely square the sides up or sides wont match up too well and will gap up.
    if youre down to be rustic, just f*ckin do whatever, especially if youre not spending dough and youre willing to do it all over in 6 years.

    spend a couple bucks extra and get ecoprocote polyeurathane. ive used it and it looks great. no vocs that will give you headaches.

  • tomasltomasl 315 Posts
    OK is this gonna be another speaker table thread where people who have never made speaker tables tell me it cannot be done

    Tongue and groove is for proper flooring. I have some of that for other areas. These are old beams, 3" thick, and I'm assuming they are less prone to warping considering they hold houses up and stuff. They have already sat for 3 days in the room - procrastination is useful like that.

    I did think about some sort of liquid nails type thing because the wood would sit nicely on it but was worried about f*cking up the wood for any future uses I might have for it... I'm odd like that. But I guess it could be sanded off no problem if I decide to dig them up again. Maybe liquid nails plus 6" screws will do it. Antique barn nails would look the best but will probably cost a lot in NYC.

    Anyway, I think I just need to go for it. I'll let you know how it turns out.

    Yes, sanded and varnished. It will have a natural unevenness, but apparently that's better for your feet.

    They're probably already minorly warped. Never seen boards that thick used as covered flooring, but if you have the ceiling height, who cares? I'd scrap/pull the tiles up, level the floor with floor leveler and shoot the boards into the concrete with Hilti shots. Ask the dude at hilti what length to use and tell him your purpose. you can do the counter sink/concrete screw thing but that's a busted tendon waiting to happen...and a ton of striped screws that if they don't catch all the way will actually force your new boards up.

    If you use the shots, you can grind of the top of your barn nails and glue them on top if you like.

    I'm assuming that floor is concrete????


  • Options
    Make sure you give the boards room to expand and contract, leave about a half inch of space when you get to the walls and cover that up with quarter round. The humid summers in NY will make your floors buckle if they're not left room to expand, keep in mind that your doing this project in the least humid and coldest time of the year. Wouldn't hurt to get some moisture barrier and lay that down between the new boards and the subfloor either.


  • That's really cool.

    Anyone know of a handbuilt wooden turntable?




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