resawn floorboards (from old joists)

Absolutely. According to my architect mate, most of the structural timber used in Victorian houses came from Russia - from slow growing forests. This stopped after the revolution so faster growing stuff was then used. Which was manna for beetles, etc. Hence the necessity for protection.

And I'd guess the same applies to oak in principle. Otherwise there'd be no need to talk about 'English' oak or whatever.

About the best you can say of most of it is that if rough sawn (hence low labour value add), strength for money (or stiffness for money) you get a bit more of the desired quality for your pound in softwood than hard, but once you plane it and expose a surface, teh cost advantage all but vanishes, and tyou might as well use a wood thet is suitable and beautiful (the two always being a compromise sadly)

Slow growing pine from cold places is almost as dense as a decent hardwood, but, being slow growing, its just as exepsnive, so why bother?

If you have your own free supply of recycled pine, and your own sawing and planing kit, sure, recycle it..but letting someone rip you off to do it for you?

No comment.

Well bully for you. That will cost yoou an bit extra, but will be great for me, cos I will buy all the offcuts cheaper!

So you have 6 meter long pine planks do you?

Indeed. I paid around 20 quid a sq. m. for mine, but it wasn't from a salvage yard. By the same token 30 x 100-year-old stripped pine doors cost me 100 quid. eBay is your friend, but only if you have a trailer, and are prepared to go up cart tracks ;-)

Regards Richard

Wouldn't you want to give original boards at least a light sanding? IME patina usually=3Ddirt.

Regards Richard

Dont be too worried. I had a long argument with a friend who was doing this, deciding whether there was more damp below the celotex than above!

In the end MY take was that the greatest danger was sticky room air hitting the joists between the Celotex gaps, and in fact the best way to proceed is precisely as for a warm roof: Namely ensure underfloor ventilation, wedge Celotex between the joists, fill any gross gaps with expanding foam to keep it there, tape OVER the joists TO the Celotex with foil tape. And board over.

What lack of T & G will means is dirt gets down the cracks further. That may or may not be an issue for you.

If you're putting carpet on top, can't you put the vapour barrier under the carpet? (which will protect the room if not the boards - but the boards will probably be good for upwards of a hundred years without anyway)

Is that the Lark's Rise place? (hazy memory says that was you, although ICBW :-) - if so I had no idea it was nearly all repro...

That resembles our barn. Character and charm it sure has, but it was built with whatever material they could lay their hands on (and to a certain extent the house is like that, too) and I'm sure there was beer involved :-)

cheers

Jules

Because it matches the stuff Victorian houses were built of? And is near impossible to get new these days.

And offcuts is what you're buying with your 'cheap' oak.

No. 16ft is the widest part of the room. 32ft long, though. So the joists are 16ft plus, sitting on a sleeper wall. How much would that cost in oak?

Most wood changes colour on the surface when exposed to light, etc. Pine perhaps more than most. Patina on floorboards would include the usual dents etc.

Yes, it is a good idea to put Kingspan underneath, provided you ensure the under-floor void is ventilated, to avoid damp and rotten joists. No, you don't need a plastic vapour barrier, as the foil on Kingspan is itself a vapour barrier. No, spills of water on floorboards won't cause rot as they will dry out from above, provided you don't trap them under carpets.

Regards Richard

A light saanding removes the dirt but leaves the dents. This is what I've just done in my pine-floored hallway. The boards still look old, but not filthy ;-)

If you're sanding down far enough to remove the dents, you're making work for yourself, not least in punching down all the bards beforehand. I did my hall with 80 - 150 grit in a belt sander, and managed to avoid doing that.

Regards Richard

I mean to add:

That's true, but any colour you lose in the sanding you'll get back within a year, assuming sunlight.

Regards Richard

Damn welsh poets, no idea how to fit floors ;-)

Regards Richard

I haven't got the price list of my local oak man handy, but there would be discount on that, and a bit more if no T&G..less wastage and machining to do.

Yup. thats us.

It was an interesting project in satisfying a visual specification, whilst satisfying structural reuiremenmts and building regulations.

The kick is when people ask how old it is, and guess at 600 years 'but modernised inside of course'

The good stuff is still there but tends not to filter through to the retail end because of price. Merchants like James Latham and CF Anderson are pretty knowledgeable about softwood

Indeed. I had to do some research of raw lumber for someone who needed something specialised and was too busy to find it..its all there at very sensible prices.