Making my own hardwood floor

I've read plenty of advice on this list against making your own hardwood flooring. But since I'm not so bright and stubborn as hell I'm going to do it anyway ;-) I'm going to do a small room (only about

150 square feet) tht my daughter will use as a dance/play room. Its an upstairs room with a plywood subfloor (currently carpeted).

I've got a ton of beautiful 8/4 hard maple in 10' lengths, from 6"-13" wide. I've also got enough brazilian cherry to trim the perimeter of the room. Its a mortal sin not to do something with this wood! Here's my plan- if you're so inclined please respond with any advice/comments etc. I'm not experienced at this, but have all the tools I should need.

1) Resaw some 8/4 planks to 4/4. Let sit a couple weeks to readjust. 2) Jointer the bottom and one edge, flat & square 3) Rip to a conistent width (I've read 2 1/2" is standard and advised because of wood movement, any advice?) 4) Surface plane down to 3/4" 5) T&G the edges on a router table. 6) Since I don't have a shaper, I'd need to do the bottom reliefs using the table saw. Any reason not to do this? 7) Sand the top smooth using a drum sander 8) Rip up the carpet, mesure cut etc & install the boards. Any advice here on nailing? Would any kind of rubber pad or moisture barrier be helpful/desired? 9) Will I need to do any additional sanding on the installed floor, if I've already got it smooth before installing? 10) Finishing advice for hard maple? (I want clear, probably mild gloss) 11) Know any good chiropracters in the bay area?

Thanks a million. Eric

Reply to
uber_goober
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Yes, there will be little imperfections where the boards meet.

I've seen water based poly recommended by a lot of flooring pros. I don't have personal experience with it.

Knee pads. Don't even think about starting without them.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Are you talking about the grooves on the bottom of standard hardwood flooring? If you mean with a shaper head that goes in the table saw, I don't see a problem.

I put down a prefinished 3/4" oak floor in one of our bedrooms 4 or 5 years ago. I seem to remember putting down tar paper over the subfloor.

The prefinished flooring I bought was still not completely smooth once installed. If you're looking for something that is smooth, I think you're going to have to sand it in situ.

todd

Reply to
Todd Fatheree

Hi, While I have never milled flooring I have bought unfinished mill run flooring, cut out the bad sections, sanded, finished and installed. I used biscuits on the ends. Probably unconventional, but it was fast and simple -- and the floor has held up fine. If you want to finish first (or at least not sand after installation) you have to bevel the edges otherwise the difference in heights will be very apparent. I like the beveled edge look, but if you want a basketball court type smooth floor, you will have to plan to sand it once it is installed. I have used a 4 x 24 belt sander followed by a random orbit sander for a hallway, but for any reasonable size room, do yourself a favor and rent a floor sander. I installed my floors over a half lapped double layer of roofing felt. My goal was twofold -- moisture barrier from basement and prevent squeeks. Seemed to work OK. I suppose it would be possible to hand nail, but a flooring nailer makes the job go quickly. I used one that was powered by a strike with a big mallet, but air assisted ones are available. You still must hit them with a mallet to set the board in place which then activates the air drive mechanism. I bought my nailer at a local auction and then sold it again when I was done with it. Renting one would be a more conventional approach.

Have fun. Mill

Reply to
MP Toolman

Others have given you some good advice on milling the flooring so I'll only add one note about finishing. Highly unlikely that all the wood will have the same tone and therefore will not look even when you finish it. You may want to think about applying mild bleaching agent to even the overall appearance out.

I'm presently building a maple table top and although I hand-picked the wood specifically so it would all look the same - it's not good enough. I tried a wood bleaching kit from HD which worked very well and all the wood is the same tone. Just don't sand to hard on the final sanding. The kit is out in the shop and it's -7°F out there right now so I'm sure you won't mind if I don't go out there and look for it....

Bob S.

Reply to
BobS

Eric, I would guess the main drawback to making the flooring yourself is the cost of materials and then the cost of your labor.

If these are not barriers, go for it.

Dave

Reply to
TeamCasa

I find that a bit of peanut butter on the hook will help draw out the old lurkers.

-j

Reply to
J

You might want one of these:

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Reply to
Roger Shoaf

Why not cut to the required width first, would be easyer to resaw.

No reason, reason this was done was to save shipping weight on the final product. (Believe it or not)

Power nailer. Red rosen paper is OK for the second floor, only reason to use it is to help the flooring slip into place.

YES. to prevent tripping on the boards from overage. Like that flooring term. It means the uneven boards from milling.

Pro waterbase finish, with hardner. "Street Shoe, or "Traffic, search the net

Must be some with all that butt riding going on, sorry could not resist.

Reply to
<tdevery

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