Newbie question: Floor boards

[Elling]

I am going to replace my old, worn out solid pine floor boards with a harder type of wood, and then paint the floor (to match the Norwegian

1890's architecture).

Important features are hardness, shrinking/swelling, paint-friendliness and price. The appearance (colour, grain, knots) is not important because of the paint.

What type of wood (species) do you recommend?

Thanks from Oslo, Norway!

- Elling

[Frank McVey]

Your very own Scandinavian redwood (as we call it) - Pinus Sylvestris, I think. AKA Scots Pine.

Cheers

Frank

[Elling]

I think that's the one I've got. I would like to replace this with something harder, more suitable for flooring.

- Elling

Frank McVey wrote:

[nospambob]

[mttt]

I'm afraid I have no idea what availability and pricing would be in Oslo. But are you familiar with the Janka Hardness scale?

can find a species that's relatively harder, and then balance in the other factors. Since you're going to be painting it, you'd likely shy away from the more exotics.

I recently used some Jatoba (Brazillian Cherry) for some cabinet doors. Beautiful, hard and wouldn't dream of painting it.

I think I'd like to visit, someday. Can a typical bumbling American (who promises to be humble) with no secondary language skills come for a visit without too much trouble?

[Dave Hinz]

I'm not Elling, but I've been to Norway twice. In the big cities, not speaking Norwegian is a minor inconvenience at worst. If you do end up going to Oslo, make sure you go see the Viking Ships museum; they have 3 ships with artifacts, 1000 or so years old, which are beautifully presented and displayed, in a building as beautiful as the contents. The Norwegian Resistance Museum is spectactular as well, and... well, if you'd like to get suggestions, feel free to drop me an email and I can talk to some people.

Dave Hinz

[Phisherman]

Poplar takes paint very well, and one of the lower cost hardwoods, but I'm not certain about poplar shrink/swell properties. In Europe it may be known as canary whitewood or tulip tree. Woods that are commonly used for flooring include sycamore, white or red oak, and soft or hard maple--these would be a safe bet. Always allow for wood movement across the grain.

[Stephen M]

IMHO poplar is *way* too soft for use as flooring.

here in NE USA I would go for oak or maple as that is. Since local availability drives cost, I don't know what to recommend in Norway.

If I were you my criteria would be as follows.

1. hardness (floors take a beating).
2. Cost.
3. Stability

Weighted in that order.