Scenario: Amatuer wooodworker (me), just bought a 99.5 year old apple warehouse turned restaurant and am beginning the refurb. Largest concern was the flooring. We really wanted wide plank wood flooring but the expense of a project this size is astronomical. Today, I took a core sample down through all the layers of flooring (many have been added over the years) and found the original wood floors from when the building was built in 1906. They appear to be 2X6 oak (thick because it was a warehouse) tongue and groove but with a 1/4 inch gap (deep and wide) between each board.
Problem: I love the idea of restoring the old floor for the restaurant. My concern is the gap between boards. Can they be filled in effectively and with a nice, old, weathered appearance? If so, with what? They are VERY solid structurally and VERY hard. I tried digging into one with a screwdriver with little success. My thought is that this is great news but I just don’t know what to do with it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
DUST DWELLER
Replies
Just a suggestion, but your local health dept won't love the open joints as they are hard to keep clean.
Howsomeever,If you make a jig to guide your router along and centered above the gaps, you could rout out a dado 2"wider than the gaps and perhaps 1/2" deep,and inlay lengths of 1/2" thick oak 'slats' to cover the gaps.
To allow for minute expansion of the original flooring, I would only pin the slats on one of the joining boards and use very little water when mopping or cleaning the finished floor.
Chances are, the original flooring is not perfectly level and flat. All the better for the antique effect you need. Steinmetz. Send pics...
Finally, pictures attached.After looking closer and considering the region it is located. I am doubting the claim that it is in fact oak. Architectural history for the area would lend me to believe it could be some sort of "clear fir". Local flooring experts say that at the turn of the century, giant firs were regularly sawn into 2X6 and that the only boards used were completely knot free hence the term "clear fir". It is rumored that they were some of the strongest boards available at the time and were regularly used for warehouse flooring. Thanks for all the input so far, any additional is appreciated as well.Dust Dweller
Any chance you could somehow use a historical designation to trump any health board-type problems, or is this just opening up a bigger can o' worms? I wouldn't ugly up something made with old-growth clear fir or anything else if I could work around it. Who knows, it may be advantageous to simply sand it down and restore the finish, after removing the years of build-up, of course.
Dust,
If the original planking was structural, as in a factory floor, it is possible that the planking is southern yellow pine, which (per my structural engineer) is about 1.5 time stronger in this application than douglas fir, and twice as strong as oak. When I heard these numbers I was surprised. I am replacing some floor and roof planking in a 1920's building, and it was quite difficult to source 12/4 SYP. I learned a bunch; went with salvage wood, resawn. It was T&G.Alan
http://www.alanturnerfurnituremaker.com
Six inch wide flatsawn red or white oak will expand and contract just about a quarter of an inch between the dampest and driest times of the year in most climates, so the boards will need 1/4" gaps when they are at their driest state so that they have room to expand during wet weather. True wide board floors have large gaps in them, it is just part of the look.
If the boards are currently at a high moisture content, then you could fill the gaps or reset the boards to close the gaps, but new gaps will open up when the boards shrink as the weather gets drier.
If you fill the gaps or push the boards together when they are dry, the filler will be crushed or the boards will buckle or crush when they expand.
What you can do pretty much depends on the local climate and whether you are in the dryer or moister time of the year.
John W.
I think it's safe to say in the middle of summer that the boards are at maximum expansion. Could be wrong...
I'd run this by the health department inspectors before I started swinging hammers. Maybe the kitchen would be the only place you have to get it closed up. Probably want tile or terrazzo in there anyway.
Maybe, maybe not, he didn't say where he lives, might not be even be in the northern hemisphere and in some areas of the U.S. the winter is the wet season.
John W.
Good point. Maybe he'll tell us where he's located.
Well, you are definately on the right track with the health dept issues in that they don't like cracks and crevices, (including gaps) but it may not be a huge issue in the dining room.What about some sort of heavy epoxy like finish that would fill the gaps, look old AND leave a little flexibity for expansion and contraction?It is a VERY dry climate with almost 0 humidity in the high dessert, 100* and dry in the summer, 10* and dry in the winter, very liitle rain all year long. Is it possible that the boards have reached a point after 100 years that they are done moving and may actually be stabilized?DUST DWELLER
Boards never stabilize, but if the relative humidity is stable year round in your area, then you could tighten up the boards and not have much seasonal movement to worry about. The best finish would be one meant for a high traffic area, a commercial floor varnish I would guess.
John W.
JohnWW, just curious as to why your shouting all the time?
I'm not shouting, I'm just using one size larger font because I have problems reading the smaller size. I would love it if everyone used the larger size it would save a lot of eye strain.
Shouting is indicated by using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, which I don't do.
John W.
DD
OK. I'm stickin my nose in here. You can use a polyurethane caulk/type sealer for the gaps. We use this product in the concrete business for sealing expansion control joints, as concrete moves as well, albeit not as much as wood. The product I'm speaking of adheres to wood EXTREMELY well, as in " it won't come off". Also, it can be purchased in many different colors, and will remain flexible, for the expansion and contraction issue. When dry, (tacky in 12 hours, ready for highway traffic in 24) it remains flexible, but ridgid enough to be puncture-proof. Let me know, and I'll hook you up.
Jeff
That stuff is quite expensive. A strip full length of room every six inches may add up in a hurry.
Call a local wholesaler of hardwood flooring. Ask for a few references for flooring contractors. Get recommendations and bids from them to refurbish the floor. This is not a job for an novice. It's technical, there are professional grade tools (floor sanders) needed, and it's just plain hard work.
Jeff
Women with spike heels wouldn't like the gaps either!!!
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
Another pitfall to watch out for if you caulk the gaps. If you fill the gaps when they are wide and the flooring expands a flexible caulk will squeeze out in ridges the whole length of the joint craeting a particularly ugly effect.
John W.
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