I have acquired American Cypress boards that I plan to use to make a basement shop floor, over a concrete slab.
1. What would folks recommend I use to finish the floor?
2 Is there any particular resource that might be best dealing with how to prep the area and best prevent dampness/ water issues? I do recall an article in FWW a while back, that I will search out.
Thank you,
–Bill
Forest, VA
My repro. furniture scrapbook……… http://www.allanbreed.com/profile/williambrown
Replies
not sure i would use cypress as it is fairly soft
Floor
I've had very good results using the Bona Products.
SA
Solid or engineered?
Solid hardwood in a basement is generally a bad idea. Depending on when/how your house was built, you probably need to add a waterproof membrane.
I wouldn't do a direct glue down of solid wood in a basement. Consider a Bostik membrane followed by "floating" plywood as a subfloor (two layers in different orientations). You could also consider sleepers with rigid foam and plywood as a subfloor.
You should take some moisture readings thoughout the year and keep a close eye on that. This is more of a Fine Homebuilding question, you should take your question there. Charlie Peterson has some good articles/books you can check out too.
IMHO, don't put solid floor in your basement. Insulate with rigid foam and use an engineered product. Make some furniture with the Cypress!
Depends on the age & hardness
All reccomendations made have been good ones.
I work in southeast Louisiana and cypress is a very popular wood.
As previously mentioned, it is a soft wood, so areas with high-impact activites will damage the flooring rapidly compared to a hard-wood floor.
If your species is Taxodium distichum, Bald Cypress, then depending on the age of the wood, it may be suitable for your flooring. If it is old enough growth (+/- 200 years min) to have developed a high quantity of cypressene, the natural preservative in cypress wood, it may not be negatively affected by moisture vapors escaping from your slab; however, a vapor barier may still be warranted if "ponding" occurs.
Cypress is an attractive wood and would benifit from a high durabilty clear coat; satin or gloss.
floor finish
Hi Bill - just joined and thought I would chime in on this one. I dug out my workshop space by hand about 12 years ago. It was a half cellar under my barn with dirt floor and I wanted a wood floor because of my arthritis. I layed 2 layers of heavy plastic sheeting and put pressure treated 2X4 framing with 3/4 plywood t&g flooring type. I never painted it or finished it and it was a wise decission. I have lots of moister down there and the unfinished surface lets the floor breath. During damp season, I'll leave open bags of sawdust laying around to help absorb moister. This year, I will be purchasing a de-humidifier but an unfinished floor would be your best bet if it's not too late.
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