Hi everyone. This is my first post so here is a little background info on me. I am a farmer so generally pretty handy at building things, fixing things and tinkering, but a novice when it comes to fine woodworking.
I recently built a van out into a camper for myself and an acquaintance liked it and hired me to build one for him. He is a bit eccentric and wants it built using untreated unfinished maple t&g. Everything including the floor.
I am currently attaching the floor to the van from the underside using pole barn screws. This has presented a bunch of questions related to potential expansion/contraction issues that I’m struggling with..
should I stack the t&g tight or leave a fingernail gap?On the floor it’d be nice to not have gaps in the planks..
If I attach it too well could it potentially pull apart the seams of the metal floor of the van?
for the most part it will be used And stored in the Rockies where it is pretty dry.
idk, is this a potential disaster waiting to happen? Any thoughts or advice from those more familiar with woods behavior would be appreciated
Replies
I've found that if you install it tight it will shrink a bit anyways unless you go kiln dried
My suggestion is to float the floor. Lay down some foam flooring underlayment, lay down the floor and hold it down with baseboards attached to the walls with construction adhesive. When you put down the flooring, I would glue the planks together tight but leave 1/2" around the perimeter that will get covered by the baseboards.
thanks, that’s good advice but I forgot to add that he doesn’t want any paints or glues because of the chemicals so no plywood or cork subfloor, so I’m assuming no foam too. That makes it harder
If you can use zip screws into the steel from above (through silghtly oversized pilot holes in the wood) instead of from below, wood movement would likely not buckle the floor or hurt the frame. Screwing from below is a far less secure connection as the screws will work loose from the wood over time.
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