Acclimatising new floorboards

[citizensmith]

I have not been on this for a while, but here goes.
Having got our UK house to a sort of reasonable state (80% done) in 4 years, i realise that the last 20% will probably take 20 years because of distractions. One of these distractions is the families house in Brittany. Stone built, walls 3-4ft thick and probably 17thC or earlier.

The place is in a shocking state. My father in law is a true product of post war britain and loved the combination of concrete, salvaged crittal steel windows, chipboard and doing every thing alone and on the cheap :evil: .

I have had to get a small outbuiling re-roofed properly in french style with slates fixed with crochets (because he bugg*r*d it up with plywood and felt 10 years ago) as we need somewhere for the kids to sleep and i need to replace the upstairs floor as water got in and mushed all the lovely chipboard that had been put in by said father in law.

We only go for relatively short stints as it is basically indoor camping. I want to replace the floor with pine which is reasonably priced and available from French DIY sheds but seems much better quality 20mm T&G stuff than we see here.

Whats the minimum time i can get away with acclimatising it in an unhheated, stone mini barn that untill this month leaked like a sieve when it rained? Should i buy materials ther in Oct and be patient letting it all acclimatise untl February when we/I will go back again?

 

[Jill]

Hi, i would have thought that it wouldn't be a good idea to buy it now and, leave it laying about in a potential still damp unheated barn. I'm sure only a couple of days acclimatisation is required. Sure somebody more knowledgeable will be around soon.

 

[biffvernon]

Response time to changes in humidity will be more than a couple of days.

There's no simple answer. If the boards have been stacked 'in stick', i.e. with bits of wood between them so the air can circulate, through a French summer, they will probably have a pretty low moisture content now. Only the top board will have been rained on, even in a leaky barn. If you now nail them down to the floor of a damp barn, unheated through the winter, their moisture content could rise and the will swell, tightening the joints. However, if you nail them down to the floor of your newly refurbished house and turn the heating up they could dry out even more and widen any joints.

I've just stopped for a break from nailing down floorboards. They are larch, felled last winter, sawn in March and stacked in stick through the summer in a windy place with a cover to keep the rain off. I think they'll be ok.

 

[citizensmith]

Thanks for that advice. The "barn" is only about 5m x 5m square, will never have any heating except a fan heater plugged in if it gets chilly at night. I would not be so concerned if it wernt for the current dampness because of the failed roof. Under a new roof without heating and south facing it should dry out fairly quickly?

The ground floor is concrete which had a damp membrane under it when laid 15 yrs ago. The kids are desperate for their own room as the current arrangment of 5 of us in one bedroom is less than ideal and there was a mutiny on the last visit due to complaints about snoring! I didn't hear it! :roll:

 

[Penners]

You're faced with something of a dilemma, here. Assuming the boards have/soon will come in from the supplier fairly dry (which - as Biff said - after a French summer, plus the possibility that they've come from kiln-dried stock, they probably have/will) then acclimatising them in a damp, unheated autumnal building could very well increase their moisture content. Then, later, when you've got the building nicely dried out and warm, the moisture content will probably come down again.

So if you acclimatise them now for a few weeks, then lay them, you're faced with having them shrink a fair bit at a later date, with gaps opening up between the boards. Alternatively, if you lay them straight away while they're still fairly dry, they could swell in situ and cause problems with cupping, lifting and/or warping.

So you're on the horns of a dilemma.

I suppose the best (ie: least worst!) approach (and I'd welcome Biff's views on this) is to aim for a compromise. Try to lay the boards when they're not too dry and not too wet. Say around 15%-18% moisture content. But that is only a compromise, and you may find in the future that you'll still get some shrinkage.

 

[citizensmith]

OK - if i get the boards on say... sunday or monday (i think castorama are open sundays?) and open the packs up etc, is 4 days enough so i could do the job on Thursday/Friday before coming home.
I was going to use my porta nailer to fix them down (secret nailing) with 50mm nails. Thanks

 

[Penners]

I don't think that four days is going to make much difference. The acclimatisation process will take weeks rather than days.

Personally I would avoid places like Castorama or Monsieur Bricolage and try to buy from a specialist timber supplier. You're likely to get much better quality timber, and to be able to discuss the moisture content of what you're buying.

 

[biffvernon]

That's right. From that source they could well be too dry for your purposes and the resulting swelling could lead to problems during the winter.

I'd go for a builders merchant or sawmill that just has the stuff stacked up in an airy shed or even outside but not wrapped up in plastic. You're more likely to hit the compromise moisture content that Penners suggests. Not too wet, not to dry. Nail them down firmly and don't get worried if the cracks open up a bit next August but look very tight in March.

Here's the floor I've been laying today - a work in progress.

Tips for the sensible: don't arrange your floorboards in a hexagonal pattern and avoid tree-trunks emerging through the floor.

 

[Penners]

A clear case of "do as I say, not as I do", Biff!

Lovely floor - what's the structure? Are we in yurt territory?

 

[biffvernon]

what's the structure? Are we in yurt territory?

 

[robgil]

oooh thats very nice. how is the roof constructed Biff? are the walls cob?

about the floor boards , what if you were to lay them but not fix them down? just leave an expansion gap around the edges then when its all made good inside and everything has settled then nail them down.

 

[citizensmith]

That is a fantastic floor. I can be quite sure mine wont look anything like that!
OK - Builders merchant/sawmills. The next problem is my lack of ability to speak French! They dont teach you at school to ask about relative humidity and the merits of floorboards over other materials! It has alway s ben a problem that when we need something specialised from a builders merchant we end up taking it over or going to a DIY shed and finding it rather than trying to work out what the French words are for it. Our neighbours are very helpful, and it helped that the guy next door is a roofer and is organising the roof work for us. I will post a pic if i can work out how to do it.

 

[biffvernon]

oooh...how ...are...about...what if...?

The Faerie House

 

[Penners]

A fascinating project, Biff. I hope you've got cameras set up to capture a shot of The Faerie Queene when she tiptoes in.

However, I'm a bit shocked to see on the website that the house was built using oil power (the forwarder and the truck on page 3). :wink:

 

[Penners]

trying to work out what the French words are for it.

I've PM'd you.

 

[biffvernon]

trying to work out what the French words are for it.

I've PM'd you.

Is it a secret? Surely we should all be educated in the Gallic ways.

 

[Penners]

No secret - I've just told Monsieur Smith that I might be able to cobble together some French phrases for him to use.

Zut alors.

 

[citizensmith]

This is the pigsty on left which we use to store firewood. Small Barn complete with ivy and manky roof on right. Hopefully by now roof has gone and been replaced and ivy all cur down too.

 

[citizensmith]

Heres some of the rest of the house

View attachment 1

This is the portway under the grain store

View attachment 1

 

[Penners]

Heres some of the rest of the house

Some of...? How much more is there?? :shock:

So, let me see if I've got this clear: you're going to sleep in one of the dozen or so bedrooms (?) in the main house, and the kids are going to be banished to the crumbling pigsty. Is that right?


A man after my own heart. :twisted: