Relaying Floor

[Taff in Glaws]

A substantial amount of floorboards (nice 10 inchers) in two of my rooms are badly damaged and I plan on using the better ones in one room. The problem is not all joists are level, some of them roughly sawn and have been 'packed out' to level the floor (?) with strips of wood (?firring strips) of which many are split and damaged. Any tips on what I should use to level the floor? Someone suggested strips of hardboard.

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

First of all I'd not be too perfectionist about getting your new floor dead level / flat. If you straighten things up too much you'll risk losing some of the character of the old floor.

You could certainly pack up the joists on top with any solid material such as plywood, hardboard or (purists look away now) MDF strips. This would potentially give you 3, 4 and 6mm shims to work with. For this sort of work I keep a stock of 1mm and 2mm strips bandsawn off 2" stock so that I can get pretty good fine tuning. Pin the packings onto the joists in a few places - the boards will hold them down properly of course.

Alternatively you could screw additional timbers to the side of the joists, which woud allow you to set the new floor at a consistent level. This would possibly be quicker and easier than packing the bearing surfaces, and would have the added benefit of stiffening the joists somewhat.

When nailing down your refurbed boards consider the effect of hammering on the ceilings below (assuming these are upstairs rooms). When I laid an upstairs floor I used an air nailer to avoid disturbing the fragile lath & plaster below. Of course, the lack of cut nail heads is rather unauthentic.

 

[Penners]

1mm and 2mm strips bandsawn off 2" stock.

You bandsawed 1mm strips?? How many of them were stained red?!

 

[another_richard]

I used scaffold planks as floorboards on a job I completed a while ago(ones that did not pass safety inspection) very cheap and used mixture of wood sizes to level out the floor, 2 x 2 4 x 2 etc.

Once coloured they looked very good, honest.

 

[plumbers mate]

Penners asked .. >>You bandsawed 1mm strips?? How many of them were stained red?!

He can't answer, you know - not unless he uses voice recognition software. Typing without fingers can't be easy.

 

[piper]

Penners asked .. >>You bandsawed 1mm strips?? How many of them were stained red?!

He can't answer, you know - not unless he uses voice recognition software. Typing without fingers can't be easy.

Many's the time I've bandsawed 1mm strips, sometimes less. With a good bandsaw, care and a push-stick it's no problem.

Now, CHAINSAWING them is a bit more difficult

 

[Penners]

They have a saying in the Forestry Commission:-

There's no such thing as a slight accident with a chainsaw.

 

[Taff in Glaws]

Thanks for tips.
Hardboard worked well, joists about as wobbly as Gloucester in Tweekenham!

I haven't got a bandsaw and needed my fingers intact this weekend for cradling the old black Irish(!) stuff.

 

[Gervase]

Agree on the bandsaw - the best investment (£60 at auction) I made when it came to filling in gaps in the floorboards. With the blade under a decent amount of tension and care in feeding the stock through, you can get surprisingly thin cuts.

 

[Penners]

Agree on the bandsaw - the best investment (£60 at auction) I made

That was a real bargain. Mine cost me 120 quid ten years ago, and it's a pootling little thing.

Still my favourite gizmo, though.

 

[Penners]

Gloucester in Tweekenham!

16-44 down, eh! There'll be some tears shed in The Shed!

 

[Taff in Glaws]

Brad nails or screws?

Brad nails look authentic though some have to be re-sited, should I drill a pilot hole before striking them?

Screws would be ideal but I can't think how to cover them and I think they would look tacky, any ideas?

Penners the tears in the shed have dried up, there wasn't that many 'cos most of us only got one eye! Also DR has bought us a speedy southern hemisphere tank somewhat like the one Leicester had last week to cheer us up

 

[Taff in Glaws]

Looked through previous threads and got some ideas on sanding but a little confused on finishing my boards for a bedroom that will have little traffic. Do i need to seal the wood before finishing with poly-u varnish?(not going for oil Toby N has convinced me!)

 

[Penners]

Are you finishing old boards or new ones? If the former, then you need to be careful about what you put on them, just in case they already have a non-compatible finish on them. For example, putting PU over existing wax could be a recipe for future problems (ie: the PU lifting or crazing).

If the boards are new, then a polyurethane varnish (if you really want to use it) will seal the wood itself. The best practice is to put on one coat, let it dry, then rub it down with fine sandpaper to get it smooth (silicone carbide P200 or similar is best).

Then put on a second coat of PU.

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

Not varnish, no no no!

Will yellow, crack, flake and generally look awful in about 6 years time.

My recommendation is Osmo Polyx wax-oil. Very easy application, great coverage, no sanding between coats, easy retouch.

No connection with Osmo except as a very satisfied user.

 

[Penners]

I must say that I agree with Andrew.

 

[Taff in Glaws]

Have to be honest I skimmed the oil vs PU debate in previous threads and was a little concerned re VOC in oil preps after reading Toby Newell's thread. I used a water based acrylic varnish approx 10 yrs ago in previous property and it still looks pretty good when I visit there, no yellowing or cracking.

Still got some time to consider and would be interested in other opinions but thanks Andrew and Penners you have swayed my opinion and i have seen many pro Osmo postings previously. :?