Buying and installing real hardwood flooring.
 

There are several ways to have a wood floor in your home, laminate, engineered and of course the real thing.

As an avid woodworker hobby person my wife and I decided on all natural Florida Cypress it in naturally resistant to bugs termites etc.

If you go to the new Citizens bank in Brownwood you can see a beautiful job with it.

I searched the heck out of direct cypress mills here in Fl, found a great one up near Gainsville.

Spoke to owner showed us all the styles he made and how it was all klen dried.

They had very reasonable prices for all custom cut orders approximately $2.50 a sq ft

We placed our order last week

Received a call yesterday it was ready picked it up this morning and my other half offered to unload the truck

I stacked the wood in LR where it was going.

I want to point out a very important install detail which I'll bet the builder or other installer don't do no matter what type of floor is acclimate the wood the moisture content "MC" is the same as the house it take 5-7 sometimes 10 days it all needs to be spaced out, that was my job

enjoying this thread...keep posting

Free installation lessons (including the beer) if you want to help lay it in about a week!!

Yes, please keep us updated on this! I'm in the planning stages, and choosing mine soon. I hope it goes well, and will be watching for your updates.
Thank you !!!

Oh one thing I'm doing is running the ceiling fan 24/7 to circulate the air for the acclimation process along with keeping the concrete as dry as possible.

And just what is the installation process? Is this glued down, floated, nailed to sub floor? And then how is it finished? Sanded in place? Do they have an engineered version?

And engineered is actually real wood and can be sanded and refinished a few times. It is just pre-finished before install so no need to sand and seal once installed.

Keep us posted and we want final pictures.

About 8 years ago a few super urethane glues were developed that creates a moisture barrier to the concrete along with a rock solid bond, there are two primary manufacturers on the market, I need to speak with them on this application tomorrow and make a choice.

They do make engineered cypress, all you need to do is compare the two, IMO there's nothing like the real wood not only in looks but the feel under foot.

I can tell the difference 20 feet away.

The engineered stuff (not big box stuff) is $9 a sq + install for the good stuff or three times as much. Of course less labor.

This wood is so smooth it appears to be pre-sanded, I will sand in place yes but only with a drywall type sander by hand perhaps a bit with a palm sander here & there.

My last home I did 2800 sq ft this a piece of cake by comparison.

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This is a great project, but I hope you have considered one other aspect. I think it may be a big challenge to get a really tight glue down with 3/4" boards in lengths greater than 3 or 4 feet.

How are you going to avoid lifting in places, especially where there is natural board warp, and the resultant air pockets or "squishyness" which may result? Even the best glues I've used tend to dry unevenly and then bond unevenly.

The key I understand is no board is to greater than 7', I will use compression straps and 2" masking tape to keep the seams tight, if there is any lifting the only thing I know is to place weight in that area.

The boards I have were dried to under 10% and look very flat and straight, they are 10' long.

More of 'my 2 cents':

First, I'd start with glue tests. You need to know the right amount of glue needed on each surface and the number of minutes of set time for optimal bonding. If the glue instructions say something like "apply when tacky" you need to know just what that looks and feels like.

Secondly, the floor pattern for the entire area must be completely mapped out.

Check all boards and set aside any which have an obvious twist or warp. Use those for end cuts and edge boards

Good engineered flooring installers only do a small area at a time, so that they can be certain of a good glue bond and that things don't "get away" from them. I assume your 10' boards are tongue and grooved on the ends, so you're not going to cut them to 7'. I'd probably do no more than 4 boards at a time, 20 sq ft. which is a good size area. Since the boards are staggered, lay them down in place, scribe the glue edge area, then apply the glue only in that area. I would have heavy flat weighted objects, rented somewhere if I had to, to place over those entire board areas after setting and taping them. Have enough weights so you can complete several 4 board areas before removing the set that has been down longest.

This may slow down the job, but it will save problems.

the ends are not T&G so I intended to cut them 7' and less in random lengths.

Your other points will be great to work with.

Since you are cutting all boards, consider 6'/4' instead of 7'/3'. Installation will be a little easier and you may like the floor pattern better. I presume the boards have a slight bevel edge. Be sure to bevel the end cut edges so they match.

Good luck! Have fun! How about a couple of close up photos someday?

agree about 7 & 3 a few but 6/4 5/5 mixed etc is nicer looking, I'm also putting the whole room on a 45 degree cut.

I ordered this with no bevel so it will appear to be a flush floor.

I'll follow up with pics as it goes along.

Well the moisture test is done on the concrete, it was not too bad now I know which glue to order.

The wood is acclimating comfortably getting into frog mode.

I also bought wood for part of the ceiling and the kitchen nook to be installed chair rail height. A bit of a pain around two windows and two receptacles, but it looks pretty good.

While waiting to the glue I completed the Kitchen nook, ceiling is about 1/3 done should finish tomorrow, fun working on scaffold, why is when you get to high point you always realize you forgot something out of your reach and have to climb down. :rolleyes:

I setup my radial arm saw on casters and roll it our of the garage to just outside the front door, all the cypress saw dust goes into the pine straw for added mulch.

Before the floor is laid I want to paint one wall and also paint the 10' home theater screen on the opposite wall, that needs to be sprayed, Also need to clear coat the ceiling.

so I want all that done before the wood is put down.

What cleaning products can be used on laminate and wood floors?

THere R many but a company called Bono makes great stuff check there site

video

Or

This is the BEST way to clean wood floors according to The Cleaning Bug :

"DO NOT...I repeat... DO NOT use vinegar on a wood floor!! I own a cleaning company and am well aware of the damage this method can cause. Vinegar is acidic and will slowly eat away at the poly coating, or wax coating, or oil, whatever your floor is sealed with. It is fine for no-wax linoleum and ceramic but don't use vinegar on wood floors! If you have new wood floors, using anything but what the manufacturer specifically recommends will void your warranty. When in doubt, use just water. I use a product called EcoMist Colloid W and a Rubbermaid commercial microfiber mop and it gets raves from my clients with wood floors."

1) Use a soft microfiber dusting pad (preferably with fringe) and run it along all the baseboards without lifting it. Then run it up and down the room, like mowing the lawn, again not lifting the mop. Lifting the mop allows larger debris to get under the mop pad, which can scratch the floors. You want the larger debris to be trapped by the fringe and pushed ahead of you while dust and dirt is trapped by the microfiber pad. This is why swiffer is horrible...it can scratch!

2) Use the hose attachment on you vacuum to run the perimeter of the room and suck up any trapped dirt near the baseboards.

3) Using a spray bottle, mist the floor lightly with water, or a cleaner specifically formulated for wood floors like EcoMist Colloid W, Dr. Bonners, or Method. DO NOT use Murphy's Oil Soap on your floors, nor should you use Orange Glo. Murphy's Oil Soap will ruin the floors and Orange Glo makes them dangerously slippery. Again, when in doubt, just use water.

4) After lightly misting a small area, use a seperate microfiber pad that is labeled for wet use and mop the area following the grain of the wood.

5) Continue to spray as you go. The floor should dry behind you. Never dump a bucket of soapy water on a wood floor...it will warp, cup, split, and generally need replacing really quickly.

"I recommend the Rubbermaid Commercial Mop with a seperate wet and dry mopping head..they just velcro to the mop. You can get them at Home Depot for about 20 bucks and they do have replacement heads when you start to get icked out by the old ones, but all you need to do is run the wet mop under the shower tap and use some shampoo to clean it out, while the dry mop can be vacuumed with an attachment then thrown into the wash."

We use a similar technique of removing larger debris with a soft dusting pad, then vacuuming, followed up by using the spray/wipe technique with Dr. Bronner's or Method products on our floors. Though we admit we've used Murphy's Oil Soap in the past without any noticeable damage at previous apartments (in fact, a landlord once commended us for keeping his rental floors noticeably clean during our 2 year stay and rewarded us with the full deposit and a handshake). As we noted in the past, there seems like a wide range of techniques and solutions for keeping wood floors clean, with a bit of controversy about using vinegar (we're apt to agree with advice above, as vinegar is indeed an acid).

We had hardwood floor in our Ohio home for many years and it is amazingly durable, but it is wood and wood warps so as Jimbo says don't drench it with water. We use the Sharp steam cleaner on ours after using a dustmop and a sweeper.

Hardwood is beautiful but here installed on cement it is...well like cement.

Installed on wood subfloor like in the north it had a little tiny give and was easier on um...say older ...joints.

But some of you live in newer areas and don't have older joints. Just ignore that part. ;).

Our village is only one year oldish. So it is newer and we are older, but not older than dirt. And some say we are a lotta fun. sigh.

I don't know about that Gracie, U looked pretty lite on your feet last week;)

I think you should have an "Open House" Jimbo, so we can watch the whole project as you install step by step!!!!!!!

anyone can stop by, just pm me ahead of time

here's few pic's of the Nook with my trusty helper "Trouper"

and the start of the ceiling

Beautiful, neat looking

Nice looking job. I'm looking forward to your pics of the flooring!

I think the flooring is light, a bamboo if I am correct.

You are amazing Jimbo. And doing all this only fueled by vegetables. Wow.

Plus you aren't younger than 55 either.

What??!! This isn't going on Youtube????

No don't need to be that public

Update on progress.

the cypress ceiling in now complete see pic (didn't come out that good??)

the home theater screen was set up and sprayed with 6 coats of a flat silver grey finish.

This color is suppose to pickup up all the projector colors correctly.

I needed to get these two smaller projects finished before actually installing the floor and getting it messed up.

Then A-4 was kind enough to stop over and help move out ALL the furniture.

All the carpet tackless perimeter had to be ripped out.

The wood that was stacked since two weeks ago all needed to moved to one side so the layout can be done.

The room has three thresholds, I bought 1x6 cypress just for that, each one has to be beveled to match the tile or carpet height.

Last thing to be done is renting a concrete saw and making a channel for an outlet in the floor under the LR coffee table for laptops etc. :024:

So I'm almost ready to glue the floor down.

Awesome football party house!
:eclipsee_gold_cup:

Hell yea, the screen is almost 12 feet

Jimbo,

You are an amazing guy; Mr. Do-It-Yourself. 3 cheers for 'ya. JIMBO, JIMBO, JIMBO!

Gene

I'm a bit behind on updating this thread and the complaints R mounting.:icon_wink:

Last week sanded the concrete so the glue could get a better bite as per the manufactures tech support.

I put down the first 4 rows as an anchor so I can use the clamping system on the rest of the floor.

Since I like challenge I didn't just lay the wood length wise nooooo to easy it's on a 45 :ohdear:...but I think it will make the room look bigger.

You can see a bunch of blue tape also. U clamp the wood tight with a strapping system then use 2" wide tape to hold it together until the glue sets up. move the clamps more tape.

The reason this floor isn't done is the distributor I was getting the glue from ran out of stock, late yesterday it came in, today with the help of two of my friends Andy & Rusty I hope to finish or almost finish.

more pics to follow.

Hey..wait a minute! Where was the beer today?????? :shocked:

Too early for beer.

You said Tea....or was that Andy......Cathy even went out to get that stuff called milk

Flooring
 

I know you had much more done than shown in your picture or am I dreaming?

Oh yes, about 2/3 done now

the stacks on the floor are already in order to place tomorrow.

Floor
 

Now your're talking!!

:coolsmiley:

O.K. Jimbo, This because I love to talk decor.

You have an interesting ceiling made of wood in, I THINK, the same room as the light bamboo flooring. AND a screen on the wall, so it must be your family room?

Will your home's decor be beachy, cottagy, nautical, traditional, contemporary or something else?

Inquring minds want to know.

contemporary sofa, zen like end/coffee glass topped tables ( made in Thailand) which I'm going spray paint a high gloss metallic silver .

the adjacent dinning area has a early American circa 1860 side board, with a Westfied '30's or 40's expandable table. the dinning chairs are English mid 1800's.

I also have a hand carved 30" tall 40" wooded (carved out of one piece of rare wood from the Philippines) lion watching over everything.

I have for the lanai a very old "Mace" ice box that needs to be soda blasted and then I'll refinish it in a marine spar (with UV) clear coat, it looks like oak.

The cypress theme will continue with the pool/spa Pergola expansion.

We also have hand carved mahogany African wall art from my travels there over the years. Not sure where to place them yet.

So not sure what to call the style?????

only problem is my golf clubs have not yet left the garage........


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