First time poster here. I'm a GC and have locally source and milled about 1,300 sf of antique reclaimed heartpine flooring for a customer. The material was milled at 3 thicknesses - 5, 7, and 9 inch by 3/4 thick. We have installed the flooring in a existing 1960 house over 1x6 diagonal subfloor which is structurally sound.

The issue is that there is a variance between adjacent boards where they where the T&G meet so that some boards are higher/lower by as much as 1/8 inch. I know that this can be sanded out but the homeowner is refusing to accept that we will have to sand out the high areas. I would post a picture but I can't figure out how to.

Is there a standard acceptable variance is this situation? I've got $21,000 worth of heartpine that he is saying he won't accept. My next step is so have a certified inspector from the NFWA come and give their assessment.

Thanks in advance for any comments or insight.

Depends on where you live, in Ontario we have a building code and a 3rd party warranty rep (Tarion) that allow up to 6mm up or down from a specified plane. Typically the threshold for overwood/underwood is 2mm, by NWFA standards.

I had a similar situation with a pre-finished product that came from Europe once, the milling was slightly off and the east facing wall of the house was all windows, so in the morning, the sun would cast little shadows where the boards were higher and it really stood out, even though the boards were only about 2-4mm up or down. Couldn't sand so at the end of the day we went with individual boards replacements on some of the worst offenders, and a carefully planed and stained some of the more mid-range offenders. Then we oiled the the whole thing to raise the gloss a bit, which helped take the eyes away from the slight imperfections, which was enough to get the sign off.

Was the homeowner's concern primarily the loss of the wear layer due to the extra sanding? If the profile is beveled, sanding that much off could remove it on the higher planks - so the "V" is not uniform.

What was the outcome?

It was bevelled, and it was a pain to be sure - I spent most of the day with a small hand planer, stain pens, and a knife. I think we replaced about 15 boards altogether and modified another 20 or so that were only slightly raised. It looked good at the end of it all, but the extra day of labor was something we could have done without

The H/O's only concern was the shadows - not the type of people to worry about maintenance or extra wear LOL

Shadows? How deep was that bevel?

Despite the extra work, I'd chalk that up as a win. Nicely done.

Welcome aboard sondich. I haven't had the chance to be around much the last few years. Nice to have more knowledgeable folks.

As the board admin I'm wondering how you got your profile picture up. I'm lost when it comes to those functions.

Hi Ken! Thanks for having me. I've been in the hardwood lumber business for 20 years. Starting in 2019, I made a concerted effort to try to join forums where I could actually contribute something useful (knowledge not sales promotion) . There are lots of woodworking sites but 99% are geared to the non-professional. Not many for-the-trade sites so I was happy to find your's!

Anyway, I didn't think profile pics worked because I couldn't find any forum posts online showing them.... but they do!

Here's what I did:

1) Sign in
2) Select "User Control Panel"
3) In left column select "Options"
4) Under Profile, select "Edit Avatar"
5) I use the address of an image, rather than uploading an image to the site.

* I use the same profile pic for most of my online groups. It's uploaded to my wordpress website media uploads. So I just copy and paste the address from where the image is hosted. In my case, it's:

https://www.commercialforestproducts.co ... 200913.jpg


You can also use the address of any small image online. Just right click the image, select "copy image address" .

6) Paste the image address into "link off-site" box.

I think that's how it worked for me. Let me know if it doesn't work for you.

FYI, I used to live in Wellington. I haven't been to Bonita Springs before but I'm guessing the beaches are beautiful.

Thanks!

Steve

Works, but too large. I'll fix it later.

Oh well, I'm the admin. I should stand out

I'm on the quiet side as far as promoting. Heck, I even let others make recommendations. Other product name suggestions are welcome providing it's not a sales pitch.

Thanks!