Just finished planing and jointing our 6 inch white oak planks. Looks beautiful!

Just getting ready to t & G using table saw and dado. My question is, how important is it to T & G the ends of the planks? I will do it if necessary, but if not it will save a lot of work.

Thanks, Don

Way back in my day, plank floors never came with milled ends. Although, we did have to drill, screw, and plug the joints though, so yes, you will need to fabricate some form of joint. I imagine a biscuit cutter will do, or if that tooling is not available, you could mill grooves into both end joints and use splines. If you really want to save time, maybe just using urethane glue under the joints will do an adequate job. (I wouldnt do this though)
Anyone besides me ever have to use a brace and bit for the old screwing and plugging process? For that matter, anyone old enough to know what a brace and bit is?lol

Brace and bit? Of course I know what it is. But electric drills have been around way longer than us so I never saw the need to use one. RE: the end butts. Many custom floor mills will not end match ( T&G ) their wider plank floors. Shoot, Carlisle flooring isn't even squared up. Carlisle says that one can use a urethane adhesive or face nail with heavy cut nails into the joists. They don't recommend screwing and plugging because they say their flooring does not need sanding. The one I installed did not require sanding. We glued and nailed per instructions. Sounds like the OP will most likely be sanding his floors, so screwing and plugging is the old NOFMA recommended way of doing it. Any of the ways Dennis recommended would work. It is merely a matter of preference at this point.

Thanks Dennis and Gary. That is very helpful. I will try to T&G the ends, If that proves too difficult I will screw and plug them.

Don