Hello All

I have a question for whoever feels like talking!

For quite some time now I have been lurking around reading everyone's posts, but haven't really posted much myself at all.

My husband and I want to put wood floors in two areas of our house, so that's why I originally signed up here but that's besides the point.

A friend of mine just finished putting 12" pink plank flooring in his house, and he called me to ask if I'd be interested in the material he has left. Apparently he ordered 100 sq. ft. too many.

My husband & I are interested in installing this in our guest room (85 sq. ft. not including closet).

Would this be a total nightmare? I have read a lot of things regarding wide planks, and pine flooring and such. Many things have been suggested....

gluing w/ bostick, face nailing, blind nailing, finishing with waterlox, tung oil, bona's traffic, etc.
So many things have been mentioned that I don't even know what to think anymore - lol! I think I've ready too many posts...I've noticed Gary has responded to a lot of the wider plank posts, so I'm hoping I get lucky and maybe he'll have some advice for me too!

Some info I know about the wood is:
I don't believe it is t&g
The boards are all 12" wide, length varies between 6' - 8'
Thickness is 3/4"

We have a humidistat that keeps things around 47-50% is this okay for year 'round conditions?
We are in Seattle, so during the summer months (right now) we do not have A/C...How is this going to affect the floor in the winter? major gapping?

Basically I'm trying to figure out...Is this worth installing? We're wanting to go for that old traditional/colonial type flooring look, and I figured this 80 sq. ft. room would be great to try it out in to make sure we like it...

What type of install should we use? Should we glue at all? I'm thinking we should Face Nail, but I want to get the opinions of others on this...

I'm still debating on the finish since...I would like it to have a nice finish that doesn't scratch too entirely easy (I've heard Bona Traffic is good for this), but I've also heard that finishing is kind of hit or miss for pine flooring (I've heard people have had good luck with the waterlox/tung oil as well).

Sorry if this is long, but I appreciate the input/opinions if you could please respond

Thanks!!!

Is there a better place I should post this rather than the General topic???

Please let me know...I'm hoping to at least talk to someone (?)...

Or does anyone have recommendations on where to get some more information as far as wide plank installation?

Thanks,

On wide plank it is always a good idea to glue. The question is whether to full trowel glue or to bead glue. I personally like to bead glue and blind or face nail. If you are going to face nail you should be fine with bead gluing and it will be less expensive than a full trowel. For you area a full trowel glue will cost you about 50 bucks where as bead will cost you about 10. What you will want to do is get a calk gun and some containers of PL400 or a tube based urethane adhesive and put a good bead on both ends of the board as well as one down the center. And then face-nail the board in three rows as well, with a ring shank nail. If you are going to use cut nails (square head) or some other decretive nail then consider doing a full trowel as they do not have enough holding power.

As for finish it is a matter of preference. Pine ambers heavily when you use an oil based product on it. It will take on a dark yellow tone it is one of the most ambering woods. Water base like Bona Traffic are more durable and will maintain more of the pines natural white characteristics, which makes it not look like pine you are used to seeing as most pine furniture has an oil base finish on it.


The best Pine finish I have seen for furniture or floors consist of a four step finish. It consists of:

1. After installing the floor and sanding, take drain cleaner and thin it down with a little water. Paint this mixture onto the pine and cover with plastic for 12 hours.

2. Get a honey colored stain and thin it down (allot) with paint thinner, and spread on the floor.

3. Tung Oil

4. Polyurethane finish either oil or water.

Try it on a piece of pine and see if you like the results. This is how new pine furniture is antiqued to take on the more honey tone that pine gets with age.

Great Advice Ken

I have read a lot about the gluing with the planks, and wanted to get an opinion of someone else - other than just reading an article.

Thanks for the advice on the finishing...I think we're going to end up face nailing the boards with a ring shank nail just because we're not necessarily looking to hide the fasteners - might look a little more like old pine.

I am definitely looking for the more amberized look, so I will try what you suggested here on one of the boards.

As for the tung oil...What would you say is the best way to apply this? I read somewhere (maybe a post?) that it is easiest to apply with a trim pad, but I did this on a chair previously and had kind of streaky results...And the tung oil never seemed to fully dry?

I may have had too much tung oil? Any advice for application of that?

Thanks so much!

If I may interject, The first thing I should make clear, is that Waterlox is NOT pure tung oil, but a tung oil wood finish. Pure tung oil is fine for furniture that does not get a lot of use. Tung oil, or “Danish oil” alone is NOT recommended for use on floors, or furniture that gets heavy use, because it doesn't form a film and will therefore water spot, not stand up to foot traffic and it will take quite some time to dry...

Our products are different from those that are 100% tung oil. We basically take Tung Oil (a superior drying oil), Resin and Mineral Spirits and (along with 11 secret herbs and spices) cook all the ingredients into a complete wood finish that gives you the look and feel of a naturally oiled wood, with the additional benefit of forming a film that is waterproof, stands up to foot traffic, and protects against household spills. Waterlox is best applied with a lambswool applicator. You can find complete floor finishing instructions on our web site at: https://www.waterlox.com/site/478/default.aspx

Good luck with your project!

David Zarzour
Marketing Manager
Waterlox Coatings Corp
dzarzour@waterlox.com
http://www.waterlox.com
800-321-0377

David, does the Waterlox add any coloring to the wood, do you mix stain with this, use an amberizer?

I read somewhere on the web site that someone mixed stain with either Bona Traffic or Waterlox (I cannot remember)...I don't know how their project turned out, but I'd be curious to know the results.

I use a TON of Waterlox (You go Dave!)
Yes you can add some stain to the first coat of the Origional Sealer. I suggest you experiment on some before committing. Check www.waterlox.com for some instruction ... how much to mix in etc.

I like it primarily on softwoods due to its elasticity to dings and such ... will not crack or peel.

You humidistat seems to be just right.

I prefer using a trowel plank by plank, but that is just me.

Check out these awesome nails for your project as well www.tremontnail.com

They are the exact nails that Carlisle Wide Plank uses.
Tremont has useful info on helping you select the quantity and style for you on that site as well.

Do your thing and have fun!

Hope this helps,

P.S.

My second (but also a favorite) finish for this floor would be the OSMO finish used by this guy in your local area www.leblancfloors.com

he's a regular poster here to and you might even look him up and give him a call ... seems like a great company and willing to advise as well....

Have fun!!!


P.P.S.
Some gaps (to a small degree) should be expected on this type of floor. Look at some of the photos here and understand that it is (IMO) part of the charm. ACLIMATE properly to help in controlling this for sure.
www.wideplankflooring.com

Cool technique!!! I need to try this ... thanks for sharing some trade secrets.

By the way, Ken, what happened to your web site??? Didn't you used to have one? If I remember it was a very awesome site.

What is this supposed to do? Most drain cleaners are lye based, which is a caustic acid, yes? So is this like "fuming" or bleaching or neither? Inquiring minds would like to know!

Thanks All! I'm hoping to try the waterlox...Can I purchase from their site? I don't actually have any yet, just read a lot about it

Also, the nails that were suggested...Those are just purely decorative, or are they actually functional as well?

Going on vacation here for a couple of days, so if I don't get to check this post until we get back - thanks so far for the advice, and have a good 4th!

-Jen

Tremont nails are functional. They are genuine fasteners. They give in depth descriptions of each nail at the site and they're pretty helpfull on the phone too.

Call Dave, Maryanne, or Kelly at Waterlox and they can tell you who thier closest distributor to you is and I'd bet that the distributor can sell it cheaper than thier price on the web site.


Take Care,

It’s a long story but basically, my father wants to retire and I was getting to the point where I was only doing sales. So we talked about it and decided that he would help me on any historic restoration jobs that I, want to do but that he does not want to do new homes anymore. So we closed shop and I went back to into software development. We do only restorations now and we even pass on a lot of those. I really did it for the love of the art of woodworking (we did a lot of inlays and custom trim molding too) and as I said I was getting to where I was just doing sales so I lost a lot of interest in keeping the business open. Thanks on the site I built it myself.

Gary, here is an article on it: http://www.briwaxwoodcare.com/lye.htm
It’s an old furniture trick that a crown molding guy taught me and I adapted it to floors. The lye reacts with the tannins in the pine to cause it to honey. I like to call it honey as the word amber does not fit the effect.


This is an approximation of the finish:

It uses a wax finish but tung, and satin poly will get you close.

The wood still has about a week to acclimate to the room, but I am rounding up all the things I'll need to do the job

Any suggestions on honey colored stains? brands that are better than others?

I have yet to "test" out different finishes on a scrap piece of wood...I am still thinking of going with the waterlox though...Didn't hear much about the Bona Traffic for softwoods.

Any suggestions for stains though would be great

Also, would you recommend mixing the stain with the first coat of finish, or stain then use the finish/poly?