1'' x 16'' wide oak planks for flooring

[dadster4]

I would have all your lumber brought to a woodshop to be trued, squared up, finish sanded, relief grooves cut on the bottom side, and tongue and grooved. If not, you will have gaps between boards, and a very uneven surface with sharp edges. The boards will expand and contract with changes in humidity no matter what you do, that's what the tongue and groove joint is for, and will allow you to blind-nail it down through the tongue. NO GLUE! That will split your boards for sure. It would probably be best to limit the width to 8" or less to help control the amount of movement.

 

[bigtiller]

Just out of curiosity, how much is a 14' long 1"x20" oak board worth? I'd love to see a pic of floor when the project is finished.

 

[Billrog]

From my experience with oak flooring kiln dried then seasoned to the home 3/4' thick 4" width T&G a 1/16" gap in places is not uncommon. Taking this into consideration 8" you could double it. For this reason many floors were laid with 3" wide t&g boards. An underlay felt paper is used to avoid squeaky floors. I've always put them down with T nails and a flooring nailer. I've seen some wide plank floors with a rustic look that looked nice if you don't mind a few gaps.
Real Wisconsin Floors.com

 

[DFB]

Interesting indeed! Are these air dried and stickered boards or have they previously been kiln dried and how have they been stored up to now? Rough cut or surfaced at all? What level of finish product do want to see achieved Surface planed and edge machined would be best. Shiplap or T&G. Until you start laying them down hard to truly see all the discrepancies.

My 2 cents...yup at least four fasteners per board at those widths, plus rosin paper underlayment to control wood on wood squeaking with movement. No glue.

Should be an impressive finished floor when you are done.

 

[IXLR8]

The house I grew up in was built in 1820, had boards 12"-18" wide, had gaps between the boards of about 1/4"-1/3". Dad filled the gaps with caulking because mom was tired of loosing stuff to the basement. He had to redo the caulking every 5 years or so, I never thought about it at the time but I bet it was due to the boards moving. Another issue, if my memory serves me, the caulk he used hardened when it dried and didn't remain flexible, which I bet didn't help the problem.

 

[dragoneggs]

Wow! I'm jealous... drooling as I type. I too don't have any experience with installing wide hardwood flooring. If I were you, I would definitely get a professional to at least advise you. I think you may want it floating to some degree... glueing doesn't feel right to me. You surely don't want to screw this up. Good luck and keep us posted. Pics too please.

 

[CalG]

You can not prevent the wood from moving with the seasons. So ... work with it!

If wanting to lay it in a "conventional manner, Saw the planks into 4-5 inch width , but keep the planks "matched" to bring out whatever grain and pattern you might have. (Oak not known for exceptional figure)

If you want the true "wide plank" look and effect, Look into some of the floating flooring technologies that make use of flat spring loaded securing mechanisms that allow for movement, yet retain the tight joints while securely holding the flooring to the subfloor. They are available. There is a "yoga studio" nearby that has 12" plus soft wood flooring. Spectacular, and all the joints stay tight through the changing seasons.

eta

I laid a wide pine floor in the spare bedroom about ten years ago. Native wood (VT) everything is just over a foot wide. The wood was dry stored for over 6 years in the attic of the shop. The floor went down in the summer with "tight joints" top nailed with pre-drilled cut nails.

With a wax finish, the floor is very nice indeed (no shoes). The seems open up to fit a penny once the wood stove starts crank'in the heat. Like now.

The gaps are not distracting, but you can feel them with bare feet.
If the pine would have been set tight in winter dryness, compression set would have the gaps even wider after the first summer swell.

 

[Egon]

The reality of the wide flooring Boards finally sunk in!

Before doing anything get some technical advice and even consider hiring the installation. Them boards are just too hard to come by to muck anything up!

 

[rodsauder]

Thank You for all of the responses. I will seek some professional advice. I will not be cutting the boards down as I feel that they are unique and I will live with some gaps if it ends up that way. My home is a 180 yr old stone house and the pine floors in the kitchen are original and wide planked pine. Yes, there are gaps, I have filled the gaps with a flexible caulking which seems to work well. My previous job was working at a specialty wood shop. This is where I acquired these boards. I have had a few people try and give me a price and have had some interesting offers. I seriously have no idea of what the boards are worth. I have the main starting plank ( 21" wide x 8' long) I plan on placing this in the center of the room and then working off of it. I also have enough cherry ( only 8" wide) to do frame around the outside perimeter So it will be kind of like a picture if you get my meaning.That is the plan ,anyway. I will post pictures along the way. Oh, the planks are in the house now and have been for a few weeks. Job will start after the holidays. Thanks again to all who took the time to post.

 

[BigBoyToys]

Seeing you're keeping the boards "wide", I would definitely "relief cut" the backs to minimize cupping!!! I wouldn't use a table saw to do this. The relief should be a "half round" or "angled" cut to prevent the boards from splitting. Those boards are too nice to not take the time to install properly. Find a local mill with a full finishing shop and they'll help you out.