sqf to linear foot conversion....

[JimMorrissey]

I have a 250 sqf sunroom that I'm pulling the old carpet out of and replacing with oak flooring. A local person had some of his old oak trees milled by a flooring manufacturer into T&G flooring a few years ago, so it should be fairly stable. My question is:

How many linear feet do I need to buy to get the job done (250 total sqf)? The flooring planks are a mix of 6", 5" and 4". There must be some kind of formula....I suppose I could figure it out, but if somebody has a quick rule of thumb I'll take it.

Thanks!

 

[mwechtal]

Jim,
Well, if it was all 6", then a 1' board would be 1/2 sq. ft. so you would need 500' plus some extra for waste.

Let's say that the average board is 5", so a 1' long board would be 5/12 sq. ft. or .4167 sq. ft. Dividing that into 250 gives us 600', but again you have to allow something for waste, like when you have to cut 2" off the end of a board to finish a row. I wouldn't want to use such a small length.

Does anyone know what the typical waste factor is for installing hardwood floors?

Mike

 

[BB_TX]

As Mike mentioned, if the overall average width of all the boards was 5" wide, then 600 linear feet would give 250 sq ft with no waste. However, if there were more 4" boards than 6" boards, then you would need more than 600 linear feet. On the other hand, if there were more 6" boards than 4" boards, then you would need less than 600 linear feet.

 

[GerardC]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Does anyone know what the typical waste factor is for installing hardwood floors?Mike )</font>

Your total + 10-15% is what the manufacturers say should be allowed for waste. Gerard

 

[BigAl]

Jim,
Here is a formula to use . Since you will be using different width boards , the SQUARE FOOT formula changes as different board width's are used. Here is a conversion table based on the different width boards . This is ASSUMING that the boards you are using have a "finished" exposed width of 4,5 or 6 inches not inculding the tongue or groove that would interlock them together. The tongue or groove of the board cannot be considered in the finished width when tallying square footage .

4" width x 1 lin foot = .33 Square feet

5 " width x 1 lin foot = .415 Square feet

6" width x 1 lin foot =.50 Square feet

You will still need to determine how many of each width board you are getting in order to come up with a exact square footage figure . I would add 10% for waste to your order .Or you could "average" the three different widths boards and proably come fairly close as one "poster" mentioned.
Big Al

 

[turnkey4099]

Of course you must be sure that you are talking -actual- width vs nominal. In dimensional lumber a 1x6 is only 5 1/2" wide, 1x4 3 1/2". Don't know if finished flooring is the same.

Harry K

 

[Cliff_Johns]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Your total + 10-15% is what the manufacturers say should be allowed for waste. Gerard )</font>

This is a good number for manufactured lumber, however if a friend had some trees milled for flooring, I'd make it 20%. There will be boards that turn out to unacceptable because of color, grain, splitting or what ever. There is no preliminary quality control. It also depends some on the shape of the room since small pieces can be used up in nooks and crannies, but in a big square room, anything under two feet long is going to look strange -- especially given the nice width you're getting. It also depends on the underlayment. If you're laying the floor on sleepers, it will limit your use of smaller boards. If on a 3/4 ply base, you have more flexability.

Make sure you allow the boards some time to settle in the room before using them. If the humidity changes much you're going to have gaps in the winter and bulging in the summer. There's a reason why most oak flooring is narrow -- lots of narrow boards mean smaller gaps in the winter. The whole floor will shrink the same, so if the wood on a 10' wide floor shrinks an inch, then there will be an inch gap spread over some number of joints. If you had really wide oak boards, you would have really wide gaps.

Cliff

 

[BigAl]

Good points Cliff. One thing I saw in Panama was the way they dry their wood flooring . They stand it on end and interlace it like a Indian TeePee . This lumber is left like that for about two months under cover and it air dries.This is lumber that was brought straight out of the jungle the week before . It was amazing when I went back and looked at it after installation a year later . NO shrinkage at all !
Big Al

 

[JimMorrissey]

Yep, 1x6 will finish to 5 3/8"

 

[JimMorrissey]

Cliff,

Yes, I figured 20% + waste for "mill run" Oak. It's very well aged (over 2 years) so hopefully that won't be too much of a problem. I wonder if it takes on moisture in the summer/spring if it could possibly buckle? Just to be sure I'll leave 1/4" near the baseboard so it can move a bit.