Ed Kennell 35,146 #1 Posted August 18, 2018 Finally completed a big item on the Honey - Do list. Mrs K decided she wanted to replace the worn carpeting with hardwood flooring. After several months of research, we decided to go with a local mill that makes custom flooring. We selected white oak lumber from Cameron Co Pa. The lumber was cut to 4,5, and 6" wide boards and planed to 3/4" thickness. The tongue and grooves were then milled on sides and ends of the boards and stress relief grooves on the under side. The boards were then prefinished with a hard wax oil finish that is instantly cured with an LED lighting system. The finish comes from Denmark where it has been used for decades. The boards then had to be stored in the house for 10 days until the moisture content in the new boards and the old subfloor stabilized and were within 1% of each other. I hired a finish carpenter to do the installation. My job was to remove all the furniture in the house.....remind me to never move. Although living in the garage for 6 weeks was interesting. Remove all the baseboard, trim, baseboard heater fronts, carpeting, padding, tack strips and staples, multiple layers of vinyl flooring and underlayment. Paint the entire house before installing the new flooring. Clean the feet of all the furniture and install felt pads to prevent scratching the floor. Sand, paint, and reinstall all the trim and heaters. A few pics of the project. 10 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 62,360 #2 Posted August 18, 2018 Ed, that looks absolutely fantastic! You folks are going to love that hardwood floor. Most of the upper story of my Ranch is covered with knotty yellow pine flooring. I love the look of it. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WVHillbilly520H 10,369 #3 Posted August 18, 2018 Ed, my hat's off to you for that journey, we were contemplating something similar this spring but other things came up, looks awesome, Jeff. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KC9KAS 4,741 #4 Posted August 18, 2018 We remolded a 80 year old house before we moved into it about 23 years ago....We put hard wood floors in the main floor...Red Oak T & G. We finished ours AFTER we installed it! Your floor looks very nice! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squonk 38,569 #5 Posted August 18, 2018 When I first saw this thread, I thought Ed Dog was going rouge and giving his wife a list of things to do! 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 62,360 #6 Posted August 18, 2018 1 minute ago, squonk said: When I first saw this thread, I thought Ed Dog was going rouge and giving his wife a list of things to do! If he pulls that off.... He can give the rest of lessons 3 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ztnoo 2,297 #7 Posted August 18, 2018 Looks fabulous! The next question: are you having fun yet? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 51,018 #8 Posted August 18, 2018 Ed, that is a Herculean task! I did the same thing about fifteen years ago at our Florida house. I was replacing the vinyl and carpet with tile so I was able to do one room at a time. Even then it nearly put me six feet under, can't even think of doing it now. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevasaurus 22,197 #9 Posted August 18, 2018 I've done a lot of ripping out layers of flooring to get to the sub floor. It is always a major job. That looks fantastic Ken. Some years ago we ripped up a kitchen floor. Under the underlayment they had put a layer of tar paper (usual for around here)...but under that was the real find. We found newspaper from the Elgin Courier News used as padding also. The date on the News Paper...September 1941. What an interesting insight to what had not happened yet. The paper was like brand new. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SPINJIM 1,972 #10 Posted August 18, 2018 Now that you have all that experience, how about coming over and doing some of my flooring? Nice job. I admire your ambition. My flooring days are over. Last year I did the prep work for some flooring, and managed to tear up my knee, and had to have surgery. The doctor bills were more than what it would have cost me to have someone else do the prep work. Besides, I'd rather work on tractors or go fishing. Jim 1 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ed Kennell 35,146 #11 Posted August 18, 2018 2 hours ago, SPINJIM said: Now that you have all that experience, how about coming over and doing some of my flooring? Jim Always willing to help a friend Jim. But to be honest, you are pretty far down on my Do list. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RandyLittrell 3,797 #12 Posted August 19, 2018 That looks so good!! I wish I still had the knees and back to do that! Your wife must be happy!!! Randy 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ClassicTractorProfessor 5,233 #13 Posted August 20, 2018 Looks great Ed...that finish on the wood is absolutely beautiful 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 58,794 #14 Posted August 20, 2018 I did rustic maple in our bedroom this spring, can’t wait to keep the wood flowing through the house! Carpet (mainly the padding) holds so much dirt and filth inside... It was my first time doing hardwood floors, and the room took me two days to complete laying the wood. As with most projects, the girls helped. Their job was to feed me random length boards, and to make sure the stagger was as random as possible. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ed Kennell 35,146 #15 Posted August 20, 2018 Looks great @pullstart. You are right on about the dirt collecting in the carpet and padding. Easy to see and clean up with a "Swiffer" on the hardwood. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Tuul Crib 7,331 #16 Posted August 20, 2018 It will be a lot easier on your Hvac system as well! Nice work!👍 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 46,404 #17 Posted August 20, 2018 Looks nice Ed. You guys are spot on about carpet be dirt magnets. Smooth floors much easier to keep clean not to mention when fido has an "accident" Looks like you got hydronic heat. Hope you had the presence of mid to clean those fin tubes while you had the covers off. Soft bristle paint brush & good shop vac work best. How did the covers line up after flooring? Tool crib is right smooth floor let the convection process work better. You might be able to lower your water temp saving $$ on fuel. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ed Kennell 35,146 #18 Posted August 20, 2018 Yeah, Mrs K pretty much follows me with the Swiffer. I did brush the heat pipe fins Jim...they were loaded with dust. I didn't have to alter the end covers. The new wood floor is the same height as the carpet and padding was, so I have the same height opening at the bottom of the heater fronts. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 46,404 #19 Posted August 21, 2018 15 hours ago, Ed Kennell said: they were loaded with dust Those baseboards are designed to put out 560 btu @ 180 degree hot water flowing through them. As they get dirty this drops off dramatically making one increase the water temp to decently heat meaning more $$ in home heating costs. The good news is back in the day these single story ranches were often over radiated. These baseboards were cheap in the day so installers often used way too much footage of it. As homeowners replaced windows, doors, weather seal, insulation etc. making the house more efficient meaning you can cut the water temp back to say 160-170, a huge decrease in fuel costs. Your front room appears to be an example of being over radiated. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites