Oak flooring - direct from the mill?

Kildafornia

Hi folks. I'm pricing flooring and can't believe the difference in price between a length of 12" x 1" kiln dried oak from the mill, and what the floor company charge for the same, but with tongue & groove and some varnish. Am I missing something? Could I T&G the sawmill planks myself and have the same end product? Surely if it's kiln dried and allowed to climatise it won't split / cup / twist etc. cheers

recipio

Interesting idea. ( see the write up in the Irish Times mag last Sat about growing your own timber )
Do you have the facilities to kiln dry it ( at least 10% wastage ) cut it, machine it and leave it to settle for a while ?!
The T+G machining on flooring timber has to be perfect - something like an automated spindle moulder would be needed.That explains the aftermarket value as well as the usual retailing margins.

Kildafornia

Well I could buy kiln dried timber at half the shop price and machine it myself. I have some but not all of the machinery, but the savings over 200 square meters is substantial. It might take a month of my free time, but if it is possible it might be worth saving the retail margin. It sounds like the difference between a plank of wood and a floor board is the machining and the finish, is that it? You could do a nice job of wire brushing a floor and lime waxing it.

recipio

Certainly if you have the machinery its possible. However, even kiln dried timber sitting in a yard will have a moisture content of about 14 %. You would want to bring it indoors for a month to get it down to about 9 -10 % ( You will need a moisture meter )
We are talking about a plain unfinished oak floor when comparing costs ? Some of the flooring products will have tough resin finishes which of course drive up the cost.

dathi

ye its doable if you have a planner, a thicknesser, an accurate table saw, and a spindle moulder with a power feed.made an elm floor for my bedroom but i had all that gear. first you cut the timber into lengths, then you plane it flat next you thickness it, then you plane a straight edge ,(as none of it from "mill" will be straight) next you cut it to width on table saw, then another pass over the planer to take out saw marks , then you groove one end of plank on spindle moulder , then put tongue on other end of board , next you put tongue on edge of board with spindle moulder then you put groove on other side finally you bring them into your house and leave them there for 2 months to acclimatise. at this stage you will begin to wish you had bought the pre made stuff. then when you lay it you will have to sand it as without a proper 6 sided moulder that the floorboard manufacturer use the boards will not be 100% acurate and then you lacquer it . best of luck;)

1chippy

Your either buying your finished floor very dear or your raw timber very cheap. I have the proper machinery for running off flooring (bar the uv finishing line) and i wouldnt dream of it. It is one thing buying a plank and planing it up. try grading 200m cut out waste and do everything and you wont be long blowing up the costs.
Its great to see enthusiasm in regards to woodworking, but lads shouldnt be dillusional when it comes to the true cost of something.

Kildafornia

Yeah I can see the amount of work involved for a marginal saving. The cost is coming from the plank width - I was looking for 12" boards. Cheers for the advise!

One shot on kill

Your mad by the time your done messing around a prefinished board layer and nailed and just walk away there is a lot to be said for it I fairness. Also you can get manufactured boards that are prefinished and about 5-8 mm of oak on top there very stable cheaper and you wound never know the difference when's its down.

recipio

Kildafornia wrote: »

Yeah I can see the amount of work involved for a marginal saving. The cost is coming from the plank width - I was looking for 12" boards. Cheers for the advise!

You would run into cupping problems with boards that width and they would be slow to loose their moisture content.However,they would certainly look better and more authentic if you want to avoid the 'squash court' look.
If you had a great supply of Walnut or Elm and all the machinery it might be worthwhile - I'd say you could sell any left overs ?