what is the magnitude of my potential project? carpentry

vash · vash's Garage

a year and a half ago, a few buddies and myself worked out a deal that got us a bunch of FREE teakwood boards. they are 2x4's. there are holes in them in various locations for fasteners. but for the most part, the wood is clean and we have thousands of feet. my share is about 1500 feet.

i want to mill them down for floorboards. i think a teak floor made out of salvaged lumber would look sweet. i was hoping to drill out and dowel the holes. maybe use cherry for randomly dotted contrast, rip the boards in half and tongue and groove it. then store it all in a dry location, until i am ready to build a kitchen. is this too much work for a completely rookie woodworker? i dont even know what type of equipment i will need. (planer, tablesaw...what does the tongue and groove??)

hell maybe a counter top would be more my speed. i dunno, just want to put it to good use.

cliff

notfarnow · 10-18-2005, 10:18 AM

Sounds like a GREAT project.

Get a mill to T&G the boards... they can also get them true. Hard to do in a home shop.

Consider cutting "plugs" instead of dowelling the holes. That way you don't end up with end grain, which will be quite a bit darker. With a plug cutter, you can cut the plugs with scraps of your teak.

I just had a great "score" too... 400 sq ft of maple planks: 1"x10" x 12' !!! Try finding that at Home Depot. They came out of a 210 yr old church. I'm going to use them for flooring in our kitchen

vash · vash's Garage

that is great, i will shop around at mills. great idea!

notfarnow · 10-18-2005, 10:28 AM

Also, after you have the wood milled, acclimatize it in whatever room you are going to lay it for as long as you can. I've heard everything from a few days to a couple months. My understanding is that the wider the boards, the longer you want to acclimatize it. This minimizes the tendency of having the wood shrink, leaving gaps in between.

With my 10" maple, I've been told to Varethane both sides of the boards. Apparently that will prevent it from cupping, because both sides will be sealed from absorbing moisture. Not sure if that would be necessary with 4" boards, but you should ask around. I'm sure more knowledgeable folks will chime in.

vash · vash's Garage

even if my boards have been dried for (20) many many years? damn i dont know crap about wood.

notfarnow · 10-18-2005, 10:40 AM

Yup, the room where you intend to lay them will likely be more/less humid then where the boards have been stored. Not really an issue with factory prefinished hardwood flooring, but extra care is probably warranted if your talking about 4" floors.

Keep in mind they'll probably be closer to 3 1/4 once they're laid. 1/4 off on each side, and 1/4 or more for the groove.

Mulhollanddose · 10-18-2005, 10:51 AM

This project is going to be more trouble than it is worth...Tell ya what, I'll do you a favor and come pick up the wood for ya, just to save you the headache.

Awesome score!

TerryBPP · 10-18-2005, 10:58 AM

I thought teak was a very hard wood and didn't expand and contract much do to climate. Only reason I know this is that my parents have Brazilian Teak floors in their home and the person that laid them left an expansion gap. Well the gap never closed and they had to replace the whole floor (10,120 sf)

vash · vash's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Mulhollanddose
This project is going to be more trouble than it is worth...Tell ya what, I'll do you a favor and come pick up the wood for ya, just to save you the headache.

Awesome score!

it was the HARDEST i have ever worked in my life. EVER!
we bought some stainless steel, teak bus benches from the contractor that removed them for a county out here. paid $4k, sold the stainless for 4.2k. the contractor may be doing the remaining benches soon. i dont think i will involve myself next time.

juanbenae · juanbenae's Garage

hardwood = expensive milling.

Rot 911 · 10-18-2005, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by k911sc
hardwood = expensive milling.

Teak even more so. It has silica in the wood and wears out knives and blades quickly.

WOODPIE · 08:38 PM

Yes, find a millwork or moulding shop to reman this lumber. Personally, I'd forget about plugging the bolt holes, but if you really want that, talk to a good woodworking shop about what they might be able to do.

Teak is abrasive, as some said already, so the milling will have to be done with carbide tooling. What might be harder to find is a shop equipped with a resaw that has a carbide tipped resaw blade handy. The moulder should have at least five spindles. I doubt any shop will offer to end-match the flooring, and in reality, it is not needed if care is taken during installation to stagger the joints. If you don't want to hire a professional for the install, you can easily rent the pneumatic nailers, compressors and knee pads at the local rent-all. Buy a few of those chemical activated heating pads for your back, to use each evening. If the wood shop does a good job, you shouldn't see too much offset between sticks, so there is a chance there to reduce or even eliminate the need for drum sanding before the finish is applied, you'll just have to wait and see before you make that decision.

Wood is going to move if it gains or loses moisture; this teak came from bus benches? You need to buy or borrow a moisture meter to determine the moisture content, as expressed in % of weight of the specie of wood. If you are looking at an MC of more than 7.5 to 9%, maybe you should consider building something else with the lumber.

Ed