Red Pine Flooring

Toby60 · 12-22-2008, 07:55 AM

I want to have Pine flooring installed in my Cabin in Northern Michigan. I want to use this material because of its charecteristics I'm not looking for a floor that looks perfect. I'm purchasing the wood from a nearby mill that makes the flooring from raw logs I would like to use a wide plank T&G ( 6" ). If I go with this width can I expect alot of cuping ? I see alot of wide plank pine advertised and used and I have not heard this concern. I will be installing wood on the walls also any ideas on a complimentary wood ? I was considering Cedar. Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks
Bernie

**Termite** · 12-22-2008, 08:57 AM

I can't offer any advice because I've never heard of red pine! I spent years in the lumber industry and certainly bought and sold my share of white and yellow pine though. If you get an opportunity, I'd sure love to see some pictures of this stuff!

Maintenance 6 · 12-22-2008, 09:23 AM

Are you sure you don't mean red fir?

Toby60 · 12-22-2008, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maintenance 6

Are you sure you don't mean red fir?

My mistake, I meant Yellow Pine

**Termite** · 12-22-2008, 11:47 AM

Ahhh, gotcha. I thought maybe that I had missed something all those years.

Yellow pine is a nightmare product in my opinion. It is pretty nice looking stuff, but has a tendency to get pretty wild (cupping, bending, twisting) if you give it the opportunity.

If the supplier is selling yellow pine flooring I'd just make darn sure that it is kiln-dried and has a very low moisture content (a few percent). If they're milling it straight from the logs and not kin drying before milling I'd suggest you run like hell and find a new source. Any moisture in the wood will make the stuff go crazy when you get it indoors.

Maintenance 6 · 12-22-2008, 12:54 PM

I agree with Termite. Yellow pine in any form is unstable at best. And the wider it is, the worse it is. If you are using it for flooring, you'll want a good vapor retarder under it and nail it quick before it has a chance to go crazy. Get ready for lots of squeaks and yes it will almost certainly cup in wider sizes.

Toby60 · 12-23-2008, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thekctermite

I can't offer any advice because I've never heard of red pine! I spent years in the lumber industry and certainly bought and sold my share of white and yellow pine though. If you get an opportunity, I'd sure love to see some pictures of this stuff!

Thanks for your response, Any suggestions ? How about Hickory ? Ash ? I like the look of the Pine very much so I would like to use something that would have some rustic qualities, if you think yellow pine is a bad choice.

Thanks
Bernie

Marvin Gardens · 12-23-2008, 01:15 PM

I cut yellow pine all the time on my mill. There is a fair amount of distortion in the wood and it all depends on how it was cut and where the tree was located in the woods. Trees on the outer edge of a forest will have wind twist and that is hard to deal with. Most of the time we call wind twisted pine firewood.

If you want to go that route then get the wood, stack it with stickers, put some weight on top and let it dry naturally over a year.

Then take the wood and run it through a planer to get it even.

I have pine everything since I get it for next to nothing and then mill it up myself. I love it and it works well if you take precautions.

mchristo · 03-13-2011, 02:46 PM

I would get your pine from a mill that makes floors. There are lots of mill direct flooring available. they will mill relief grooves on the bottom of the floor board and the boards should be kiln dried to 7 - 9% moisture content and allowed at least 2 weeks to aclimate in the cabin. bring them into the room where they will be installed and stack them with stickers and some weight on the top of the stack to prevent any distortion while they are aclimating. Make sure the HVAC system is running normally during this time. Technically the floor boards and the subfloor should be the same moisture content.
If the pine is not dry, it will shrink up big time especially in the winter and you will have big spaces between the boards.

When installed properly, wide pine flooring should not cup. They have been using it in New England for hundreds of years.
I would invest in a moisture meter to check the moisture of the wood and subfloor. Start checking now and record the changes. I think spring is the best time to install before the humid season of summer, but just after the dry heating season of winter. Lee Valley has a good meter they sell for about $80. made in Canada and was rated quite high in Fine Woodworking magazine. I just got one and it seems to work great.

I'm getting ready to install a wide plank eastern white pine floor in my cabin in NH and have done a lot of research.

Carlisle has a good installation guide on their website. They are crazy expensive, but are probably the most well known wide plank flooring retailer around.

do a few google searches for wide plank pine flooring installation and you will find a "theme" of best practices for your install. good luck.

woodman58 · 03-13-2011, 09:45 PM

As a hardwood installer of 28 years I have not had the opportunity to install pine floors. Did alot of sand and finish though. If I were you I would find a sawmill that has a vaccum kiln. This type of kiln dries wood fast with vary little defects. When installing any flooring over 5 inches you will have to put a bead of glue in a serpintine shape down the middle of the boards. Then nail each board. Double labor but this will reduce the cupping.