Flooring Tips for Weekend Cabin

[midrover170]

Hi all -

When the cabin is framed after this week, we're going to turn pretty quickly to flooring (once windows and doors are in of course). I've found a local mill and distributor that specializes in rustic lumber (they sell blue stained pine, various cuts of cedar, etc.). They have some really great looking T&G circular sawn Dour Fir flooring at a great price - we've never wanted to break the bank on our little project, but my wife has a design thumb and will start having more and more opinions now that we're closer to decorating 

My concern is choosing the right flooring for a cabin that's going to experience a lot of temperature swings. We will only be there during the weekends, and the winters in Boise County can easily get close to 0. I'd imagine that driving up during such a cold snap and putting logs in the stove would make just about any floor (minus carpet?) upset. Might even crack some tile I'm guessing.

We really, really would like to use a hardwood floor and not use laminate, vinyl, or ceramic tile. So, does anyone on the forum have experience with hardwood in such a setting? I know Doug Fir is soft (compared to other types of hardwood flooring), so that's an immediate concern. I've asked the company if they have experience with this, and waiting for the call back from the flooring rep.

Thanks in advance.

[Don_P]

Well, more wood tech 
Let's start with what makes wood shrink and swell. It is predominantly, very predominantly, change in moisture content rather than change in temperature. However, temperature change usually means a change in relative humidity. Wood is always gaining or losing moisture in trying to come into equilibrium with the ambient relative humidity. A hygrometer means more than a thermometer when trying to keep wood from moving. Keep the RH as stable as possible and the wood will be as stable as it can be.

next, which woods shrink and swell the least with changes in moisture content. Wood is what is shrinking and swelling, not air. If all else is equal, the denser piece of wood moves more than the less dense piece. Oak moves more than pine or fir. Oak is denser, so tougher. Those darn extractives can come into play though with some woods. Some of the tropical woods have incredibly high specific gravity yet low shrinkage. Dense and stable, and usually pretty spendy.

The cut can also affect a couple of things. Quartersawn doug fir, vertical grain, is exposing the edges of the growth rings which wear harder and a quartersawn face shrinks about half as much across its width with changes in moisture compared to a flatsawn, tangential, face. This isn't the cheap stuff either unless you can select those pieces out of a large pile of wood that was sawn "through and through", a random mix of flatsawn and quartersawn and everything in between as the blade simply sawed through the log without much turning. There are usually 2 true quartersawn boards, a few rift sawn and a few flatsawn boards in a log if you aren't intentionally trying to quartersaw. When you do truly quartersaw there is less overall yield in a log, and it's a slower process, $.

The dougfir will develop more character marks over time, how you view that is more of an aesthetic decision. We can add character to oak without any particular difficulty  .

[midrover170]

Good info, Don. New knowledge for me.

I should be talking with the floor company next week, and will question them on the types of cuts they normally churn out (i.e., ratio of quartersawn cuts). I'm guess by the price point, you get what you get. It is encouraging, though, what you say about softer woods moving less than harder woods. The character doesn't bother me, especially if we go with a circ. sawn board. It's going to look rough anyway.

Anyone else have thoughts on a hardwood floor in a weekend cabin?

-D

[rick91351]

Here is a Doug Fir Floor I made.  Fir did not come off our property but close by.  Sawed local - planed by us - laid by us.  I subbed out the finish sanding and Bona Finish.....