Wide Plank Flooring in Barrie and Muskoka Builder's Shows!

Our Home Show Schedule for 2010 :















Meet Merv at the Barrie Home and Garden Show;

Spring Home & Garden Show

March 6th & 7th, 2010
at the Barrie Molson Centre

And See us in Muskoka;

Muskoka Home & Cottage Show
April 23-25, 2010
at the Bracebridge Memorial Arena

Merv will have samples of many species of wide plank flooring, as well he can answer all your wide plank flooring questions right there so bring plenty!

Working with rough lumber

Stores typically sell dressed lumber. Here is a secret however there are times where it would be better to have wood that is 7/8" thick rather than the typical 5/8 to 3/4".

How on earth do you make the wood true? Often there is nearly an inch of crown to take out.

Merv showed me a trick the other week. I was recladding a staircase with oak so I bought enough rough cut lumber from him to do the job. I had always made a cradle and tacked the piece of wood to that and ran it through the tablesaw... which is tedius and takes 2 people.

He said take the factory edge off a piece of plywood and tack that to the board... then run that through the saw with the plywood against the fence. The pieces were only a few feet long, so it was easy to do with only 1 pair of hands.

What a great method... and just 2 little nail holes to fill later!

Thanks Merv--

BTW, Merv sells dried cabinet grade lumber from the store for reasonable rates. You may have to give him a couple of weeks notice though, he starts getting pretty busy this time of year.

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Transitions and Thresholds

When a floor is a different level the pros use a transition strip. These are made from the flooring or any block of the same species of wood. The general rule is that it should be a gently tapered flush fitting piece that eases you from level to level.

There should be no sharp angles or butt edges that can be caught by foot traffic. Our goal with a transition in wood flooring is to avoid causing people to trip. It should be subtle and finished with the same color as the floor.
The upper part of this floor is Beech, and the lower right hand side is pine. We used a custom tint to make them look similar.

When you cannot match the finish... you may wish to add contrast. Give it a darker stain on the transition if that will help make it look better.

You can use countersunk screws and tapered plugs glued in to cover the screws... or PL Premium adhesive and unobtrusive finish nails to hold it in place until the glue sets.

Tapering the cuts on the butt end of the threshold will help you get the joints tight. Typically you mount the threshold temporarily, then butt the end grain cuts up to the threshold.

Shown below are samples of threshold where it meets ceramic tile... those need to overlap the tile to protect from damage from foot traffic.


This type of threshold can be milled on a table saw and sanded smooth with a belt sander/palm sander. The harder the wood, the more aggressive the tools you will need to finish it.

Wide Plank Hardwood Flooring in Wasaga Beach

This floor was installed in the Elmvale Area (Just north of Barrie Ontario)-- Custom Tinted, Random Width Beech Flooring. This old school floor was done to closely match the pine flooring in the adjacent room.

The lumber is from Colling-Wood Flooring and every piece was glued down to the sub-floor to avoid squeaks and movement. We left the odd scratches and imperfections to add character.

After a year, in the driest season of the year, this floor is absolutely tight.

Jamie Elliott and Lawrence Winterburn are two local carpenters that install Colling-Wood Floors in Barrie, Elmvale, Wasaga Beach and Collingwood.

Talk to Jamie at 705-627-9805 in the Barrie Area, or Lawrence in the Wasaga Beach-Elmvale area at 705-322-9919

Wide Plank Flooring - Cupped Boards

Cupped boards are common problems after installation often due to moisture damage or flooring that was not dried sufficiently to start with.

The 5" piece of Beech Flooring is what a cupped board looks like before planing. Much of the imported prefinished wide plank flooring has moisture issues. Better to rent a moisture meter and check the ends of the boards for moisture content before putting material down from another part of the world. If it is more than 8% consider returning it for a refund. We have seen prefinished flooring measure at or above 12%.

I was skeptical when Merv told me that I could put down 1x8 boards without surface nailing or screwing--however it is true. When flooring is dried properly it lasts beautifully.

Applying Verathane to Unfinished Hardwood

Next comes the Verathane.

Spend the Money... Cheap verathane will not last. Buy the professional quality verathane for a durable finish.
We are using a paint tray with a liner, a broom handle and a wool verathane application head. Rule #1, Apply the verathane in even coats with the grain of the wood. #2 Maintain a wet edge. #3 don't paint yourself into a corner!
Slow smooth motion will avoid air pockets within the finish.

Don't apply too much at a time or you will have puddles. Give it 3 or 4 good even coats for a durable finish. Again, I can't stress this point enough. $30.00 verathane will not last as well as $100.00 verathane. The better materials are nearly often worth the extra money!

Applying Stain to Unfinished Hardwood

Applying Stain-- Old School

Here's an exhausting hobby! Rule #1, get knee pads. The trick to this is to keep your wet edge to prevent color discrepancies. In just the few moments it took to focus and snap some photos I could see dark spots. Keep in mind though--once the verathane goes on you won't see very much color variation. We actually had this color custom tinted by our paint store. It was a combination of 3 different colours in an effort to closely match a pine floor adjacent.

Yessir, Rubber Gloves, A Rag and Stain. You can use a mop head or wool pad with a broom handle to apply stain, however it will be more streaky and just not as deep and rich typically. You get residue resting on the grains unless it is hand rubbed.

It is a simple task really... apply with a rag... rub excess off with clean rag. Don't take breaks.

Some people will tell you to use a wood conditioner, and if you are considering you may want to do samples to determine which look you like the look of.