Is the Butternut Tree a species at Risk?

Endangered Provincially and Nationally, the Butternut tree or also known as White Walnut is suffering from an incurable disease that is quickly wiping out the species.

The main threat to the Butternut is a serious fungal disease called Butternut Canker, which was first found in Ontario trees in 1991. It has been traced in North America for approximately 50 years.  The disease is thought to have arrived in infected plants imported from overseas. A similar blight was responsible for wiping out both the American Chestnut and the American Elm.

Once the fungus takes over, the tree dies within a few years of infection.  Colling-wood Flooring has recently been able to get permission to cut down some of the dying Butternut from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. 

The butternut species is relatively short lived, rarely living longer than 75 to 100 years of age and the disease is found in an astonishing 90% of the Butternut in Ontario alone.  Unfortunately, the trees have disappeared from many parts of the United States and Canada.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources there is no cure for the Butternut Canker disease so order now, as it may be your last chance!  Colling-Wood Flooring has approximately 10,000 square feet.

Merv Gardner started Colling-Wood Flooring in 1990. He is a special man with a heart for wood and for 40 years, Merv has been honing his woodworking skills and now has his star pupil and daughter Lisa working at his side.

Written by: Melanie Vollick

 Writing for several years with experience in newspaper, newsletter, website, magazine, technical and business writing, Melanie is an accomplished columnist, editor and proof reader.  Her aptitude for approaching many styles and genres of writing allow her to present incomparable written documents in a timely manner, while developing a strong presence for her clients.

For more information or to order your one of a kind, butternut flooring, please feel free to give Merv or his daughter Lisa a call – (705) 445 1147.  

Feel free to also LIKE their Facebook Business Page https://www.facebook.com/CollingWoodFlooring.

Click here to check out their website - Colling-wood Flooring

Price: Butternut starting at $6.50/ sq. ft.

BUTTERNUT FLOORING
6" 8" 10" AND 12" WIDTHS
13/16 THICK TONGE AND GROOVED UFINISHED
KILN DRYED TO 6% - NO SHRINKING

Cutting the lumber for Wide Plank Flooring !

Making flooring with a band saw!

Here's a rare peek at Merv using his large band-saw mill to make Flooring.


You have to start somewhere, so he takes a slice off the top first.
He cuts the boards wide enough to allow for shrinkage during the drying process... and to acommadate for planing after it is kiln dried. This is the butternut being milled.


The bigger the tree, the wider the planks you can get.

Yes, Merv has been known to smile on occasion!

What is kiln dried lumber, and does it matter?

Using Wet Lumber for Flooring


You can use wet, ( non kiln dried flooring ) in your house, however, you need to expect to have 3/16" spaces between the boards when it acclimates to the moisture level of the air. Those gaps between the boards will change from time to time as well. In the summer the floor will soak up moisture and the gaps will shrink. In the winter, when there is less humidity in the air because it is cold outside, the gaps will expand again. You will actually hear it groaning and creaking as this happens.

This is charming and fits many old houses...because that is how they were done when the home was built!

We had to match a floor in a century home north of Toronto (Barrie area), and the specialist flooring contractor had ordered quarter sawn douglas fir, which has a beautiful red colour and the straightest grain you can imagine. However the original floor was put down wet and had those tell tale 3/16" spaces. I had the contractor lay waxed twine between the boards as they laid them. He installed the floor with modern equipment, then to match the original square head nails we ordered horse shoe nails which looked nearly identical.

If you want that unique look of a perfect floor though, you need kiln dried materials.


While we are talking about kiln drying, you have to be aware that much of the flooring coming out of South America is only dried to about 13-14%. This flooring will shrink and warp and cup significantly after installation.

Colling-Wood flooring dries all our floors to 6%. It takes more energy, more time but we believe it is worth the effort to create a flooring that will remain the way it is installed.


Get in touch about 2 months before you need it if you are looking for a truly special floor.

L

Butternut Wide Plank Flooring

A rare find... Legally harvested Butternut, and it is being turned into wide plank flooring!


This lumber is typically not available because of being a protected species. You are not supposed to cut it for any reason, however the owners of a property that is becoming a subdivision obtained one time approval to clear for home building and Merv jumped at the opportunity to work with this very rare wood.

It is a unique lumber with small worm holes randomly throughout. When you want a floor with a high degree of character this flooring will fit the bill. Nobody will know if it is antique lumber or not.


The photos above show it's natural color with only a clear finish applied. This butternut flooring will not last long. Give Merv a call for pricing.


Here is a lift of very wide planks ready to be put down in a house...they look to me like 1x10 boards.

I believe there is about 15,000 square feet of this Butternut flooring available--after that, there is no more, so if you are building a custom home, get in touch with Merv or Lisa!

L

How do you apply hardwood to the stairs?

So, you have put in your beautiful wide plank hardwood floors, now, how do you deal with the stairs? This set of stairs was refinished by someone that didn't have a clue how to do stairs. When I was called in the newel posts moved a couple of inches in every direction and the stairs were cladded in underlayment plywood and painted with white latex paint. So much work for absolutely nothing! Using 1/8" material meant that the top step was 3/4" taller than the lowest step--and the stairs would wear constantly and always look old and dirty.

The first thing I had to do was remove everything he had done.

Step two, remove the overhangs and step 3 fabricate and install brand new treads in Red Oak to match the floor and rail up top.

I have seen some tough looking staircases in my time. gluing and nailing hardwood to each tread with a nailed on nose just won't last. The best method is always to add a 1 piece tread to the existing rough stair tread.

You can likely buy pre-made treads at the big box store, however this is likely to be a laminated plywood product with a solid portion only on the nose. These laminate treads will wear out under foot traffic and because it is a plywood core they can't be refinished. Check the ends of the narrow part to make sure it is solid wood.

Normally these store bought treads are unfinished, just make sure the species is a match and normally the store that sells you the hard wood flooring will also have small quantities of stain and verathane on hand for matching the flooring on thresholds and stairs.

We tend to make our own treads--using the same wide plank materials, gluing them up marine quality adhesives and laminating solid wood to form a nosing that will last.

If you are considering removing and replacing any hand rails just consider that hand rails are a specialty item and there are many ways of messing the job up. Installing a hand rail is difficult with all new materials. Installing a hand rail already installed twice and botched previously is a painful task at best.

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.

L