Making my own flooring

[Bud Millis]

Just resawed some old Heart Pine beams to make a floor. From the very middle of the beams the wood has a MC of 7%. Currently its stacked and stickered and will let it set for about a month before I get back to it. My thoughts are to run it through the planer taking it to about 7/8" and shaper to add the T&G and dados on the back side. Then to install it over a wood subfloor, sand smooth if needed and apply finish. For the finish, I'm thinking about sealing it with a 1lb cut of Shellac and then putting a clear poly on it.


Any thoughts, comments, questions or suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks -

[Rich Riddle]

The first coat of shelllac on pine frequently doesn't look all that good aesthetically. I typically utilize a two-pound cut, but suppose a one-pound cut works well. What color of shellac are you choosing to utilize? I don't like poly on the floor, but that's a personal preference. I utilize Waterlox.

[Bud Millis]

The first coat of shelllac on pine frequently doesn't look all that good aesthetically. I typically utilize a two-pound cut, but suppose a one-pound cut works well. What color of shellac are you choosing to utilize? I don't like poly on the floor, but that's a personal preference. I utilize Waterlox.

I was thinking a 1lb cut as a sealer (clear, dewaxed) and a good finish that will hold up well to traffic. Also a finish that will provide warmth and depth without changing the color of the wood (too much).

[Peter Quinn]

If you want to go waterlox products, consider shellac as a sealer, a coat of waterlox original to add depth, it had a lot of tung oil in it, the waterlox Xl 89 as a top coat, its a soy based urethane, pretty tough, somewhat reparable going forward. Looks good. Sounds like your plan for milling is solid, I'd look for a mini molder to do the reliefs if the sf warrants, running all those dados will not be pleasant. We have had relief knives ground for a planer too, you have to make a bed guide, alignment is tricky but doable if you have no molder. Much quicker and more accurate than multiple dados .

[Dave Zellers]

Just resawed some old Heart Pine beams to make a floor.
Absolutely love that stuff. Talk about beauty that comes from age.

[David Weaver]

I was thinking a 1lb cut as a sealer (clear, dewaxed) and a good finish that will hold up well to traffic. Also a finish that will provide warmth and depth without changing the color of the wood (too much).

Do folks not like the standard solvent based finishes like varathane? The last floor I did just with varathane, and it came out fantastic. (I did stain it below, but only because it had to match another floor). I would use it without stain without hesitation, and without a sealer coat.

[Peter Quinn]

Do folks not like the standard solvent based finishes like varathane? The last floor I did just with varathane, and it came out fantastic. (I did stain it below, but only because it had to match another floor). I would use it without stain without hesitation, and without a sealer coat.


I think the issue is the wood, not the finish. Pine can be quite blotchy even with just a clear oil based urethane. Has to do with resins and differences in density across a board, absorption rate varies and causes mis coloration. Cherry suffers similarly, a light seal coat of shellac, even thinning a sanding sealer back by 50% acts as a conditioner to equalize absorption and keep color even. Old school poly and varnish brings a lot of amber and tend to yellow over time, Xl 89 tends not to yellow so much, shows the wood grain more clearly, can be a positive or not depending on your goals.