Making my own oak flooring...is this a horrible idea?

[Darrin Johnson]

All,

We have a lake cabin we are planning on tearing down and rebuilding. As much as I'd like to do much of this myself, I won't be able to due to work demands.

The property has 6 very large red oak trees (30-40 inch diameter, mostly red but a couple white) that will have to come down. I just hate the idea of cutting them down and either turning them into firewood or them ending up in a landfill.

I've found a portable sawmill guy that will saw them up...he can do QS lumber which is my preference. No luck finding a kiln. I need rough;y 4000 sq foot of flooring.

Is it crazy to have these trees turned into lumber, air dry, then dry for 3-4 month inside (dehumidifier) and then convert into tongue and groove lumber? It gives me an excuse to buy a 12 inch j/p combo I've been wanting for years and a sawstop. Would need something to T and G them also.

Understand: This isn't a money saving project and I realize that. It's a sentimental way to contribute to what will hopefully be a lake getaway for our family for years to come.

Appreciate any advice.

[Bill Edwards(2)]

Your location might help get recommendations for kiln, etc. :D

[Kent A Bathurst]

Is it crazy......?

Yep. Certifiable.


It's a sentimental way to contribute to what will hopefully be a lake getaway for our family for years to come.

The perfect reason to do something crazy.



If you go ahead, you will be kicking yourself for getting into a never-ending project, where one phone call and a few bucks would have taken care of it.

If you don't go ahead, you will be kicking yourself for years to come for not investing time and energy into an heirloom-quality project.

Pick your poison. You're screwed either way. :p :p

FWIW - sounds to me like you have already made up your mind, and are looking for other crazy people to validate that decision. You have come to the right place, Darrin. :D We're here to help.


If you are willing to invest the time, I don't see what the issue is - you have come up with a classic, unassailable, "plausible excuse" to get:
> a new j/p,
> a new hot-dog cutter,
> and a new "something" for t&g [do the words "shaper" and "power-feeder" ring a bell?].
> Of course, you will have to do a bunch of resaw work, so that is a new BS right there.
> Also, you really should get a dual-drum sander for final sizing and finish sanding in one pass.
> Probably need a new cyclone for all that volume of dust & shavings.

Can't figure out how to work a new DP into the equation, but the next post should be able to lock that in for you as well. Some one can come up with a solid rationale for some Green Kool-Aid as well, I expect.

Tee it up, dude!!!

[Darrin Johnson]

Muscle Shoals, AL. I've searched high/low for a local Kiln w/o luck.

[Larry Browning]

I need rough;y 4000 sq foot of flooring.



Wait a minute! A 4,000 SF lake cabin! That you plan on tearing down and rebuilding? And you don't have much spare time because of work? What? Are you Crazy:eek:


Why, yes he is!

Go for it! But post pictures!

[Darrin Johnson]

Sorry...to clarify: it's a cabin now....to be replaced with a 4000 sq foot house. Thanks for the validation of a crazy idea!

[Larry Browning]

I have heard horror stories about people trying to make their own hardwood flooring. Making tight fitting joints that will stay tight and not buckle over time from solid wood is the challenge. Please do lots of research about how this can be accomplished before you start. I hope you are a tenacious individual who does not give up easily.

[Brad Reid]

Here are some pics of a floor I just finished its about 430 sq ft. It was done with lumber that I had sawn from my 2 grandpa's properties. It was a lot of work and a lot of trips up and down stairs. One of the main issues that I ran into was my sawyer didn't cut to consistent thickness, so some pieces went through the planer a bunch of times. I wanted the wide plank with the knots and other character of the wood. If you are going to cut out all the knots and stuff you will be cutting out alot. I did not do t/g becuase we were going for the rustic look. I didn't even joint alot of it at first but it got to where I had to or the gaps were going to be to wide. I pretty much attempted to keep gaps at 1/16" or less. I am very proud of it and would do it again I can't say whether I would or wouldn't with your situation that is a whole lot of lumber to mill. Just realize it will take a whole lot of time. These are the only pics that I have with me on my phone.
URL=http://s829.photobucket.com/user/bradreid12/media/Mobile%20Uploads/photo-25.jpg.html]http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz211/bradreid12/Mobile%20Uploads/photo-25.jpg[/URL]
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz211/bradreid12/Mobile%20Uploads/photo-24.jpg (http://s829.photobucket.com/user/bradreid12/media/Mobile%20Uploads/photo-24.jpg.html)
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz211/bradreid12/Mobile%20Uploads/photo-23.jpg (http://s829.photobucket.com/user/bradreid12/media/Mobile%20Uploads/photo-23.jpg.html)

[Sam Murdoch]

The ongoing issue will be wood movement. Unless the lumber has been properly dried and then acclimated to the conditions at the site you could have real problems keeping such a floor looking good. Brad your new floor looks great but (to the topic of my 1st sentence) unless you left at least a 3/8" gap (better to be 5/8" hidden by base board) along each long wall the floor will very likely buckle next summer. I generally discourage people from using newly sawn lumber in a contemporary house with heating and cooling cycles. Hard work notwithstanding - we can all use the satisfaction of hard work and accomplishment in our lives - but it's one thing to do build such a floor in a camp that you shut down, or marginally heat, in the winter but altogether another thing in a year round home. Not trying to discourage - just a bit of caution. Larry's post # 7 is right on.

[Jim Matthews]

Kent beat me to it.

It's crazy, impractical and expensive.
The same sort of thing that got a Man on the Moon.

You can build your own kiln, with nothing more than a couple dehumidifiers
a frame of 2x4 lumber, a vapor barrier of polyethylene and 2" insulation board.

My mentor does it with rough sawn 6/4 pine.

All you need is electricity, time and a space to set it up.

[Art Mann]

Darrin,

There are several guys over in Madison and Limestone Counties who advertise band sawing and kiln drying lumber for people. Just look on Craigslist (Materials) for Huntsville. It may be a little far to haul lumber but it least it is an option.

Art

[Jamie Buxton]

Making all that flooring yourself is a huge project. But the idea of making heirloom stuff from those oak logs is extremely appealing.

Here's two alternatives....

a) Fell and mill the oak trees. Buy and install standard commercial flooring. Use your oak to build beautiful heirloom furniture, at your leisure. This gets the oak off the critical path in building the new house.

or

b) Do the same as above, and use some of the oak to build a timber-frame woodshop. That'd be way cool.

[Brian Holcombe]

I vote for 'saw it up but not for flooring'. Use the white oak to make your outdoor furniture, which will likely get used extensively at a lake house.

[Brad Reid]

My lumber dried under a barn for 7-8 yrs and was at about 32% MC when I brought it to the house. I then cut it to lenght and hauled it all upstairs and left it for a month or so in a semi insulated room that usually ran about 85degrees back in July (it is now well insulated and stays very cold with only one vent cracked blowing in the room) this got it down around 11% MC. I then brought it back down one row at a time and planed it and cut it to width and returned it back upstairs the same day. I usually then still left if for a few days before I nailed it down. It has plenty of room to expand I think with small cracks along many of the boards and a wide gap under the base boards. I can only imagine the headache of trying to do a "finished look" for a home. Mine was an upstairs room that had a few studs and a sub-floor when we purchased the home. It is now a game room/ man cave/ hang-out that has almost a really nice barn loft look. It has unfinished pine walls also from family land and the finish on the floor is satin. Another note on the finish, I did mine myself and it turned out good for what it is, however if it was a more refined look I don't know that I would have been satisfied with it.

[Brian Holcombe]

IMO, If it were my labor and I were set on proceeding this way there would be no chance I would attempt the look of what's produced by a flooring manufacturer. Instead I would be doing wide plank, visible expansion gap between the planks, oiled finish. I'd likely screw them down and plug with dowels.

[Mike Wilkins]

I believe Kent summed it up nicely. It would make sense, economically for a small, 16 square foot area, but not a whole house. Think of all the operations that are required to get the lumber from the tree to ready-to-nail condition. When you do this, it makes sense to let the big boys, with all their heavy, automated, calibrated, and precise machinery do the heavy work. If you want to lay it and finish it yourself, OK. But have those trees sawed into nice planks and build some furniture for this new cabin. Home built/custom made furniture speaks just as loud as homemade flooring; maybe louder.
Just my 2 cents.

[Peter Quinn]

I used to make custom flooring for a living. Professionally. In a nutshell the idea is completely mental. It's a lot more work than it seems with small shop equipment, it may wind up costing you more than buying it. It may give you that warm fuzzy feeling that comes from a job well done, possibly at the expense of your sanity. I'd say get the white oak sawn into timbers, design a lovely pergola for your outdoor kitchen, done. Get the red oak quarter sawn at 8/4 for stiles and rails, 6/4 for panels.....make some lovely doors with all that wood. Let somebody with the right equipment make the flooring. Of all the parts of a house made of wood that you could conquer....flooring is absolutely my last choice as a DIY effort. Heck....design a great room that catches the lake views and have it timber framed with exposed red oak beams! Do you really want your beautiful trees to spend the rest of their lives being stepped on?

If you go down this path, get the wood dried properly. Wet floors that dry in place never look good.

[Myk Rian]

How long do you plan on air drying it? It could take a while just to get it to a decent % before the de-humidifier.

[Steve Peterson]

Fell and mill the oak trees. Buy and install standard commercial flooring. Use your oak to build beautiful heirloom furniture, at your leisure. This gets the oak off the critical path in building the new house.

I agree with this. Commercial hardwood flooring is hard to beat. Save your oak for something special. Maybe use it for one room and a fireplace mantle, but not the entire house.

Steve

[Phil Barrett]

Taking the heirloom thread a bit farther...

My dad was a Yankee, born in Minnesota but transplanted to Rhode Island. He did everything himself, mostly. He felled his own trees (oak, cherry, maple), milled the lumber, air dried it in his workshop for years and built a couple of houses. But he never tried flooring. Instead, he made some really nice heirloom pieces that his kids and grand kids still have. I wake up every day next to a wash stand he made from cherry felled on one of his properties. I look at it and think of him. His houses wound up being sold but the pieces are still in the family.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Make your own flooring. This will make to job go much easier

http://www.yatesamerican.com/Yates%20American/IMAGES/FLASH/yafm7%20closedthumb.jpg
NEW! YA-FM7 Flooring Matcher (http://www.yatesamerican.com/yafm7.html)
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E-12 End Matchers (http://www.yatesamerican.com/e12.html)

[Brian W Smith]

30 years ago we made the flooring for our kitchen,bought #1 White Oak for the rest of the house(big house).4 kids of our own.....about that many extended youngsters....countless parties....pets,here and there,etc,etc.The handmade kitchen floor is by far the prettiest.85% of the finish is GONE,it's just bare yellow Pine,3-4-5 inch widths.Few cracks here N there,we love it.

Wouldn't even think to do a whole house unless there were some pretty compelling reasons.........it definitely wouldn't be because of money savings,haha.

[John TenEyck]

Making all that flooring yourself is a huge project. But the idea of making heirloom stuff from those oak logs is extremely appealing.

Here's two alternatives....

a) Fell and mill the oak trees. Buy and install standard commercial flooring. Use your oak to build beautiful heirloom furniture, at your leisure. This gets the oak off the critical path in building the new house.

or

b) Do the same as above, and use some of the oak to build a timber-frame woodshop. That'd be way cool.

This gets my vote. If your trees are really nice, it would be a shame IMHO to waste them on flooring. Thick, wide planks are hard to come by and not cheap. You've got the perfect opportunity to get some from your trees, and then make some great furniture for your new home. Imagine a hayrake table with seating for 12 or more made from a big slab or two book matched ones. I get all glassy eyed just thinking about it.

John

[Chris Padilla]

Making all that flooring yourself is a huge project. But the idea of making heirloom stuff from those oak logs is extremely appealing.

Here's two alternatives....

a) Fell and mill the oak trees. Buy and install standard commercial flooring. Use your oak to build beautiful heirloom furniture, at your leisure. This gets the oak off the critical path in building the new house.

or

b) Do the same as above, and use some of the oak to build a timber-frame woodshop. That'd be way cool.

My fellow Bay Area ww'er buddy has it nailed here. Skip the flooring for the use of your oak trees and use them for something else. Will the house be somewhat rustic at all? Cabin-feel? Exposed timber construction maybe? There are A LOT more appealing uses for these trees but not the floor. Good Luck!!!

[mreza Salav]

I am crazy too in many ways (building doors, entry door, railing, etc and a whole lot more for a house I'm building). But I'd never ever even consider making my own flooring. I have reasonably good equipments but no way making flooring!

[Kent A Bathurst]

Make your own flooring. This will make to job go much easier

http://www.yatesamerican.com/Yates%20American/IMAGES/FLASH/yafm7%20closedthumb.jpg

NEW! YA-FM7 Flooring Matcher (http://www.yatesamerican.com/yafm7.html)

http://www.yatesamerican.com/Yates%20American/IMAGES/FLASH/Photo05%20e12thumb.jpg

E-12 End Matchers (http://www.yatesamerican.com/e12.html)




OK - We have a winner!! :D :D :D

But - Thomas - you left out the transfer tables/conveyors between the machines.

Also - that molder is speed-limited by having only 5 heads. They don't say what the top-end speed is, but to get an A-quality product out of rough-sawn stock, with only 5 heads, I will guess 125 LFPM or so. There are other machines out there for flooring that will do 700 LFPM with 8 - 9 heads. Might want to consider one of those.

[David C. Roseman]

Darrin, there have been many threads on this on SMC over the years. Use the search function and search for "making my own flooring." I've read through a few in the past because the subject has interested me, but the consensus is fairly consistent and along the lines of Peter Quinn's comments. If you're thinking about doing a whole house, or even a few large rooms, lie down until the feeling passes. The relentless, repetitive drudge of doing it on small equipment in a well-equipped home shop (e.g., a 3 hp shaper, 10" 3 hp table saw and 8" 2 hp jointer) will continue long after the thrill of doing it yourself is gone, and it already sounds like you don't have a lot of free time available. If you really want to cut your own standing timber and sticker and dry it yourself, at least have the finish milling done commercially. If you can't find a local mill that will do it, you're better off going with commercial flooring and use your timber for other projects.

David

[Cary Falk]

Put me in the camp that the first 17.3 sqft would be fun and cool but the remaining 3982.7 sqft would be pure hell. Use the wood and make furnature etc.

[Peter Quinn]

Put me in the camp that the first 17.3 sqft would be fun and cool but the remaining 3982.7 sqft would be pure hell. Use the wood and make furnature etc.

I think you are over estimating the fun part.

[Rod Sheridan]

It's such a dumb idea that I'm in the middle of doing just that.

First I built a bandsaw mill, then dried the lumber outside, now it's been the shop for a year and ia planed and jointed.

Next is straight line rip, rip and a couple trips through the shaper.

Using the stock feeder on the jointer was a real muscle and time saver.............Rod.

[Peter Quinn]

It's such a dumb idea that I'm in the middle of doing just that.

First I built a bandsaw mill, then dried the lumber outside, now it's been the shop for a year and ia planed and jointed.

Next is straight line rip, rip and a couple trips through the shaper.

Using the stock feeder on the jointer was a real muscle and time saver.............Rod.


And are you having fun yet?

[Wade Lippman]

You are building a lake house with 4,000sf of hardwood flooring and you need an excuse to buy a J/P?! Would it be even 0.1% of the house price?

[Rod Sheridan]

And are you having fun yet?

Yes and no.

I am doing it for sentimental reasons, the wood is local to my house, ash that was hit by the Emerald Ash Borer.

I would never do this to save money, too much work, and I'm only making 10% of the floor area the OP is.

Regards, Rod.

[John Coloccia]

I'm almost tempted to encourage Darrin to go ahead, just so I can entertain myself reading through his "progress" reports for the next 10 years...or until he slits his wrists.

Personally, I wouldn't even install 4000 square feet of flooring myself, never mind making it from trees.

[David Nelson1]

Resistance is futile......... I waited 30 minutes before posting.

Darrin you have gotten a lot of sound advice for either direction you may chose, but there seems to be a few topics no one has touched. IMO the amount of lumber to be harvested will not be enough to cover 4,000 sqft due to waste, especially if you quarter saw it.

I'll share a bit of my experience... As many have said this is tedious boring work that is no fun. Actually I found it to be quite rewarding, fun not so much. The level of right equipment for home hobbyist is astronomically out of balance from cost/benefit standpoint unless you plan on project farther down the road. This was my case and I knew this going in, I just didn't realize the full scope of the NEEDED tooling. I bought a used 6" jointer with the normal 42" infeed/outfeed, a small 1.5hp shaper, 1.75hp table saw, an old delta 4 post planer, a Rockler hang on the wall D/C, and a 12" compound miter saw, thinking I had it nailed.

I kept the table saw. Underpowered as it was I found that a 20-24 tooth rip blade 1/8 kerf to work better that the Ripline thin kerf. Most of my stock was better than 4/4. IRC that blade is recommended up to 4/4 but my saw just couldn't keep up at a decent pace.

Next problem was... actually the first was D/C way to small of a bag and not enough CFM. I went with a 2hp 1550 CFM. It work OK but left a lot of fines floating around. Oh and I stopped counting the number of time I emptied out the chips after 20 bags. Knew it was going to be a lot but not to this level.

The 6" jointer was the next hurdle. Not enough in and out feed to properly register against. I tried roller stands etc ... nothing worked really well. Without the stands on the outfeed side I almost tipped the machine over. Solution was an 8" with 75" tables. Even that was a challenge till I added a feeder and roller stand on the outfeed side. All of my stock was reclaimed lumber so a hard brushing of every board was required to not dull the knives prematurely. Even that was not enough so replace the 4 knife setup with spiral cutter head.

Which brings me to the next pain, the Delta planer. As with the jointer the straight knives dulled to quickly. The planer was the type that had the motor hanging over the cutter head. I suppose after many blade changes you could get proficient at changing and setting but I found it to be way to cumbersome especial with my vision. I'm not even going to get into the whole learning curve of sharpening the blades on a Tormac. I replace it with a 20 Grizzly model that already had been convert to a Byrd head.

On the advice of good folks here on the forum I knew I needed a feeder for my shaper. 1hp was recommended because of the weight needed for preload and traction for continuous feeding. Here again I bought to small. The extra weight of the feeder unless it was kept over center would tip the machine. The work around would have been sand bags or lead shot in the bottom of the machine. I would also need to make an adapter to mount the feeder because the foot print of the shaper exceeded the available space. Instead I found a 3hp with a feeder already mounted, not a 1 hp but it worked with a little help from waxing the top and constant finger pressure. I still need to replace it.

If you want relief cuts on the back you will need a molder or tooling for the shaper. Tooling for the shaper IMO would be a pain, so I already had an old Woodmaster 612 I just tooled up for that. Do you need relief cuts? Jury is still out on that IMO. Search the forum there has been a few discussion on the need and why.

After your wood is milled you will most likely want to sticker it and wait a few month 4-6 before you take it to the kiln. From what I understand most kiln operators prefer air drying to certain MC before they do their magic. Like I said mine wood was reclaimed some of it had been around 10 -20 years some 3-5 in any event I went to the kiln for purpose of disinfection. If for no other reason I would kiln everything you intend for flooring. Once dried you will need to sticker it someplace to acclimate.

Shop space........ How much do you have? Processing this wood and storing between steps is going to be a problem. Enough said about all that.

I have attached a few photos from my experience. If you decide to do this I found the use of feeders manditory on everything including the T/S. Way to much linear feet to be pushing.

Good luck keep us in the loop.

[Peter Quinn]

For the sake of contrast as part of a 4 man team running a molder and straight line saw in a proper millwork setting I could mill 4000SF of flooring in less than one day. So as a back up plan you may consider getting the material made by others, for instance find a lumber mill that makes flooring, or had a relationship with a flooring manufacturer. Trees leave your property on a lumber truck....come back on a flat bed ready to install.

When my grandmother passed my uncle bought the old Victorian we had all enjoyed for so many years. It had been cut up into a multi family rental income property, my uncle determined to put it hole and occupy it. It needed a lot of flooring replaced, and a giant beech tree that was eating the driveway and porch needed removal. Thousands of BF of lumber potential. So he contacted a mill to get quotes for flooring. $6.75/sf if they made it with his sentimental tree. That price shocked his lumber liquidator sensibilities....after all he was supplying the wood! So he asked for a quote if they supplied the wood....$6.25/sf! I'm pretty sure the tree went to a firewood company, and that he paid for its removal. He was complaining at a family even about the nerve of these people, I had to let him know how wrong he was. Milling residential trees is real liability, lots of ferrous material works it's wAy in there over years, tends not to be the straightest stuff on earth, branches out too early. And the raw lumber is a commodity of marginal value except to the person in whose yard it may be growing. Or if it's a giant old growth walnut.

I'm a conservationist but not particularly sentimental, I love the idea of using this material for something other than heat. But what and how makes the most sense for you?

[David Nelson1]

For the sake of contrast as part of a 4 man team running a molder and straight line saw in a proper millwork setting I could mill 4000SF of flooring in less than one day. So as a back up plan you may consider getting the material made by others, for instance find a lumber mill that makes flooring, or had a relationship with a flooring manufacturer. Trees leave your property on a lumber truck....come back on a flat bed ready to install.

When my grandmother passed my uncle bought the old Victorian we had all enjoyed for so many years. It had been cut up into a multi family rental income property, my uncle determined to put it hole and occupy it. It needed a lot of flooring replaced, and a giant beech tree that was eating the driveway and porch needed removal. Thousands of BF of lumber potential. So he contacted a mill to get quotes for flooring. $6.75/sf if they made it with his sentimental tree. That price shocked his lumber liquidator sensibilities....after all he was supplying the wood! So he asked for a quote if they supplied the wood....$6.25/sf! I'm pretty sure the tree went to a firewood company, and that he paid for its removal. He was complaining at a family even about the nerve of these people, I had to let him know how wrong he was. Milling residential trees is real liability, lots of ferrous material works it's wAy in there over years, tends not to be the straightest stuff on earth, branches out too early. And the raw lumber is a commodity of marginal value except to the person in whose yard it may be growing. Or if it's a giant old growth walnut.

I'm a conservationist but not particularly sentimental, I love the idea of using this material for something other than heat. But what and how makes the most sense for you?

Totally agree with everything you have said. You and many others tried to talk me off the edge, but I jumped anyway. I'm only half way done still have the other 1/2 the house to do and I will need more lumber not much but all the same having to go back and duplicate the exact widths will be hard but not impossible.

Would I do this again..... no!

[Matt Meiser]

I just bought about 150 sqft of oak flooring a couple months ago and had to unload it from my truck into the garage, then later move it from the garage to the living room. That stuff was heavy! Can't magine moving 30-40x that for several operations.

Any local flooring makers that could work with the sawyer turn your trees into flooring?

And are you sure you've got enough good lumber to make what you need?

[Scott T Smith]

All,

We have a lake cabin we are planning on tearing down and rebuilding. As much as I'd like to do much of this myself, I won't be able to due to work demands.

The property has 6 very large red oak trees (30-40 inch diameter, mostly red but a couple white) that will have to come down. I just hate the idea of cutting them down and either turning them into firewood or them ending up in a landfill.

I've found a portable sawmill guy that will saw them up...he can do QS lumber which is my preference. No luck finding a kiln. I need rough;y 4000 sq foot of flooring.

Is it crazy to have these trees turned into lumber, air dry, then dry for 3-4 month inside (dehumidifier) and then convert into tongue and groove lumber? It gives me an excuse to buy a 12 inch j/p combo I've been wanting for years and a sawstop. Would need something to T and G them also.

Understand: This isn't a money saving project and I realize that. It's a sentimental way to contribute to what will hopefully be a lake getaway for our family for years to come.

Appreciate any advice.

Hi Darrin. I have a little bit of subject matter expertise in this area....

First, I think that the concept of having flooring in your home that came from trees that grew on the land is a great and rewarding concept, and encourage you to pursue it, especially as quartersawn lumber.

However, doing it yourself with hobbiest grade of tools may turn out to be a nightmare. Here is what I would suggest.

First, make sure that your miller understands that QS lumber shrinks more in thickness than flat sawn lumber. For a standard 3/4" finished floor, he needs to mill the boards to be at least 1-1/8" thick green (and on boards wider than 8" I would encourage him to mill them at 1-1/4" green to allow for drying related distortions).

Second, QS lumber tends to crook towards the bark if any sapwood is present in the boards. Thus it is best if he ensures that he edges all of the sapwood off of the boards, else you will have some nice banana boards.

Third, in the south oak is very susceptible to infestation from powderpost beetles, and the best way to address this is with a heat sterilization cycle in a kiln. Your other option is to use a borate type solution on every board (applied green, use a product such as Timbor), but it's actually cheaper per bd.ft to kiln dry versus using the borate.

Fourth, if a miller is good, you will only lose 25% from gross dry board footage to finished flooring. QS can be tricky though, because for flooring you want consistent width blanks and when you QS a log you end up with inconsistent width blanks. Plan on at least 35% waste (thus for 4K sq ft of finished product you had better have at least 6K bd ft of dry lumber). If your miller is not that good, you had better plan on 50% waste due to thin boards.

Fifth, there is a flooring mill north of Atlanta that does a lot of volume and has extremely low prices. If I were you, I would speak with them about kiln drying your lumber and processing it into flooring for you. I would treat your logs with a quality end sealer, such as Anchor Seal Classic, and then paint a unique paint color on all of your log ends so that the milled boards all have the same color ends. That will make it easy for them to keep your lumber separate as they are drying and processing it into flooring.

If you still want to do this yourself I'll fill you in on the steps.

Scott

[David C. Roseman]

[snip]
I have attached a few photos from my experience. If you decide to do this I found the use of feeders manditory on everything including the T/S. Way to much linear feet to be pushing.

Good luck keep us in the loop.

David, very impressive story and pics!

[Darrin Johnson]

Everyone:

Incredibly helpful (and no doubt realistic posts). At this point, leaning towards getting it milled and will save for future projects. Maybe I'll do my Den/Loft floor etc all with it and use the rest for...who knows.

Have struggled finding a local kiln.

Great discussion and lots of wisdom here!

[Jay Selway]

I love the full blown absurdity and awesomeness of this idea. This thread wins. :D

[rudy de haas]

Yes.

The general advice here is to make some heirloom furniture and buy your flooring - and that sounds good to me. I made my own hickory stair treads, and by #2 the exponential decay in fun per tread had set in.

However.. you might get the best of both worlds (do crazy stuff and don't suffer for it) if you consider oak fungiable. Find a regional mill turning out flooring, get them to recommend some one to harvest and deliver the trees to them (but keep some pieces for furniture making), buy finished flooring from them. Oak is oak - and your trees go to the mill the floor comes from, but you get a volume produced, high quality, product at a reasonable net cost and without waiting out the drying period or the risk of doing it yourself.

[Brad Reid]

Check out the MS market bulletin you can look at it online, there are a few guys in there that saw/kiln/mill may be one fairly close to you. Another thing I have heard about locally is to check with the local small sawmills about sawing and drying your lumber. I'm in SW MS and there are probably 10 small hardwood mills within 30 miles and I have heard a few of them will saw and kiln for someone. I know 20 yrs ago my grandfather had his property logged (pine not hardwood) by a small mill and got back enough of the lumber to build his house.

[ernest dubois]

In place of tung and groove, to save time and wood etc… I route grooves on both edges and insert the floating spline.

Ok, the keys were mostly for the sake of decoration.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c325/ernestdubois/DSC01685_zps90af088a.jpg

[Chris Padilla]

Those are AWESOME floors, Ernest! I just love the wide planks. You NEVER see that these days.

[ernest dubois]

Thanks, I do like making up my own floors. Another advantage of going the DIY route which will save you even more wood is, in place of parallel sided planks follow the taper of the tree so you have tapered planks and either but them up cold or use the same floating spline allowing the freedom to flip but ends alternately to keep the joints running more or less parallel. This is a very beautiful floor though you will always have to make sure to point it out before anyone will notice.