Andrew Nemeth
10-22-2018, 6:13 PM
Hello all,
I’m in the middle of installing a house full of unfinished live sawn white oak planks and I could use a little advice.
I ordered “character grade” and was even shown a complete bundle before ordering. I was assured it was around 80% #1 common and 20% #2 common. I just planned to cull the non-structurally sound defects out prior to install.
However, what showed up at my house was mostly #2 common with a bit of #1 thrown in. 1/3 to 1/2 of the boards have structural defects.
I would be upset but, honestly, my wife and I love the look of the flooring with the included defects. For the price we paid, I’m not even sure I would feel right complaining.
I’ve been creative about cutting out defects where possible to maximize the yield, but I am going ahead and installing pieces with knot holes up to a dime size and some checks that are completely encompassed by the board (no checks extending to any of the board edges).
I’ve researched filling defects in wood, including on this site, and almost all suggest pouring epoxy in the void after backing up the hole with tape of some sort. However, I have 1/2 the floor installed and I didn’t tape any of the voids on the backside. I’m not even sure it would be efficient to do so, as I would probably be taping every piece “just in case”.
Does anyone know a product or method that I can use to fill these defects from the topside without backing up the void?
I’ve considered:
1) Troweling epoxy putty in the larger voids with an artists pallet knife, using just enough putty to dam the voids. Then pouring black epoxy in from the top to finish it off.
2) Using a slightly thickened epoxy in a cartridge (System 3 Quick 5 or West Systems Six 10) to begin filling the voids and finish off pouring black epoxy for subsequent layers.
3) Thickening epoxy myself with wood flour and/or colloidal silica and apply with a piping bag, ziplock bag, or even a caulking gun first and then topping off with tinted epoxy.
4) Just packing 1/4” of wood flour and/or colloidal silica in the voids and pouring the black epoxy right on top of the filler. I figure with this method that I may have to repeat the process a time or to to really dam the voids up.
Does anyone have experience doing any of the above or have another preferred method of doing the same?
Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions,
-Andrew
I’m in the middle of installing a house full of unfinished live sawn white oak planks and I could use a little advice.
I ordered “character grade” and was even shown a complete bundle before ordering. I was assured it was around 80% #1 common and 20% #2 common. I just planned to cull the non-structurally sound defects out prior to install.
However, what showed up at my house was mostly #2 common with a bit of #1 thrown in. 1/3 to 1/2 of the boards have structural defects.
I would be upset but, honestly, my wife and I love the look of the flooring with the included defects. For the price we paid, I’m not even sure I would feel right complaining.
I’ve been creative about cutting out defects where possible to maximize the yield, but I am going ahead and installing pieces with knot holes up to a dime size and some checks that are completely encompassed by the board (no checks extending to any of the board edges).
I’ve researched filling defects in wood, including on this site, and almost all suggest pouring epoxy in the void after backing up the hole with tape of some sort. However, I have 1/2 the floor installed and I didn’t tape any of the voids on the backside. I’m not even sure it would be efficient to do so, as I would probably be taping every piece “just in case”.
Does anyone know a product or method that I can use to fill these defects from the topside without backing up the void?
I’ve considered:
1) Troweling epoxy putty in the larger voids with an artists pallet knife, using just enough putty to dam the voids. Then pouring black epoxy in from the top to finish it off.
2) Using a slightly thickened epoxy in a cartridge (System 3 Quick 5 or West Systems Six 10) to begin filling the voids and finish off pouring black epoxy for subsequent layers.
3) Thickening epoxy myself with wood flour and/or colloidal silica and apply with a piping bag, ziplock bag, or even a caulking gun first and then topping off with tinted epoxy.
4) Just packing 1/4” of wood flour and/or colloidal silica in the voids and pouring the black epoxy right on top of the filler. I figure with this method that I may have to repeat the process a time or to to really dam the voids up.
Does anyone have experience doing any of the above or have another preferred method of doing the same?
Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions,
-Andrew