Maple flooring

[Grant Davis]

There is a posting on CL in Columbus http://columbus.craigslist.org/mat/579428150.html for maple t&g flooring that shows a piece of it sanded that looks pretty decent.

I have a co-worker that is looking at buying some of this and asked me to build him 2 vanities for a rental house he is rehabbing. So my question is this.....am I just asking for trouble if I agree to do this for him using this particular lumber? I have never used reclaimed flooring like this for anything and would like some input.

Thanks in advance.

[Matt Schell]

I would negotiate them down. 2.00 isn't a bad price but it will need to be finished. Just make sure the tongues and groove aren't too badly broken. I think Maple is one of the more unstable species so you may get some expansion/contraction. Definitely let it acclimate and use a moisture meter.

[George Bregar]

What's your concern? It's just wood, and probably pretty good. My only issue is that it is pretty narrow,

[Peter Quinn]

Don't touch this with a ten foot pole. Even at 7/8" thick there's not much wood to work with. The tongues and grooves on most flooring are not a glue joint. By the time you flatten it, gunk up your tools milling throught the old varnish, cut off the tongues and grooves. remove the back relief cuts, what's left? 11/16"X 1 3/4"?

If you are doing this as a quick-N-dirty for a really good friend in a hard spot on the quick, you can turn flooring into cabinetry sort of. The total hardwood lumber bill for a couple of vanities is not really worth the time it will take to work with this material.

I would encourage your co-worker to buy proper lumber for the job and put down a nice maple hardwood floor. The best use for this material is to be reinstalled AS A FLOOR!

[Matt Schell]

sorry I thought you were intending to install the material as flooring. It may require more milling than you would think between planing the finish off and getting the relief cuts out. If you have the equipment I suppose it could work for you.