Oak is a hard wood. Commonly used in the 20s. Fir is a soft wood. Not really used for flooring as far as I know of. Lots of 'engineered' flooring today. All kinds of 'looks'.
Disaster in Columbus: Let the bodies hit the floor
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Oak is a hard wood. Commonly used in the 20s. Fir is a soft wood. Not really used for flooring as far as I know of. Lots of 'engineered' flooring today. All kinds of 'looks'.
Althea
Althea told me...........
Thanks. I'm a cabinetmaker for most of my life. Fir was very common in older homes. Might be a regional thing.
https://www.google.com/search?sourc.....gws-wiz.....6..35i39j0i131j0i10.QAY-ubJD-ug
I see that. It looks good.
https://www.stonewoodproducts.com/product/douglas-fir-flooring-cvg/
Maybe it IS regional?
"Vintage homes can have fir or oak floors"
"In my experience with my own house built in 1911, and all the houses I've been in in my neighborhood, the typical original flooring was fir.
It's so soft that I always tell people "if you drop your keys it'll leave a gouge." Yet people refer to them as hardwood floors."
https://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarde...-homes-can-have-fir-or-oak-floors-3731967.php
christiefan915
Catalyst
That is just beautiful. Your customers are nuts.
Althea
Althea told me...........
Fir is a conifer, so it's technically a 'soft' wood. Harder than pine, and easier to get knot free. I never saw the wisdom, but maybe it was cheaper, and easier to sand back then?
ThatOwlWoman
Leftist Vermin
What beautiful grain. Why anyone would want to cover that up is beyond my ken.
I used glue and face nails from a nail gun.
I know. It's maddening, but at the same time, I get it. They want it to look how they envision. That's why I get the big bucks. I have to find a way to make it happen. Hopefully they like one of the new colors.
christiefan915
Catalyst
If you want to see the bolded, watch all the seasons of Rehab Addict with Nicole Curtis. I love that show. I want to *be* her! It's on my wish list to visit Bauer Bros. in Minneapolis, where she gets everything you need to restore a vintage house, from flooring, lighting, paneling, doors, sinks, clawfoot tubs etc.
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Yeah, fir and yellow pine are soft. Back in the day the big sanders had metal wheels that would leave dents on fir floors when you were sanding. It was really hard to not leave marks. LOL
Most homes back then were using fir or heart pine. Only the wealthy used oak flooring. In Portland it was often I would see floors with oak borders around pine/fir as the field with idea being you would cover the pine floors with area rugs and show off the oak borders. Pine and fir are both more stable as flooring than oak with respect to humidity and water. Oak boards will twist and pop up out of the floor if the get wet enough. I've never seen pine or fir do that.
christiefan915
Catalyst
It's a 1920's house. The hand rail is actually quite ornate hand wrought iron. It includes simulated leaves in the design and has a curved section at the top. It's actually one of the nicer touches. The trim is indeed old. 100 years old. The customer chose to not update the trim.
The transition at the two rooms looks like shit.
LOL that's how light refracts off wood. Go look at parquet or herringbone floors and you'll see that light refracts differently depending on the direction of the grain of the wood. You are clueless, dude
OMG that is so, so beautiful.
I've always heard Douglas Fir was used as structural members in homes out West while Southern Pine was used down South for the same thing. Also, heard many homes in the San Francisco area were built out of Redwood while homes in New Orleans used Cypress.
I've tried nailing Oak stair treads, and the nail would bend it was so hard.
(pre-drilling seems to be the key)Yeah, herringbone is my favorite. Close second is parquet laid on 45 degree angle so it looks like diamonds instead of squares. But I like borders to have no feature strips unlike the picture above. I like a more quiet design without the dark strips.
Here's a picture of an existing floor that I added borders to the outside and a cool design around the fireplace.
christiefan915
Catalyst
I've always heard Douglas Fir was used as structural members in homes out West while Southern Pine was used down South for the same thing. Also, heard many homes in the San Francisco area were built out of Redwood while homes in New Orleans used Cypress.
I've tried nailing Oak stair treads, and the nail would bend it was so hard.
I watch another show called Hometown that's set in Laurel MS, and a lot of the floors in the old houses are heart pine. The renovators say it was common in the area in earlier days.
christiefan915
Catalyst
Oh my, kudos to you, it's gorgeous. And so precise! I would love to learn how to do those inlays but my skill level is too low. I think the border looks better on this floor than on the herringbone.
Very creative. Nice work.
Haven't seen the Show. Pine is everywhere around here, ... so maybe so?
On that job I made all the cherry border strips out of a single plank of wood so they were all the same color. That was one of the floors that's only 3/8 inch thick and face nailed every 16 inches. Real pain to sand but easy to install. LOL
christiefan915
Catalyst
I didn't even know what "heart" pine meant until I watched the show!
Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
The Bain of every business. Getting your customers to pay.