I have the search the internet and youtube and its all about the groove and slot wood floors. I was actually thinking of going to the local lumber and get 1x6 lumber to make my own wood floor in my bedroom. My floor now is 3/4 inch plywood,therefore I would have to use an insulation padding. how difficult would this be? I know i would have to sand, stain and seal.

 

that sounds like a great idea! you're talking about pulling up the 3/4" sub, right? i would put a "v" bevel in one side and the opposite on the other, this will provide better insulation. and of course you are going to want to get a harder wood, eh?

 

no actually i was going to leave the plywood underneath and just use the lumber planks above it. I guess it would be a easy nail down job, eh? I would imagine I have to leave a 1/2 inch all around for wood to expand?

 

The problem with saw mill lumber is generally it hasn't had time to dry = it will shrink. Both of my covered porches have saw mill poplar for decking. They were installed tight but have an 1/2" gap between them now. Also unless the lumber is planed on at least 1 side - the the thickness will vary some.

About the only way I'd consider a saw mill finish floor is if either myself or a shop could plane, edge and apply tongue and groove or even a rabbit to the edges.

 

tongue and groove
That will take some work if I did i myselfa . how did the older houses not seem to have this problem? or atleast not 1/2 inch gaps. Could it be that yours suffered more sinc it was outside in the enviroment(covered porch) and being indoors will not cause as much gap?
As far as rabbit edges <--- what do you mean?

 

All lumber must be dried to prevent shrinkage. Today's store bought lumber is kiln dried. Saw mill lumber is air dried and often not for very long. Years ago, they would air dry the lumber and hand rout the T&G with planes

A rabbit is where you cut out half of the edge on 1 piece and set it together with a similiar cut piece [but opposite] like a half lap joint. There's better discription but someone else can probably explain better.

 

The 200 year old house I grew up in had very wide (up to 14") floorboards. There was a double layer, and it was over a dirt floor cellar. The gaps were about 1/4" and they never seemed to change with the seasons. Maybe the wood stops moving when it is that old? The old seaman that built the house pounded rope into all the seams to keep the cold air out. It was a very rustic floor! Although somewhat uneven, the boards didn't seem to cup, either. I wish I knew the secret, because I want to use the timber on my land to make my own flooring. I plan to build a solar kiln to dry it, and I'm going to use vintage type nails and face nail it down.

 

so if i have to dry the wood for how long? i can store it in my shed. In the shed is alway hot and that should dry it in about a week or two. does it require more time?

 

I won't really begin to guess, but I don't think a week is long enough. Esp in an outside shed with changes in temp and humidity.

Premium wood for rifle stocks sometimes has to dry in temperature and humidity controlled rooms for YEARS to dry and stabilize.

 

Generally you can figure the better part of a year for wood to air dry. Kiln dry is so much better in many ways; the heat helps to kill any bugs, and controlling the heat and air flow can help to minimize the boards warping as they dry out.

We don't have the old growth trees that we had 100-200 yrs ago. The most stable lumber part of the tree is in the center. Todays lumber is cut from younger trees which makes for narrower boards that aren't as stable as the wider boards that can be cut from the center of 3' diameter tree.

 

I guess its easier to buy pre engineered wood rather than just buying lumber and installing it? I know my mom's wood deck we installed years ago has some gap in some areas but its not like its horrific. I think I could deal with the 1/4-1/2 inch gaps.
I can also fill the gaps with rope that are dipped into wood stain liquid to match the floor. I was looking at 6 inch planks at 11 feet long