# Good Use of Cookies



## [email protected] (Jul 14, 2009)

This is a floor from my Hardwood Flooring Magizine. This floor had to take forever. I've added the story with it.









During the late 19th century, the United States' logging heyday, "river pigs" guided millions of logs down northern Florida's famed Suwannee River. Inevitably, some of the logs destined for the sawmill fell to the river's bottom—deadheads, as they're called. Over their 100 years of submersion, the logs collected minerals and changed color, giving way to an entire industry today where the deadheads are reclaimed and finally used for building—and consumers love it.
Just ask Matthew Marwick, president of Summerfield, Fla.-based Precision Floorcrafters Inc., whose client for this award-winning 120-square-foot floor specifically requested it be designed exclusively using reclaimed deadheads from the Suwannee, which is just 60 miles from his home. "He picked out the lumber and I drew a design that he loved," Marwick says of the creative process.
The floor has four primary components. The focal point is a 53-inch medallion of end-grain bald cypress. Marwick took a slice of a log from a recovered tree's crotch, sliced it horizontally, and then laid the pieces opposite one another. The result is a mirroring effect at the floor's center. Surrounding the medallion is a herringbone-patterned ring of heart pine, and next is a field of end-grain heart pine. The final component is a mitered border of rare curly pine. Marwick says that about one in 400 deadhead pine is curly pine, which has a very erratic grain and tiny protrusions at its bark, things Marwick says resemble "warts" (visible on the cover of this issue). Marwick took the wood that would become his border and sliced it lengthwise, then matched the ends and placed them at a 90-degree angle.
When it comes down to it, this floor has everything a Members' Choice floor should have: beauty, creativity, craftsmanship, and a great story.—D.D.


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## gus (Oct 31, 2010)

soooooo cool. thanks for posting.


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

Very interesting. Although the contruction technique has to be different, the result is an exact form of oyster veneer, but HUGE by comparison to the normal use. That's probably where the idea came from.


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## HomeBody (Nov 24, 2010)

I've heard about the submerged logs from Lake Superior coming out and making fantastic wood but had never heard of it in Florida. I wonder where else these "deadheads" are lurking about, waiting for someone to drag them up and mill? Gary


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## Larry Sockwell (Mar 18, 2011)

Do a search for any sawmills that may have existed in your area, near a river or lake, and go diving.


Larry


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Larry Sockwell said:


> Do a search for any sawmills that may have existed in your area, near a river or lake, and go diving.


...AFTER you check the legal end of removing logs from any watershed. It varies by region, some states are VERY strict. The deadheaders I know (in other states) have to be ''permitted'' and pay state licensing fees. The state(s) claim ownership of sunken logs, just as if it was a standing live tree, and the log is considered ''habitat''. If I were to haul out a sinker from my local river/lake I would face a stiff fine. No different than if I went into a state park and cut down a live tree.

EDIT: For example, one guy I know is subject to this law.

''$500 application fee''...

''the applicant shall include with the application a performance bond in the amount of at least $10,000''...

''Reservation of value. The state reserves to itself 30% of the stumpage value, as established under s. 77.91 (1), of any log raised pursuant to a permit issued under this section.''...

''Any person who removes for commercial gain sunken logs on submerged state lands without a permit issued under this section may be required to forfeit $500 or an amount equal to 2 times the gross value of the removed logs, whichever is greater, plus the reasonably incurred costs of investigation and prosecution.''


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

The end grain pine is similar to cordwood construction which has been around for many centuries, but without the spaces between them as you get when you simply butt them next to each other. We made some test wall panels using this same type of design, but we used the classic cordwood look the spacing between the logs. I like the look he achieved much better, evidently by cutting profiles out one slice of the neighboring slices with a jig saw (?). You're right that was a lot of work, but very pretty and worth the effort IMO. 








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## Gene Howe (Feb 28, 2009)

Daren said:


> EDIT: For example, one guy I know is subject to this law.
> 
> .


Gotta protect them Wisconsin fishies, turtles and copperheads!


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