# My first floors are finally done



## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

These are the first hardwood floors I have ever done. It is pre-finished red oak 2 1/4" wide x 3/4" thick. The light color is stained natural, the dark is stained gunstock. I knew putting the center square in the dining room and putting the border everywhere was going to be hard but I never realized just how hard. There are over 500 precision cuts in the floors. And once cut, I had to regroove the ends with a router. In many areas, instead of the boards being laid tongue to groove, I had to lay them groove to groove which meant I had to make splines to mate the boards together. Also, in order for the border to come out equal on all edges of the rooms, I had to rip boards the full length of the room. In the bedroom, on each side, I have a board that is 3/4" wide x 14' long. Regrooving those was tricky. Then of course splining them. And then there were the 2 fireplaces. They weren't square with the room. So, the borders around them are not 90 degrees. They are 89 to 89 1/2 degrees. And if you think you can get away with cutting a 90 in those spots, forget it. It will stand out like a sore thumb. All in all, I am extremely happy with the end result. The joints are tight everywhere. I just hope they stay reasonably tight over the years. I did my homework and I believe I did everything right so they should stay.

Dining Room








Living Room








Master Bedroom


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Nice work, Bud. I might not have carried the border around the (double?) fireplace like that, but it works. I always worry, with projects like this, that I'll get sick of it and then I'm stuck with something in 5 or 10 years I don't want any more. 

Looks great though, and you can definitely tell how the 90 on the fireplace would show dramatically. Good work making the adjustment look clean.


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## hands made for wood (Nov 2, 2007)

I like the contrast between the two colors of wood, it looks amasing! Good work!


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## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

That is absilutly breath taking. You have done a great work of art. If I wore a hat it would be off to you.:thumbsup::thumbsup: Rick


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## smitty1967 (Feb 24, 2008)

Bud, that is an _awesome_ looking project! You did superb work there, my friend! Nice job all the way around.

now get busy on them baseboards, huh?

smitty


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

...and beautiful floors they are too! Really, really sharp! :thumbsup:


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

Thanks everybody. It took a long time. I'm going to take a few weeks off before I do the baseboard & paint. A few nights pickin' the banjo and sippin' a cool drink on the front porch maybe. Hope I don't scare the neighbors away.


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## MrRodeoCC (Mar 15, 2008)

Beautiful!!!! I can imagine all the tedious time measuring and cutting, my knees would be killing me for sure.


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## firefighteremt153 (Jan 25, 2008)

That floor looks great TS! Been wanting to do something like that in my house to replace our poor craftsmanship floors we now have. Whats that sayin we use here in the South. "If you hear Banjo's. Start runnin" Deliverance!


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## moneymgmt (May 7, 2008)

You are a maniac! I pray my wife never logs in and sees those floors; I don't have the patience! Absolutely beautiful, great attention to detail!


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

> You are a maniac! I pray my wife never logs in and sees those floors;


Tell me about it. It all really started when my wife said she'd like a hardwood floor in the dining room. Just one room. So, I thought, "Ok, it's just the one room. I'll do it up really special." That was a mistake. Of course she liked it so much she wanted the other 2 rooms done too. Not that I don't like it, I do. But sheesh. Yes, it was a huge job. The worst part was that the floors weren't flat. The other problem was that I had particle board, not plywood, and as many of you probably know, PB won't hold nails well enough for hardwood flooring. I ripped the PB out and under it I had OSB. I made a 14' straight edge and laid it on the floor and glued shims onto the OSB enough to come up & meet the bottom of the straight edge. I glued stacks of shims every 8" along every floor joist. I had hundreds of shim stacks on the floor. Then I put the plywood down. 3/4" T & G. Then I started the actual hardwood floor. Yes, my knees are hurting.


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## KJWoodworking (Feb 15, 2008)

I agree with keeping this from our wives.

Just the thought of the work involved made me delete all history, cookies, any evidence of email post notifications, and the link for this site from my favorites.

I can't believe you would do this to your fellow woodworker. Don't we all try to get along and look out for one another? 

The floors are awesome. Great job! I would love to have floors like that in my home.(I'm too lazy) 

Too bad the wife can't see them, she would love them too.


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## richel (Feb 9, 2008)

Hey partner, great job. I am in the wood flooring industry for the past 11 years, and I am totally impressed. I appreciate the work involved in attaining your finished product. What was the accent that you used with the red oak? It looks like Brazillian Cherry.

Greenfield Rich


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## Evil Scotsman (May 30, 2008)

OMG! That is INCREDIBLE! Sorry I am new here, but those floors look :icon_cheesygrin:


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## Trappeur (Jul 10, 2008)

*Incredibly beautiful flooring Bud! Your wife must be so proud of you!*

*Trappeur*


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## sharmilla (Dec 12, 2009)

I have already done my floors but I think I messed up I did take the fireplace into consideration so now i am stuck trying to figure out what i should do...so now i have 3 inch gap between the fireplace and the hardwood floors..i need some suggestions.


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## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

Bud, fantastic work. Those floors look beautiful. Years from now people will be restoring them as classic early 21st century craftsmanship. 

Sharmilla, post some pics, that's gonna be the best way to get some advice.


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