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["Mogrits" <mogrits AT gmail.com>]

>
> There will be a plywood subfloor. Cracks are my concern. Money may
> call for me to paint the plywood and live with that for a while. I've
> redone oak floors on the city house, replaced boards, etc. Pretty
> straightforward. Just can get over thinking about wide plank floors.
> But the cracks...
>
> Rob - Va

A year is excessive but a few weeks in your conditioned room wouldn't be
bad. You can rent or buy a hygrometer here:
http://www.virtualvillage.com/items/item.aspx?itemid=3813646&utm_source=base
usa&utm_medium=shopping for 12 bucks if you must get technical about the
moisture content of the wood. As long as the moisture content is close to
that of the plywood and other similar woods in the room you will be fine.
(Yes, list gnomes, I know plywood expands and contracts differently than,
say, a 1x6 pine board but you only have to get as close as is practicable).

Place your plywood now and seal it with polyurethane or varathane or paint
while you save your coins. Buy your 1x4 and 1x6 pine or maple or oak or
whatever you want a month or so ahead of time. Run each over a dado blade on
your table saw to create a lap joint (to minimize the depth of the cracks
and to eliminate half of the exposed nailheads). Stack the wood in the room
as you get it kerfed and let it sit the balance of that month. Roll out 30#
felt over the plywood and lay your boards with the female groove to the
bottom on the leading edge, so that the "tongue" on each successive board is
driven under the previous board and drive your nails in at an angle to
minimize later nailpops. You could skip the grooves if the number of
nailheads and depth of cracks isn't an issue.

All wood floors shrink and swell. The issues with the wider boards are that
you will likely not be using as dimensionally stable a wood as the oak or
maple used in traditional hardwood floors.

I've seen many beautiful old farmhouses with plank floors buttjointed and
surface nailed. You'll be a step ahead using feltpaper below the boards.

Warren
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