Looking Through Floor Boards

A heart pine floor from goodwin includes boards with the repeating cathedral grain characteristic of plain sawn wood.

Looking through floor boards.

Yet another exception if you have solid wood floors not engineered on a pier and beam foundation then you don t have a lot of choice as far as which direction to run the flooring it would best be run perpendicular to the joists. Draughty floorboards are a common issue in a lot of period homes with original floors. For the best results draw the floor plan to scale and lay out rows of boards fig. The floor below is a stained concrete floor with scored lines.

If you are seeking the best flooring for living room elegance that still captures both warmth and utility try a reclaimed wood floor. The floor below is a travertine paver sand set floor. Racking a laminate floor is a little more difficult than racking a hardwood floor because laminate planks are all the same length whereas hardwood boards tend to come in different lengths. Concrete stain is great choice to dress up existing concrete floor.

Reclaimed wood retains natural warmth without looking too formal. The tongue and groove pine flooring must run perpendicular to the floor joists. All that over head painting was messy and we didn t want to drip or spatter all over the new floors so that s why we painted everything before installing. The walls and ceiling boards the flat parts were painted semi gloss white the ceiling batten trim was painted flat white and the big floor to ceiling posts were painted gloss white.

This is a very pretty old world looking floor. But as a general rule laying the boards in the manner i ve shown below is a good go by. Cut the boards to fit between the joists and either toenail drive the nails at an angle the boards to the joists from above or drive the nails through the joist into the board ends if you are. It is not as worn looking as some choices yet has an aged lived in look that makes your house a home.

Travertine is a real stone and makes a beautiful porch floor. The border is in a darker color. Plain sawn heart pine produces a repeating pattern of what are called cathedral arches says jeffrey forbes of the goodwin company. Rack the floor correctly which means to stagger the end joints randomly and with enough space between them to prevent the end joints from separating.