Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 17, 2000 07:29am | #10

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   Can't get the "real" mahogany any more. Can only find yellow pine in a real t&g floor board and my lumberyard recommends this.

   I did my own porch as a test. Backprimed the boards before installation and it didn't last a year.

   What are you all using to replace the old mahogany floor boards on porches?

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 11, 2000 01:56am | #1

   *Ryan, what do you mean when you say "it didn't last a year"? Did your boards rot or the paint on the surface fall off?There have been discussions about backpriming before installation, usually siding, and since I lack subject knowledge I think I'd like to hear from someone like James DuHammel about this...It is my understanding that most primers are not designed to do anything but prepare a surface to take the application of the real protector - paint. Could backpriming, with the final protective coating being applied only to the visible surface, be a waste of time and material? Should siding be backprimed and not porches? Should paint be applied to all sides before assembly? Inquiring minds...

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 11, 2000 02:45am | #2

   *Around here, the yellow pine is face grain and won't last outside. we use vertical grain fir. It's expensive, but I've even used finger jointed that has lasted for years, (15 years). Current wisdom seems to be to coat all of it with the product you are using on top. Thinned out as you would do for first coat on floor. Not as messy as using a seperate primer for edges and underside.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 11, 2000 05:26pm | #3

   *Where do you find vertical grain fir? I have a porch floor that needs replacing. All I've been able to find is Douglas Fir in the 1x4 T&G. I mention the vertical grain fir to the yard that I deal with, and none of their suppliers show vertical grain being available. The Douglas Fir here(IN), runs about .70 per lineal ft. How does that cost compare to vertical grain? I need about 1200 lineal ft.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 12, 2000 03:08am | #4

   *clear fir is a little more readily available... but you should be able to get CVG fir by special order..and it is the traditional material for covered new england porches...the lattice on the sides helps to ensure that they dry out underneath... and the backpriming will give them the life you should expect .. which is forever if maintained..(read the fine print on <<>> though)

2. 
   Guest_ | Jul 12, 2000 06:27am | #5

   *Its starting to get scarce, and I haven't bought any yet this year so maybe I better shut up till I check on it. The yard I go to in KS still had quite a bit this spring.... they price it like they do redwood, it goes up and down all the time.

3. 
   Guest_ | Jul 14, 2000 11:49am | #6

   *Good subject Ryan.Because we tend to see massive amounts of moisture (rain and humidity), we try to stick with CCA treated 1 x 4 pine t&g flooring for exposed porches. Southern yellow pine (clear) is the second choice. I have done a few porch floors with clear southern yellow pine. They seemed to have lasted longer than I expected them to. Weather conditions and temperature I am sure have the greatest effect on these boards. As far as primers/bond coats go, they are serving several purposes. The first and foremost is to seal and protect the wood. The second is to actually chemically bond the paint to the primer. The primer loses its ability to chemically bond after about two weeks. Primer is also not a suitable sealant by itself if exposed to the elements (such as under a porch). The reason the primer works so well when backpriming siding is the fact that the siding is covered, and virtually sealed up. This pretty much eliminates the elements having much effect on its ability to seal. I would love to see a mahogany floored porch. I bet it is sharp looking. We don't really see much variance from pine or fir for such projects here. I am itching to do a job where the client lets me try some of the methods and materials that are so common to some of you fellas.Just a thought...James

4. 
   Guest_ | Jul 16, 2000 04:43am | #7

   *Well I guess I got a couple of questions and comments for you Ryan with regard to you original post here 1. When you say "real" mahogany do you mean Genuine and Honduran Mahogany as opposed to Philippine Mahogany and/or Luan.2. And do you mean that you can’t find either?3. And is "your lumberyard" as far as you are going to look?I hear a lot about Philippine Mahogany and Luan for decks and porches although I haven’t used it myself in that capacity. As for Genuine AKA Honduran Mahogany that would be a real pleasure in my mind. I think the problem with the yellow pine T&G flooring might be one of moisture content in that all the yellow pine stock I’ve always seen is usually quite wet and I consider it more of a sheathing type material than a porch floor. The porch flooring material I see around here NY suburbs is more often Vertical Grain Douglas Fir. While I have seen some really good clear (and dry) Southern Yellow Pine flooring stock used on interiors here the difference between Pine and Mahogany is really too dramatic for me consider one as a "similar" replacement to the other. Pine being a closed grain wood while mahogany being open grained is kind of like comparing concrete to asphalt. They are both paving materials but they are very different in looks and their respective performance characteristics.But all this subjective and technical wood comparison stuff aside I think we as skirting around another very interesting issue. What do you mean you can’t get it? What I think you were really saying was that you couldn’t get it "off-the-shelf" at your local corner lumberyard. That’s probably true. But why limit yourself to the locals in this day and age?Did you read the "Exporting vs serving a small rural market" dialog in the Business section here ( David Strom "Exporting vs serving a small rural market" 6/1/00 10:17pm). The premise being considered there is just what I’ve been looking into these days. About three years ago I learned a very interesting lesson while working a subcontract for a large luxury builder. One day I told them I needed a piece of 5/4 x 12 Clear Pine to replace a carriage on a stair they had me installing since the stringer was cosmetically damaged. They got on the phone and called a lumber yard in Maine and two days later I had a great piece of pine shipped to the job site for less than I could have bought it for locally (not even considering the time it would have taken me to get it). I am very sure that there is a mill somewhere out there that can sure as heck supply you with your mahogany either Genuine or Luan in T&G however you want it. We just need to research a little further and plan a little better to take advantage of these resources. Globalization sure as heck is coming and anyone who thinks it isn’t going to effect the remodeling or building business has their head in the sand.

5. 
   P._C. | Jul 17, 2000 01:08am | #8

   *Interested to hear about 1x4 CCA T&G, have never seen it here in VA. How well does SYP do in an enclosed porch (gets wet from the occassional storm blowing in)? Paint all sides first, I suppose.

6. 
   Guest_ | Jul 17, 2000 05:03am | #9

   *So P.C. if after looking around your local area you can't find this CCA treated 1 x 4 pine that James mentions do you think you would ever consider ordering it from a mill in Southeast Texas if that's what it took to get it? If my memory serves me correctly it probably originates from mills closer to you than James but my point is again, are we as builders and remodelers prepared to enter in to the global market place and economy?

7. 
   Guest_ | Jul 17, 2000 07:29am | #11

   *I'm just an overworked, stressed out Arkansas Hillbilly, not yet ready to go global.