I have to supervise the laying of a hardwood floor over concrete on the 1st level of 8 tourist chalets. The buildings are on concrete piles over water. This is in the Maldives, so we are talking hot and humid all the year round. But the buildings are AC cooled, so we have big temp changes and changes in humidity. The wood is a Malaysian hardwood, not sure what type. It has been slab sawn, not what I would have chosen, but I have to work with what I’m given. Architects choice, he wants the look. The boards run parallel to the door for 6 meters (20′) The lintel for the door butts the floor so no room for an expansion gap on this wall. Other end ok. Labor is cheap, but materials are not. So labor intensive solution are of lesser importance.
What suggestions do we have out there. All advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks. Caldoche.
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I'd bevel the ends, say 30 degrees where it meets the wall. Long point of the bevel on the face of course. Same with the last board. The point will push into the soft dry wall when it expands. Pay attention where the drywall screws or nails are so they don't line up with the points. A lesser bevel at the lintel. 5 or 10 degrees. Here you're looking for the wood fibers to crush a bit to avoid the finished floor from buckling.
If you do get a call back due to buckling, its easier to shave the bevel point in place with a rabbit or bullnose plane than a square edge piece you'll have to remove & replace.
Best to you and yours, Chris.
Building as thou art paranoid never harmed anyone.
I don't follow. how does a lintel butt a floor? do you have any pictures?
I'm thinking it's more like a curb that the door sits on top of. The challenge is that the flooring has to be tight to it to avoid any unsightly gaps.
I wish I could see what it looked like. if the door has a threshold or a sill which is most common, usually quarter round is used here. with baseboard in the rest of the room. which I know is not news to you, and probably not the OP either. But I am thinking that I am missing something, hence a photo would be great.
I wonder if the door sill sits flush with the finished floor height making a piece of trim at this point not possible.
If we want to talk about labour intensive ideas; one could consider adjusting things so that sill sits higher than the finished floor height allowing for quarter round or similar trim.
A: remove door adjust framing shim up door unit to sit higher
B: replace sill with thicker sill and plane bottom of door accordingly. ( unless it is a steel door of course)
anyway just brainstorming here
The bevel sounds like the way to go. With the extremes in temp and humidity you're definitely going to get some wood movement, especially by the door. By the way, how did you get a job in the Maldives?
Keedman
A lintel cannot touch the floor. That term is for the headpiece that is also called a header or beam over the side posts.
You may mean that the jamb and casing run to the concrete sub-floor, but you can still allow for expansion and make the fitting easier too. Just use a backsaw or other thin blade and lay a piece of flooring next to the jamb then lay the blade on it and cut.
All wood flooring must be allowed to reach equilibrium in situ so it will not shrink or expand too violently after installation. This usually takes a good two weeks of on site stickering with fan running on it for me and my climate. Is this wood green or is it kiln-dried?
Now then, how to provide a subfloor to attach this flooring. Common is to place plywood over furring, but given your description of doors, I doubt the "architect" has allowed for that in his elevation. What is his suggestion? It sounds like he is only halfway there.
Bostic has a wood flooring adhesive, but I doubt that is a good idea in your location with variables in humidity.
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Piffin, it would be nice if the OP would get back with some more detail. stating himself as a supervisor leads me to believe he has a clue. But how one could come up with the term lintel ( a more unknown term) to describe jambs and casing ( widely known terms - especially casing) That is why it seems as though something is missing in the equation. He did say it "butts" up to the floor, so your assessment makes sense, hopefully we will be enlightened soon.
Let's remember this is in a foreign land so terminology might get mixed up - maybe the local colloquialism for a door frame is lintel.I am more curious about why an architect would spec this combination of materials without having speced a way to combine them. Sounds more like something an interior designer would do than a professional architect.
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Ahhh...yes, the interior designer
Sorry for the delay in replying, but its been busy, busy. I found enough time to read but not reply. Thanks to one and all for your thoughts on the floor. Lintel is a common term (where I come from) for the step on the bottom of the door. Language can be a funny thing. I will give you my background. Then perhaps you will forgive me any future transgressions in terminology. I'm a Kiwi,(New Zealand)wooden boatbuilder for 30 years. But like most woodworkers I have built a few houses and bit of furniture. At the end of the day wood is still wood no mater where you use it. It just requires an adjustment in thinking. I lived and worked in Sth East Asia for quite a few years (I now live in New Caledonia), and have some good friends in the building industry. Hence the job. Sadly I'm not yet onsite and are having to solve problems via phone and email. Not so easy, but in 2 weeks I'll be there. I was not given good info on the door frame. Apparently it has no step as the exterior patio covering protects the door so no weather strip is required. So we can now get expansion gaps on the 4 walls. With the changes in humidity I've thought to blind screw the T&G boards to the furring strips. And hopefully retard any buckling. The furring strips were to be 2"x 1", I've recommended 2x2. As the floor is over concrete but on the 1st floor, how necessary is a vapor barrier. Previously I've used plastic sheet and tape, but its all been on the ground floor. I've also requested that the boards are coated with the same product as is used on the surface. A common enough practice in boatbuilding. We have an architect and interior designer on this project. I think of it as just another challenge. End results are what it's all about. Cheers guys. Caldoche