math formula for cutting flooring board length
I am looking for a math formula that will calculate lengths to cut my flooring boards to minimize waste. My bamboo flooring is in equal lengths and the width of the room equals 3 full boards plus 3″. I also want joints to be a minimum of 6″ apart. There must be a formula out there . I asked my friends neighbour as he is a pro installer for 20 plus years be he said the flooring he uses comes in different lengths so he diidn’t know. Is there an app. out there for a phone.
Thanx trevor
Replies
Phone app for cutting floor boards? I plead ignorance, but I doubt it, and I also doubt the value of anything you might find.
Instead of ending with a 3" piece at the end, start the run with a partial length (like maybe about a half-length), save the offcut to use as an ending piece when the layout permits, and lay your next 3 pieces, the last of which will be a partial length. and the offcut from it will be the starter for your next row. If needed, cut a little off to stagger the end joint from the first row.
You will end up with very little waste, not more than about 5%.
But if you enjoy fussing with formulas more than I do, I hope you find your app.You might even save 1%.
cut 16.5" off 1/3 of the
cut 16.5" off 1/3 of the boards if 3 ft long, or solve
where b = board length
l= room width = 3*b + 3
x = cut segment length
(b-x) * 4 = l
etc.........
trevor
If your boards are equal length-
and you don't want that same pattern appearing which unless a deck and beveled ends where it might make sense...........
spend the time it takes to see if you can come up with an easy random repeat that'll take up 8-10 runs of flooring and produce minimal waste.
or
The end cut becomes the starter. No board should be less than a foot. You'll use up whatever you cut off-there'll be little waste.
By the time you furnish the room.......you'll wonder why you thought this all out.
Bamboo-if you use an air assist nailer-turn the pressure down-start at 75/80 to test first-bamboo (depending on thickness) takes alot less pressure than hardwood. I use staples in a bostich nailer. Stay at least 3" from the ends.
And if you can understand Junkhound's formula-explain it to me.
thanks
there's more to making a floor look good than a mathematical formula can provide. If you want randomly staggered joints simply cut each row differently so it looks right and avoid "H" looking staggering, as well as stairsteps, and a few other things.
If a carpenter showed up on site and started writing out a formula for cutting hardwood flooring I'd have a hard time not laughing, unless he actually used it without regard to common sense then I'd probably call a time out and get a reality check. :)
Yeah, the couple of times I've done this (with random length pieces) I just kept a stack of the cutoffs and selected from among them the "most random" piece, compared to the last several starts. With fixed-length pieces you probably want to intentionally make a few "odd length" cuts to start, to build up your "inventory".