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Steve,
In your case, I think 1/16″ gap per foot of board width would be sufficient. If they swelled too much in May(?), you can “re-space” them with a thin kerf saw cut here and there and touch up with paint. Just make sure the “dutchman patches” don’t span more than one board.
SteveB
Replies
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Steve,
In your case, I think 1/16" gap per foot of board width would be sufficient. If they swelled too much in May(?), you can "re-space" them with a thin kerf saw cut here and there and touch up with paint. Just make sure the "dutchman patches" don't span more than one board.
SteveB
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Mega-distressed, that's good. I've been trimming out some new houses that have larger than 1/16" gaps in strip maple flooring. I'll tell the homeowners it's just minor distress.
Put down some roofing felt, and you might want to put some relief kerfs in the backs of any real wide, cupped boards. If you've got to pull them down too far, they might crack, or the screw might pull thru or snap off. I'd think you could run the boards tight, and just leave a gap at the walls, which base and shoe would cover. If that's not too slickified!
*Hey there Bucksnort,I chuckle everytime I write your name! I would love to butt them tight, but worry that the expansion over a 16" flat-sawn plank come summer would be a little too much stress. I've laid them about 3/32 apart and face srewed them. If they shrink I'll pull the screws and shift them all over in a year or two.The distress of which I speak is not in the gaps, it's in the oil spills, gouges, plumbing holes, 1/2" variation in board thickness, cat vomit, etc.In my old age I've become quite the purist about retaining age in old buildings. I get sad when I walk into my bathroom and look at the smooth and glossy varnished floor that used to look just like the kitchen floor does now. Once you take away the wear, it'll take a long time to get the patina back.Steve
*Steve, you're right, don't worry about gaps. I grew up in a house built in 1772. 16" or so wide, black walnut floors. Huge gaps, saw marks, lotta living, these were mega-distressed! The gaps were packed with everything, and anything, including peas from my plate. My parents called that patina. Only comments visitors ever made was, how beautiful the floors looked. BB
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Steve:
Just lay them down, they're 165 yrs old and therefore, won't fit up tight anyway.
I'm in the middle of an identical project myself only with 125 yr old re-claimed pine. My guess is that they have done all the shrinking that they are going to do. I left anywhere from 1/16 to 1/8 depending on my mood and the persuasiveness of my helper's prybar...whatever you do, it's an old home and, perfecly fitted pine flooring would look rediculous.
Ben
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I'm relaying floorboards that I took up about a year ago. They've been stored in the unheated upstairs of my house in central New York, and I am wondering how tight to space them now that I'm putting them back down.
The boards are flat-sawn pine that is about 165 yrs old. They range from about a foot wide to 16 inches. I'm guessing that we're at the lowest humidity levels we'll see all year here. The gaps in the flooring that I never took up run about 1/8 to 3/8 inches wide.
So should I but them up tight, or leave a small gap? I was going to put them down with screws and fill the heads, since the floors will be painted in the long run. The reason for the screws is that the boards are quite rough. Some are cupped pretty badly and will need to be drawn down tight. Also, the boards are quite brittle at the ends, and fairly tattered. I'm not going to sand at all, but will be cutting in some dutchmen patches as well as patching a couple of 2x6 foot areas. I'm going for the mega-distressed look here.
Steve