Using oily footing form boards for joists
Hi, I should know this, but is there any reason (besides added flammability) not to use the nice straight 2×8 footing form boards that have been sprayed with form oil as floor joists, or is this common practice?
Thanks, Jen
Replies
They are going to stink which means they are off gasing chemicals. When everyone else in the country is trying to reduce VOCs in a home you are looking for a way to introduce MORE...............
Good point
No, I am not looking for a way to introduce more chems into our environment, so that is a very good reason not to use them again. I worked for a school district that had this one room that seemed to make everyone sick, (smelled like mothballs) turned out that some idiot in the 50s had treated the subfloor under the parquet floor tiles with creosote. Oh well, time to get my butt over to the lumber yard and try to find some NEW nice straight 2x8x 14s. Ouch! there goes $150 down the drain
Tanks, Jencar
Used to be quite common.
So did asbestos, Knob and Tube wiring, dirt floors, no running water and outhouses.
Hi Dan
How the heck are you? good to see you're still active in here. Are you still pulling wire?
If I'd known, I woulda (shoulda) asked them not to use ferm oil. Oh well
My wire pulling days are over. Fell on the ice 3.5 years back and wrecked my shoulder, so I'm no good doing construction anymore.
Sorry to hear about your shoulder
So you're in semi retirement. You're probably the guy that when the neighbors are building a deck, is over there supervising (like I will be when I retire!) Did you tear your rotator cuff when you fell? I've heard that's a difficult area to rehab. I pinched a nerve in my shoulder carrying a door (because the lady was so nice she kept coming out to ask if I was sure she couldn't help me and distracted me for a second ) and it took a full 9 months before I could lift my arm over my head.
A family friend had rotator cuff surgery and the doctor recommended lifting weights to strengthen his shoulder muscles and he said it's one of the best things he ever did.
Good to hear from you
You may be the reincarnated sprit of the chucklehead that built my house. In your former life you reused the oil soaked foundation form plywood as subflooring. Thanks.
After three coats of Bin shellac, a layer of barrier paper, oak flooring, and extensive caulk we've removed the odor to being unnoticed (mostly). Of course, I've also had to keep my crawlspace a vented one rather than close it up to be within the buildings heated envelope. This trade-off was necessary as another means of odor control.
Sorry, nothing personal. This was just my way of stating what I think you shouldn't do with your used joist material. I'd suggest you sell it as used and still good to use, footing form boards. Then go get some nice new joist stock that actually smells like wood.
No insult taken
Thank you for sharing your experience! A lingering chemical odor would most certainly detract from enjoyment of our new room For someone who's allergic to anything in their environment, something like this would be more than just a nuisance.
Don't oil the forms.
I never oil my forms. I've never had a problem stripping them.
Thanks
I guess it's only practical to oil them if they will be reused as form boards
Hiya Jen - Good to see you around.
I have mixed feelings on the form boards. If it's in a crawlspace, probably no big deal. If it's in a basement, I wouldn't want to be looking at them.
Been a long time since I remember you posting. What are ya up to?
I've kept a folder pf pics of BT people since the 1990s. Just checked, and I have your signature pic standing by your Ford pickup truck.
Hope you and the kids are well.
Hi Boss!
Good to see that you're still kicking it I'm staying busy, even more so now that my daughter and grandkids (Grandkids!) moved back in with us. Need more room to spread out so we're adding on to our little house. I"m an Operating Engineer now, learning to run loaders and backhoes because it's one of the last yobs here to offer health benefits and retirement.
I got tired of all the political posturing on BT and started up a page on FaceBook, but that turned out to be a big time burner, so I pretty much quit that, too. What are you up to these days?
I regret that I didn't watch the foundation crew better and would have asked them not to use form oil...I told them I wanted to use the form boards as joists. My first clue should have been when the form builder started to match the height of the new footing to the existing, which has 2x6 joists, and the addition will have 2x8 joists. I pointed out that he needed to make the new footing 2 inches lower, and he just said "that's why you're the carpenter" Then he started to square it up by putting a framing square against the stucco (rough) and pulling a string line against it. I showed him how to pull a 3 4 5 to square it to the house.
Then I checked it before they poured and one side was almost an inch higher and when I pointed it out he said "we'll fix it as we pour" and you can guess what happened. So I will be notching the bottom of the joists on that side to try to level it out.
Learned my lesson!
Any way, it's good to hear from you, I will try to check in with you more often! Take care
Jen
Thanks for the update.
You asked what I was up to - When were you last on BT?
Got divorced in 2007. Lost my job and they closed the plant I worked at in 2008.
Spent several years doing online dating and working any job I could find to try to get by. Quite the combination. Too many stories to tell in one post.
I ended up meeting an awfully nice lady through eHarmony. Carol and I got married in 2011 and are getting along quite well.
Did you ever follow the farming picture blog? You can find it here if you want to follow along. This picks up not too long after Carol and I met and goes up to a couple of weeks ago:
http://forums.finehomebuilding.com/breaktime/photo-gallery/farming-pictureblog?page=122