Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Sep 26, 2000 06:32am | #1

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   Greenmother, Is this in a new house or part of a remodel with heat on? It's best if You can lay the floor roughly in place and give it a minimum of three days to acclimate to the house. Try and maintain the inside of the house to what it will be temperature and humidity wise when it is occupied. You can rent the nailing equipment. Hire an armed guard to watch that Walnut. It's like gold. Nice floor, good luck, Skip

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   Guest_ | Sep 26, 2000 07:06am | #2

   *Green Mother:Walnut -- sp. gr. 0.55 (@ 12% MC); Radial Shrinkage* - 5.5% Tangential shrinkage - 7.8%. Red Oak -- sp.gr. 0.63 (@12% MC); Radial Shrinkage - 4.0% Tangential shrinkage - 8.6%.* Shrinkage from Green (FSP - ca. 25%) to Oven Dry.What this means, as a comparision to the standard of Red oak T&G strip flooring, is that walnut is softer than oak, and more or less comparable in terms of dimensional stability. Most homes will range between 7 - 14% Equilibrium Moisture Content for the woods so as a rough estimate you can divide shrinkage values by 1/3rd to get an indication of floor movement.There was a joke I will repeat that was posted in the Homebuilding site relating to floors . . .How is a wood floor and a man comparable ?????If it's well laid, you can walk all over them both for lifetime!I hope I did not offend!In laying the floor, be sure to avoid stair stepping or "H" patterns. And to make sure, the length of the strip flooring runs parallel to the longest dimension of the room (to minimize expansion/contraction/shrinkage problems). Keep the butt ends at least 6" from the nearest butt joint in the previous course. It should be a beautiful floor.

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   Guest_ | Sep 26, 2000 01:37pm | #3

   *GM:You get around(thathomesite). I think the biggest concern here in the moisture content of the material and my thought is to line up that finisher you plan on using. They should be able to provide some tips and more important take some moisture content readings on the walnut, subfloor and so on.

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   Greenmother | Sep 26, 2000 02:47pm | #4

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   Thanks guys!
   Skip, this is a new house, and we will definitely acclimate the floor before we put it down.

   Stanley, I appreciate the undiluted technical response... it's a testament to how much the house has consumed my life this year that I actually understood more or less what you were saying! Loved your joke, although it might hit a bit too close to home for my husband. There are days when I think he might be regretting the sunny afterglow morning when he said "Sure, honey, I'll build you a house!"

   Ken, now you know my other secret identity! I only get around to sites where people actually know what they're talking about. My husband is bringing home the moisture meter (or whatever it's called) from work to get a reading on everything from the boards to the subfloor to the dirt underneath the crawlspace. He does love his gadgets. I'm sure he'll find a use for the oscilloscope before all this is over!

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   Greenmother | Sep 26, 2000 09:38pm | #5

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   We have 1100 square feet of 3/4" tongue and groove black walnut that we salvaged for our living room floor. I'm looking for advice on print resources dealing with putting down this kind of wood floor. We'd like to put the floor down and then hire a professional to finish it. (We've heard too many drum sander horror stories to try THAT ourselves!) I'd also appreciate ANY input regarding the behavior, care and maintenance of black walnut. Thank you!

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   Guest_ | Sep 26, 2000 09:38pm | #6

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   GM:

   Just a cautionary note -- resistance moisture meters (the two pin types) require calibration for each species of wood.

   Stanley