Have questions?

Call 877-372-9663

User Archives: Ian

  • Making Your Wood Shine – Finishing by Hand and Machine

    Posted on August 19, 2011 by Ian

    One of the last steps before installing your fir floors is choosing how the wood is finished. There’s a world of a difference between hand-finished and machine-finished lumber. Hand-finishing wood can be a long, involved process, but any carpenter will tell you that the finished product is well worth the time and effort.

    Finishing lumber is a four-part process. First, the wood has to be sanded down to a smooth surface, so that the finish can be applied evenly. Second, the wood may be stained to a desired color and tone. In hand finishing, the stain is rubbed on, ensuring that the color penetrates deeply into the wood. On a machine line, however, the stain is sprayed on and left to dry, which is less effective.

    Finishing your floors: apply by hand or machine?

    The next step in the process is applying the finish itself. There are many types of finish – wax, lacquer, shellac, drying oils, varnish – and which you choose should depend on several factors, including the amount of protection you need for the floor, and what kind of sheen you want. The finish is applied in several layers. Again, the rubbing motions used in hand finishing the wood are far more precise than the methods on an automated flatline system. Since each piece of lumber is unique, a human eye is preferable for finding and filling the contours of the wood grain. Methods such as French polishing – where layer after layer of shellac is applied via a rubbing pad, leaving a highly glossy sheen – this simply cannot be done in a factory.

    Finally, buffing or polishing the surface can bring beautiful surface shine out in finished woods. Here, more so than in any other step of the process, hand finishing is without a doubt the superior method. For polishing, one rubs abrasive materials on the wood to scratch out a glossy sheen. Different materials of various roughnesses are used in succession to buff out the scratches left by the previous abrasive. Being able to handle the wood by hand is a great advantage in this process, because being able to feel the contours in the wood is key.

    However, finishing wood by hand can be an exhaustive process, and as a result it’s far cheaper to buy machine-finished lumber. As flatline factory systems improve, hand-finished lumber is becoming a rarity. Nonetheless, there’s no replacing the care and attention that a human hand can lend to wood, and it’s no surprise that hand-finished wood stands up to the test of time far better and longer than machine-finished wood. When deciding what’s right for you, the choice will come down how much you’re willing to pay for a superior product.

    - Ian Friedman



    This post was posted in All Entries, Douglas Fir Flooring, Care & Maintenance and was tagged with Douglas fir flooring, finish douglas fir, finish wood flooring

  • Replacing Douglas Fir Floorboards

    Posted on July 21, 2011 by Ian

    No matter how hard we try to protect our Douglas fir floors, accidents inevitably happen. Over the years, spills, dents, and other types of damage necessitate removing and replacing floorboards. The process involves a few advanced techniques, as well as some power tools. But, if you’re willing to work carefully, you can do it yourself. And on top of saving yourself the price of hiring a carpenter, you’ll find the satisfaction of a working relationship with your home. Follow these steps:

    1) Removing a board. You’ll be using a power saw for this step (preferably a circular saw), so this is the part of the process where you should be most careful so as not to damage your floor. To ensure precision, outline the board accurately with painter’s tape. Next, make a series of long parallel cuts into the board, as well as one diagonal cut in the center. You should set the depth of your cuts to ¾” (or the depth of the wood), to ensure you only cut through the floorboard. If you cut too deep, you could slice up either or both of the protective mat underneath the board and the subfloor. After you’ve made your cuts, use a hammer and chisel to remove the broken pieces of the board. Be careful not to damage neighboring boards, especially the tongue and grooves that meet the board you’re trying to replace.

    replace wood floorboard

    You better replace your wood floorboard if it looks like this!

    2) Finding a replacement board. The hallmark of a good fix is that you can’t tell it was broken in the first place. Therefore you’ll want to replace your broken board with close match, to leave your floor looking like it did the day it was installed. Luckily, Douglas fir, like any wood, is a natural product that has natural color and pattern variation making the search for an exact match unnecessary. For common woods and finishes, bring a piece of the broken board to your lumber supplier and ask them to find a match for you. If you do have Douglas fir, we hope you’ll turn to us to replace those historic 3 ¼” flooring boards. Keep in mind you’ll also have to match the stain, finish, and level of sanding. You may already have wood in your own home that will serve as a good replacement. Find a rarely seen or used part of your floor – in a closet or utility room, for a example – and extract a board to use as a replacement. Then, you can replace the wood you took out of the closet with a less-than-perfect match.

    3) Replacing the board. First, you’ll have to saw off the lower end of the groove so that you can slip the board in on top of its neighbors. Next, the board should be fastened with glue and flooring nails. After face-nailing, use wood putty to fill in the holes. You may need to do some additional sanding, if the replacement board seems out of place with its neighbors.

    These steps should help you to keep your Douglas fir floor, or any wood floor, looking good and built to last.

    - Ian Friedman



    This post was posted in Douglas Fir Flooring, Care & Maintenance and was tagged with Douglas fir flooring, douglas fir floors, fir flooring, maintaining wood floors, replace floor boards, replacing floor boards

  • Douglas Fir Flooring: The wider the better?

    Posted on April 29, 2011 by Ian

    When selecting your Douglas fir flooring, the width of the boards should go hand-in-hand with both the interior design of the space and the appearance of the wood. The choice between narrow strip and wide plank flooring can achieve a remarkable effect on the overall feel of the room. Though both sizes have their advantages, wider planks are traditionally considered more attractive, especially with a wood as distinct and durable as the Douglas fir. Narrow strips, though more affordable, can’t match the historic feel of wider planks.

    One of the biggest concerns in choosing Douglas fir planks for your floor is the stability of the wood. The effects of temperature and humidity changing over the course of the year causes lumber to expand and contract. A wider board is more sensitive to climate changes, and is more prone to cupping, a process in which the board curves at its edges and at the middle. A narrow board may be preferable in areas of high temperature change. However, there are many ways to prepare wide planks for the effects of shrinking and swelling.

    First, boards with a vertical grain pattern are more stable, and a result of quarter-sawing. This process increases the grain density and therefore the stability of the wood. Flat grain boards, because of their curved end grain pattern, tend to cup far more easily than vertical grain products. Furthermore, the attractive surface of vertical graining is an ideal pair to the larger canvas of wide planks.

    The wood should also be kiln-dried. Woods are dried in this slow, exact process so that the shift in environments, from forest to home, isn’t so drastic. If damp wood is exposed to the relatively dry home environment, the quick shrinking of the product could be destructive, with the potential for splits in the boards.

    Once you’ve received the boards, you should acclimate them to the environment of your home. By exposing the boards to their new climate for at least a week, they should match the moisture content of the subfloor. This can be measured with an electric moisture meter.

    Lastly, once you’ve applied an effective finish (if the boards weren’t already pre-finished), proper care and maintenance of the floor will prevent warping and cupping. Liquid spills should be cleaned up immediately, as they could disrupt the natural shrinking and swelling of the boards, as well as stain the wood. Be careful of the type and amount of product you use to clean the floor.

    The type of wood you choose for your floor may be the most important factor in determining whether wide plank flooring is the right option for you. Douglas fir is an ideal variety for the luxurious look of wider planks. Not only does the Douglas fir provide stunning grain patterns, it is one of the most dimensionally stable woods used in flooring.

    - Ian Friedman



    This post was posted in All Entries, Douglas Fir Flooring

3 Item(s)