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+-- Thread: Old Pine subfloors (/showthread.php?tid=7355198)
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Old Pine subfloors - briman87 - 05-11-2020
A local person is getting rid of what they call old pine subfloors that they said came from a house that is 200 years old. I have only heard of subfloors being made of plywood in mordern homes and feel like in a older home they would be larger surface area but thinner and then the flooring nailed onto it. To me these look more like joists. As you can tell by the pictures they are 9" wide and 1" thick. The lengths range from 4'-8'. With everything going on I have not been able to go to the big orange store to sort through the 2x12's of douglas fir to find the best ones to use for my work bench. With the age of these do you think they would be good material to work with for a workbench. The person wants $2 a linear foot which I'm not sure about as the post says they have nails and holes in some of them. Which I would have to go over with a fine tooth comb so not to hit any nails while cutting. But I also have read that sometimes a nail in old lumber can be a real beast to get out. So what do you guys think.
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RE: Old Pine subfloors - MsNomer - 05-11-2020
Every house I’ve ever lived in had pine subfloors laid on the diagonal. Pine that old is going to be very hard, which may be very good for your use.
RE: Old Pine subfloors - Gary G™ - 05-11-2020
The house may be 200 years old. Doesn’t mean all the subfloor is original.
However, old pine more than 50 years, closer to 100 and older, is likely to be really good quality unless it was laid in the dirt or attacked by termites.
Mrs. G and I looked at one old house where the floor joists were quite in the dirt. Termites tore it up. We passed.
RE: Old Pine subfloors - briman87 - 05-12-2020
(05-11-2020, 05:16 PM)Gary G™ Wrote: The house may be 200 years old. Doesn’t mean all the subfloor is original.
However, old pine more than 50 years, closer to 100 and older, is likely to be really good quality unless it was laid in the dirt or attacked by termites.
Mrs. G and I looked at one old house where the floor joists were quite in the dirt. Termites tore it up. We passed.
The town and neighboring towns that these are at pretty much ever old home has some sort of basement
RE: Old Pine subfloors - Stwood_ - 05-12-2020
Old lumber is a lot of work. Our house still has the original pine floors. 1x4. Hard as a rock.
$2.00 lineal foot sounds high to me.
Our whole interior was still boxcar siding when we bought it. 18 layers of paint.....lol
RE: Old Pine subfloors - briman87 - 05-12-2020
(05-12-2020, 09:51 AM)Stwood_ Wrote: Old lumber is a lot of work. Our house still has the original pine floors. 1x4. Hard as a rock.
$2.00 lineal foot sounds high to me.
Our whole interior was still boxcar siding when we bought it. 18 layers of paint.....lol
What do you mean by a lot of work. Like taking off the paint? I wouldn't think subfloor would have paint on it unless it was like yours and was boxcar siding. I thought 2.00 a linear foot sounded high as well.
I got some more pictures of the wood atleast one other board. It looks like it was definitely subfloor with the amount of holes from the flooring in it
RE: Old Pine subfloors - Stwood_ - 05-12-2020
Lots of work.....Ck'ing, removing metal/nails.
Jointing an edge, removing tongues and grooves.
Cleaning up with a planer, then you do not have 3/4" lumber. 5/8" if you are lucky.
Dulling knives from embedded dirt, maybe hitting metal.
May have staples from having carpet tacked down, who knows...
Not much more work than rough saw lumber.
But it may be an enjoyable project for you.
RE: Old Pine subfloors - Admiral - 05-12-2020
That works out to about $3 a board foot, allowing for the ripping off of the T&G (which I think I see in one pic). For slightly less per bd/ft you can get 5/4 soft maple (somewhat harder than the pine), and you don't have to fuss so much with stock prep, and you'll end up with a full 1" thickness. So I'd pass, as he's pricing this for the "chic reclaimed shiplap wall" crowd (not that there's something wrong with that :-) )
RE: Old Pine subfloors - briman87 - 05-12-2020
(05-12-2020, 11:53 AM)Admiral Wrote: That works out to about $3 a board foot, allowing for the ripping off of the T&G (which I think I see in one pic). For slightly less per bd/ft you can get 5/4 soft maple (somewhat harder than the pine), and you don't have to fuss so much with stock prep, and you'll end up with a full 1" thickness. So I'd pass, as he's pricing this for the "chic reclaimed shiplap wall" crowd (not that there's something wrong with that :-) )
Where in NJ are you getting soft maple for about $3 a bf in NJ.
RE: Old Pine subfloors - Admiral - 05-12-2020
(05-12-2020, 12:15 PM)briman87 Wrote: Where in NJ are you getting soft maple for about $3 a bf in NJ.
I take a road trip to PA, around Williamsport, and buy from a mill. You can also order online from Steve Wall Lumber in NC, shipping would be involved as well.