Anyone ever seen Poplar used as flooring?
#17
(10-13-2018, 02:45 PM)jteneyck Wrote: Yes, there is variation in yellow pine depending upon where it grows, but all of it I've ever seen is hard.  The stuff in my parents house, harvested in NY I'm sure, you can't drive a nail through it unless you pre-drill or it will split.  Yellow pine is used extensively for stair treads so it must wear very well.  Its Janke hardness is a lot higher than poplar and if you compare the hardness of the two woods side by side there is no comparison.  

John
There is a tiny sliver of SE New York that shows Shortleaf pine (which is among the species called Southern Yellow Pine) is within range...but otherwise, there is no "yellow pine" grown in New York.
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#18
no one has mentioned how it would actually look.  Lots of opinions on how it would hold up, but would it look good?  I know poplar has a lot of color variation and green shades throughout.  Might have a tough time staining to get it to look uniform?

Colin
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#19
(10-13-2018, 08:01 PM)JosephP Wrote: There is a tiny sliver of SE New York that shows Shortleaf pine (which is among the species called Southern Yellow Pine) is within range...but otherwise, there is no "yellow pine" grown in New York.

Well, the house was built in 1924.  All the trim, interior doors, and flooring is yellow pine.  I assumed it must have been sourced locally, but your posts suggests otherwise.  Wherever it came from, it has stood the test of time very well.  

John
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#20
(10-12-2018, 07:13 PM)Wild Turkey Wrote: I've read the charts and looked at the numbers but surely someone has had some experience with it.

I've got some big poplar trees that may need to come down and I'd love to make flooring for the new house using it but would like some experience from someone.

Now that high heels aren't the norm (at least in my family) {I've seen what they did to the pine floor in an old church} and polyurethane finishes are getting really good is it as important to have really hard wood in the floor?

Poplar is soft ,paints well  but stain is hit and miss. I would not use it for flooring or exterior trim, rots in the weather quickly. Have the poplar milled for  interior trim if you paint the trim. 

mike
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#21
LOTS of old barns sided with tulip-poplar.  Like you said, it paints well.  As long as it is protected by the paint, it does well.
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#22
I haven't made floors with it but have used it for all sorts of furniture for the kids.  I think it would hold up like pine.  One thing I like about it is that it darkens like cherry.  Stay away from the sap wood the rest will age to a nice cherry looking - pleasant medium dark tan/brown.  It will start out light - 10 years will be great.
John

Always use the right tool for the job.

We need to clean house.
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