Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Puncheons and logs were laid on the ground in early cabins.
They always rotted.
Board Floors
Today's Choices
Pine boards and logs became the favorite flooring and
building material among the settlers, where available.
A wide pine floor is traditional in older houses, some-
times shiplap or t.i.g. to ensure a tight joint even with
shrinkage. Oak was durable, but it was harder to cut
and difficult to lay. Generally the downstairs floor was
six-inch boards, narrow to use edge grain for tough-
ness. The upstairs floors were often wider and made
of softer wood because there was less wear.
Given many decades of scrubbing and the wear of
countless feet, pine takes on a rounded mellowness all
its own. Wide pine flooring is highly prized by restor-
ers of old houses. I use remilled or recycled old heart
pine t.i.g. in just about every house I build.
The flooring was traditionally laid directly onto the
joists, with no subfloor. Here was an intriguing phe-
nomenon that I encountered often in old houses, and
in the early years could only conjecture on. A series of
holes was often bored into the top surfaces of the
joists, usually about b inch in diameter. I'd found
these both downstairs and up, and puzzled over them
for years. When dismantling just about every old
house, there they were.
My guess was that the holes were for a pry bar, to
tighten cracks as the floor was laid. Certainly I had
labored long to this same purpose on every floor I'd
installed, and holes would have made it easier. Since,
I've learned that this was indeed standard practice.
Flooring today offers so many choices. Choices for
the subfloor: plywood if nothing will show; one-inch
t.i.g. if it is to be visible overhead; two-inch t.i.g., which
can become the combination ceiling below and the
flooring of the upper floor. Of course, carpeting and
sheet or tile vinyl over a subfloor have their uses —
even in an “authentic” log house that is to be lived in
today.
The most common flooring in a log house is a wood
floor. Again, the choices are myriad. New commercial
flooring — oak, birch, maple, pine — can be purchased
from any lumber company. However, it is almost
impossible to get new flooring in the wide widths so
strongly associated with early log houses.
Several companies are providing remilled flooring
in many kinds of wood; oak, pine, and maple are pop-
ular. Remilled flooring comes from lumber, which has
been retrieved, recycled, and resawn from other
sources such as beamwork from torn-down factories
or old logs. You can often get this flooring in wide
widths — 6 inches, 8 inches, and 10 inches are com-
mon. This flooring is more expensive but can “make”
a room.
Then there is recycling an old floor, down to the last
wear pattern. Removal of the old floor is tricky. It can
splinter at the tongues or grooves (you pull the tongue
up first). The patina on old, worn flooring is wonder-
fully warm, so if you restore, try to keep it as it is. If
