Oak flooring for decks ?

[videoguy]

The reason I am thinking of using of using oak is because SWMBO would like a new oak floor in the kitchen. So as a incentive … O hell let’s call it what it is a bribe for me to install it, she has offered to pay for enough extra flooring to do the deck for floozie’s cockpit and pilothouse out of house money instead of me digging into the boat fund. smile.gif I am thinking about running it through the thickness planer to get rid of the finish and cutting off the tongue and groove ,then screwing it down in epoxy putting some white 3m caulking in the seams two or three coats of clear epoxy and then varnish . What do you guys think ? good idea or bad idea. After all I an going to end up installing the floor anyway. As for Floozie she is coming along very well the pilothouse is almost done, I am screwing it together temporarily because there are no plans I’m just building it out of my head so to speak this way I can fix any screwups before I glue it together. :( . It also has to be removable so I can get the boat out of the garage. I will be posting pics soon. ......... smile.gif smile.gif Phil

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

I would not do this. Oak stains, and goes dark blue/black, if left exposed to the elements for long enough, and it moves a very great deal with changes in humidity. OK in a house floor, ashore, and indeed it can be used as a cabin sole, but is not, (IMHO, having inherited one with the boat) very attractive in that position.

[Bob Smalser]

Andrew would know better than me about bright-finished yachts, but I'll offer this:

Flooring is generally dried to 6-10 pct M/C...let it sit outside stacked and stickered under cover til it stabilizes at 18-20pct M/C before installing, or it will likely buckle on you.

[ 10-23-2003, 08:03 PM: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]

[Aramas]

What are you doing wasting good oak on boats anyway? Oak is for making whiskey :cool:

Oak moves a lot in wet/dry sun/shade cycles, stains and is allergic to iron. It wouldn't make my top 100 as a decking material. Still, if you did it as you say, and got the moisture content about right beforehand and left enough gap for expansion - and kept the surface up, it sure would look pretty smile.gif

Teak's a bit pricey, so that's probably not on. I've actually seen bare oregon decks that had done a couple of decades and were holding up, but apparently there's oregon and then there's oregon. Some of the local fellers would know better than me. You guys have several dense and durable pines that might be up to the job, and are probably used in commercial flooring in certain parts - anyone have any suggestions?

Oh yeah - almost forgot to mention. I assume you're planning to cherry pick for boards that are quarter sawn? Flooring grain tends to be all over the place, and the flitch sawn boards cup even in houses - not good boat material at all.

[ 10-24-2003, 01:13 AM: Message edited by: Aramas ]

[Bob Smalser]

Oregon Pine refers to Douglas Fir...which ain't either a fir or a pine....a good choice along with Southern Yellow Pine for a deck if you can find good stuff back east. White Pine is a little soft.

Quartersawn DF heartwood is durable, a lot harder than W. Pine, doesn't move as much as oak or cedar, and holds goo and oil pretty well. Doesn't take paint as well as cedar or oak.

Flatsawn structural DF runs $.60/BF out here...contractor's price. Fancy boat-grade quartersawn DF at Edensaw can run $4-8.00 a BF retail. Huge varience.

You might look for a couple of DF 2X12's at a homebuilders supply with mostly all heartwood and as tight a grain as you can find, say more than 10 rings/inch...you could highgrade those into clear, heartwood 1 1/2"-wide quartersawn strips of whatever thickness desired to lay a deck with.

Not a boat, but here's what a tight stick of structural, flatsawn DF looks like oiled:

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/2594266/32746007.jpg

[ 10-24-2003, 01:49 AM: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]