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General Forestry => Drying and Processing => Topic started by: Briankinley2004 on April 05, 2019, 11:30:13 PM

Title: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: Briankinley2004 on April 05, 2019, 11:30:13 PM
Haven't posted in a while and the mill has been low on my agenda. Recent change of events has found me needing to construct a building soon which will be paid for out of pocket. I plan to cut all the framing lumber, sub floor, finished walls, trim, etc with my mill. Basically an old school house on piers with minimal drywall. I have the trees and mill to cut the lumber. Also have a small kiln and plan to build a solar kiln for longer lumber. Time is not a major issue. 

I plan to cut the sills out of white oak and joists from SYP. I would like to use SYP decking placed on a "45" for the subfloor. Typically old school was a 3/4" or 7/8" board with either a ship lap or T&G joint. Has anyone ever cut this type flooring and milled the ship lap or T&G? If so what was your target thickness of the rough planks? I am assuming 8" rough width. Also what is the easiest way to cut the ship lap? I was thinking a table saw? I will only need about 2,000 SF of the product however it is likely some of the walls will wind up being painted ship lap so I might cut more. The roof will be metal on lathing so I won't need any for the roof deck. 

Any suggestions appreciated. I have a lot of experience with wood but most of my rough sawn stuff has been butt joint or glued
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: tacks Y on April 06, 2019, 07:04:57 AM
Not SYP. I ship lapped maple for a chicken coup last year. I ran it on a shaper, not planned. Worked great as they use sand on the floor. 
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: Don P on April 06, 2019, 07:32:38 AM
I'm sawing some, it will be planed but square edged. There will be felt on it under the finish floor, machining the edges isn't worth it to me. We've been sawing at 1" and will plane to 3/4 or maybe a little heavier if it will skip in well enough.
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: Southside on April 06, 2019, 07:37:48 AM
I make a fair amount of both. Target 3/4" finished thickness starting with 1" rough allowing for 1" over width as well. 

If you have access to a 4 head moulder around it would be money well spent to have someone do the milling for you. 
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: Magicman on April 06, 2019, 09:02:02 PM
Personally I would and did T&G my flooring.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/DSCN0927_28Small29.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1348920057)
 
It got jointed with hand power planer.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/DSCN0929_28Custom29.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1348920059)
 
And the router did the rest.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/DSCN0940_28Custom29.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1348920061)
 
Much work.  The tongues were square which caused installation problems so I chamfered the corners with a Stanley SurForm block planer.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/DSCN0781_28Small29.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1362748091)
 
The MLCS Router Bits that I used.

My next flooring was also T&G, but I paid for the milling.
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: Briankinley2004 on April 06, 2019, 09:38:22 PM
Thanks for the information. Lynn I plan to t&G oak for the finish floor. I just remember all the old sub floor being ship lap but T&G would be better. I plan on getting a jointer anyway. I also have a router table so could probably run it on there. Did y'all make the sub flooring air dried or was it kiln dried? I know alot of the lumber at the lumber yard is either 15% or 19% MC. I know I can get below 19 air drying. I see so much framing lumber get soaked so I don't think its as critical as the finish wood but I dont think I will install green
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: farmfromkansas on April 07, 2019, 12:01:34 PM
Don't know why you would need ship lap or t&g for subfloor, if you are covering it with T&G.  Square edges would be fine.  Just don't lay your finish floor too soon, let the finish floor lay inside the building for a month or so before installing, to make sure it is dry enough. Kiln dry would be great, especially for finish floor.
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: scsmith42 on April 07, 2019, 07:08:00 PM
Sterile air dried should be fine for subfloor; the bottom side will equalize around 14% anyway.

Re shaper versus tablesaw, if those were my only two choices I would go with a tablesaw outfitted with a dado blade and a power feeder.  Reasoning is that a 3hp tablesaw is better suited for large volume than a router.

Shaper would be another choice, but the tablesaw would be easier IMO.
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: Briankinley2004 on April 07, 2019, 08:56:11 PM
I thought about a dado blade on table saw. On my finish floor I am definitely going to kiln dry. I can handle up to 8' in my kiln. I will probably saw my finish flooring ahead of my framing so it will have a longer time to dry before the kiln. Will also sterilize it in the kiln
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: Briankinley2004 on April 07, 2019, 08:58:29 PM
Arkansas I suppose I could go square edge as I will cover with felt. I do know the wife will want some of the walls ship lap so I have to cut some anyway  :-X  Too much TV but at least I wont have to float any drywall. Will probably do T&G ceilings as well unless I get in a time crunch for some reason and need to finish sooner.
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: GeneWengert-WoodDoc on April 07, 2019, 09:11:02 PM
When the heat comes on you will dry the pine and a few pieces might twist, giving you squeaks or even lifting the exposed floor.  So, anything you can do to add heat after installation before the top floor could save you lots of time.
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: Magicman on April 07, 2019, 10:42:30 PM
Quote from: Briankinley2004 on April 06, 2019, 09:38:22 PMLynn I plan to t&G oak for the finish floor.
My apology Brian.  I failed to catch the "sub" part of your topic title.  My subfloor was just butted together 1X6's, square edges, with felt between the sub and T&G flooring.  
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: scsmith42 on April 07, 2019, 11:41:35 PM
Brian, one other thing that I would suggest is that you get your air conditioning operational once the subfloor is down.  It's best to run the AC for a few weeks before laying flooring, as it will dehumidify the house and lower the MC% in the exposed subfloor as well as the other wood components inside.
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: Briankinley2004 on April 08, 2019, 11:10:32 PM
Actually I have some commercial de-humidifiers that I use for flood clean up work. I also use one to run my home made kiln but it wont handle long lengths. In a perfect world I would actually the temperature up, not down with the dehumidifier going. This allows the air to carry more moisture for the dehumidifier to remove. I may run a couple of dehumidifiers in their after I get the place in the dry. Depending on the season I will add heat if needed.
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: Don P on April 09, 2019, 07:28:41 AM
Heat is better than cool. I bit my tongue yesterday. There is a house here I worked on. It had a vented crawlspace, poor plastic on the soil, fiberglass insulation under floor that was not full joist depth, and AC. When I went under for moisture and mold problems the joists were rotten and everything was glistening under there. The floor framing was conducting the cool and was below dew point so moisture was condensing on the wood. When I lifted the insulation the framing was just like the day it was installed, the exposed cool wood was shot. The joists and girders were replaced with treated, good plastic on the soil, sealed the vents and put a dh under there seems to have solved it. Several variables are different but do watch cooling in humid environments, it is more complex than heating. Which sounds great till its 95 and muggy.
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: luap on April 11, 2019, 08:18:22 PM
a shaper can joint the edge of the board while doing the shiplap or t&g


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/54791/15floor_joists.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1555027761)


 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/54791/deerblind_floor.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1555027942)



 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/54791/cabin_new_floor.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1555027986)



 . I prefer a shaper for t&g.  Here are a couple of pictures of a floor I put down in a small cabin. 1" rough lumber sub floor, A layer of felt paper and T&g finished. I used pipe clamps to pull the boards together tight. Wood is  air dried aspen and no gaps to this day but the cabin only gets heated a few times a year. 
I had the stove installed before the t&g so I had to hang it from the ceiling to work around it.
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: Briankinley2004 on April 11, 2019, 10:23:29 PM
Thanks for the pics. The pipe clamp with block screwed down is a novel idea I can use even for building a deck with store bought lumber. I have used all kinds of board wrench's, pry bars, etc but that is a good idea I have not seen before on decking. I will research shapers and see what I can find around here
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: Don P on April 11, 2019, 10:29:39 PM
That style of pipe clamp, or that looks like mine, can also be flipped around and used as a pusher, so when near a wall you can push off of that band or you can screw a 2x across the joists in front of you if in the field.
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: Hilltop366 on April 12, 2019, 08:20:30 AM
Anyone ever try one of these for straightening boards?
I have wondered if they really work as advertised.

BoWrench Decking Tool - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUHZSj_25iM)
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: luap on April 12, 2019, 08:47:28 AM
 <br
This is one method  I used when getting close to a wall. This pic shows the pipes extending into the door way  but against a wall I would use shorter pipes or a longer board to push against.












>(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/54791/deerblind_floor_clamps.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1555027899)
 
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: jwilly3879 on April 12, 2019, 09:37:18 AM
 Hilltop366 (http://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=8975)

I have had one for years and it works great. I also have the T&G adapter and have used it on miles of v joint.
Title: Re: Ship lap sub floor
Post by: jimparamedic on April 12, 2019, 02:39:56 PM
look at the craftsman shaper heads on ebay they fit on a table saw and have many different cutters. I use the cutter to make glue joints for t&g because it is tapered and the t&g cutter is Square