Pine Flooring?

[Dave Halter]

After 10 years of waiting the shop is finally going up and I'll be moving out of the basement. The actual shop portion (28'x30') will have a basement to it and I plan on having the DC and wood storage down there. It will also be heated and cooled so it will be useable year round. I want to add something over the OSB subfloor and am considering a wide pine floor. I searched through the forum and couldn't find any mention of anyone using a pine floor. I know pine is soft, but once my tools are in place they won't be moved much, if at all. Has anybody used pine? Are there other drawbacks to using it? For reference it's listed as "New England White Pine".

Thanks,
Dave
Shop.JPG

[David G Baker]

A friend of mine used pine for his shop floor but it was pine planks, actual 2 inches thick and 12 inches wide. It was a great looking floor and reminded me of farm buildings from my youth.

[Tom Wassack]

After 10 years of waiting the shop is finally going up and I'll be moving out of the basement. The actual shop portion (28'x30') will have a basement to it and I plan on having the DC and wood storage down there. It will also be heated and cooled so it will be useable year round. I want to add something over the OSB subfloor and am considering a wide pine floor. I searched through the forum and couldn't find any mention of anyone using a pine floor. I know pine is soft, but once my tools are in place they won't be moved much, if at all. Has anybody used pine? Are there other drawbacks to using it? For reference it's listed as "New England White Pine".

Thanks,
Dave
Shop.JPG

Greetings from NC!
Dave,
When I built my shop 10 years ago, I wanted a wood floor and used Southern Yellow Pine as my finished floor. I purchased 50% more than I needed and removed all knots during installation. I finished the floor with 3 coats of Tung oil. I would probably steer clear of white pine because its softer by nearly half over SYP.

I have no photos of just the flooring, but here's a photo of a PM sander that shows the floor pretty well.





Regards,
Tom Wassack
Asheboro, NC

[Dave Halter]

Thanks for the responses.

Tom,
That's a beautiful floor, did you buy actual flooring or stock lumber and tongue and groove it yourself? The white pine softness was my biggest concern so I'll look at other options.

Dave

[Tom Wassack]

Thanks for the responses.

Tom,
That's a beautiful floor, did you buy actual flooring or stock lumber and tongue and groove it yourself? The white pine softness was my biggest concern so I'll look at other options.

Dave

Thanks...It's actually 1X4 #2 T&G flooring and around here it's pretty cheap. The #2 had a lot of defects, hence the reason for ordering the extra and removing the defects during installation. I've been really pleased with it - it does ding when something is dropped, but it's a shop floor and I don't get too concerned. I also have some 600-800 lb machines on casters and selecting the right durometer caster to prevent marking the floor is tricky. After 10 years it still looks good. I can you put you in contact with my local source, but shipping would negate any potential savings. A cursory search yielded many sources throughout the SE.


Regards,
Tom Wassack
Asheboro, NC

[Jim Andrew]

Dave, have you thought about what you are going to do with your cans full of sawdust? Don't envy you dragging them up the stairs of your shop. I put my cyclone in a lean-to on my shop, so I don't have to listen to the full force of the thing. The added benefit is that the barrel is not far from where I can empty it.

[Mike Wilkins]

Woodcraft magazine had a shop issue dedicated to shop layout, construction, etc. which also included an article on the installation of a Southern Yellow Pine floor system. You could check with the Woodcraft site for a back issue order. Yellow pine is a harder material than white pine and more resistant to abuse. And it looks good too. A local lumber supplier should be able to order what you need. Good luck and don't forget to show us the results.

[Dave Halter]

I will look into suppliers for SYP, but the lumber yards in town are gone having been replaced by the big box stores. I'll see if I can find the Woodcraft article. It sounds like it may have some good info.

There are no stairs in the shop (I didn't want to lose the space), but it is a walkout basement so the cans of dust won't be an issue.

There's 3 walls up, but it was only about 20 degrees today so no progress was made. Tomorrow will be in the 40's so they should get some more framing done.

[Patrick Galpin]

Dave, I put red pine in 1.5 years ago as it is rated about twice as hard as normal white pine but is still a reasonable price. I went with pine as it is softer, easier on the back and legs and kinder to any hand tools I drop. I only finished the floor in my office area and finish room as any finished floor can be deadly slippery when sawdust gets on it. I can say after 18 months it was the right choice, pretty easy to lay (1500 sq ft of 1*6 T&G), not slippery, and looks good with no upkeep required. The finish room floor is getting pretty ugly, will give it a quick sand and another coat of varathane in the next few months. Good luck with whatever you choose.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Don't mean to hijack but a question for you guys. I've been wondering about fir for a floor in my new shop, do you guys think it would hold up similar to a pine?

[Brian Libby]

Red pine, hard pine, and fir are good floor materials. Should be T&G . White pine , I feel, would be to soft.

[Jim Becker]

Dave, I have wide pine through our house...the only exception is the kitchen (brick floor), foyer and baths (slate). Everything else is wide pine. So I think I can say honestly to you that it's not the best choice for a shop floor normally. However, it sure is comfortable to stand on, so if things are not going to move...it's worth considering. But you should also check out inexpensive/surplus oak strip flooring, too. It may not cost any more than the pine and will certainly be harder and more durable. In either case, you can choose to not finish it or just oil it...the end result is a low-slip surface which is appropriate for a shop.

[Dave Halter]

Thanks guys. I looked into Red Pine on the Internet (I wasn't familiar with it) and it looks very nice. I'll do some more checking, but since I couldn't find any local suppliers the shipping might knock it off the list. I have seen "utility" oak from Lumber Liquidators in Kansas City and a "cabin" grade oak from a mill/supplier in Springfield. Those might be an option as I've read the knots and splits can be filled with epoxy. If I end up with a plank floor I plan going with an oil finish.

Dave

[George Bregar]

Thanks guys. I looked into Red Pine on the Internet (I wasn't familiar with it) and it looks very nice. I'll do some more checking, but since I couldn't find any local suppliers the shipping might knock it off the list. I have seen "utility" oak from Lumber Liquidators in Kansas City and a "cabin" grade oak from a mill/supplier in Springfield. Those might be an option as I've read the knots and splits can be filled with epoxy. If I end up with a plank floor I plan going with an oil finish.

Dave

I have "rustic oak", which sounds like this "utility" oak in my shop. $.99/ft2. I saw no need to fill any knots and I simply cut out any part of a board that had to big a crack. Here is the look of it from another thread here.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...95#post1309095

I recently finished this floor with some BLO.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...49028975_n.jpg

[fred klotz]

Douglas Fir and Southern Yellow Pine are similar in hardness. Living in the Pacific Northwest, I see a lot of DF floors, and installed one in a log home I built. It held up well. Friends have SYP in their ranch home, which is a working ranch, with dogs having the run of the place, mud being tracked in, etc. The lady of the house oils it once a year, and it looks great after more than a decade of hard use.

I wouldn't use any of the softer pines.