Milling Hardwood Flooring

[Jeffrey Schronce]

So what are the thoughts on milling ones own hardwood flooring? I am going to be replacing the 1st floor carpeting, (1650 sf - 250 for kitchen and bath is around 1400 sf). I am installing the flooring myself. I have recently thought about milling the flooring myself. I just can't stand the thought of paying $3.00 sf for Red Oak pre-finished when I can get QS red oak or white oak and then finish myself for the same price. I have :
22124 TS
8" Jointer
15" Planer - floor model, heavy duty no problems with 1400 sf
16" Grizzly Dual Drum sander - no sanding chores
Cyclone to get rid of the by products
I am installing 3.25 Triton router into RT. I will likely build a custom, very simple RT with long infeed and outfeed tables.
I have an extra set of hands (FIL) to help with milling if needed on lengthy stuff.
I have a very reliable moisture meter.
I will need to find the source for the material.
Anything I am missing here?

[Hellrazor]

Are you going to mill typical T&G or will you go with wider like the old style wood floors?

[Jeffrey Schronce]

I assumed T&G unless there is a reason to do it some other way. I like T&G with chamfer on edges. Gives a little more room for error and/or movement while keeping visual appeal.

[JR]

I just can't stand the thought of paying $3.00 sf for Red Oak pre-finished when I can get QS red oak or white oak and then finish myself for the same price.

That's an equation that would tilt me to the buy side. QS would surely look awesome, but it's a lot of extra work for a floor. I mean, you're going to walk on it, for goodness sake! For piece of furniture, I'd surely skew the equation differently.

A floor is a decently large-scale project even without milling the lumber. Demo is a big job. Levelling. Moving furniture. Then laying the boards and trim on 1400sf.

Just my 2c.

JR

[jhart]

Keep in mind that you will most likely need to rent a floor sander to go over the floor once it is laid down. Need to do it with pre milled stuff also, as always some pieces not perfectly flat with each other.

Did you figure the cost of new cutter heads, router bits, etc., that you may need to get after milling that much yourself?

Doing it yourself would sure get you some nicer wood, but it sure will be a big job. Good Luck. Picture of progress as you go along would be great.

[p8ntblr]

Just curious what tool you would use to make the T&G?

[Ken Weaver]

After helping son do his floors, its enough of a project using the prefinished stuff, much less to do all the milling. QSRO would be awesome tho.

[scorrpio]

Did you price rough lumber? At 3/4" thickness, a sq.ft of flooring is about equal to 1bf rough. I'd say expect to get less than a sq.ft from a bf cause you'll lose some due to milling the tongue, and there will be the inevitable 'screw ups': Snipe, tear-outs, etc.
I dunno what is the life expectancy on those planer blades, router bits etc, but I suppose you'd need to work them quite a bit. Plus the cost of electricity to run all that machinery. Add the cost of sanding materials, likely rental of a large floor sander, and cost of whatever finish you going to apply - not cheap either. About 1.5 years ago I sanded and re-finished ~1500 sq ft of hardwood floors, cost me about $750 total. But my floor is not grooved. IMO, If you are going with grooves, prefinished is the way to go - it is a much more durable finish, too.

I just looked up some prices - seems like QS red oak, or white oak can be had prefinished for around $3-3.50/sq.ft. all you need is install it. Unless I could get rough lumber at under $1.50/bf, I wouldn't consider it worth the cost of sanding/finishing and putting myself and my machines through such an ordeal.

[onedash]

The only way I would consider it is a very unique wood that wasn't available as flooring and/or enough wood at rock bottom prices (free) to make the work worth it.
As mentioned already you can't get as durable of finish when you do it yourself so you will have to re-finish more often. A 30 year finish appeals to me....
An osage orange floow would be pretty cool I think....Small boards, hard to work, not very cheap means I probably will never have a floor made with it.

[scorrpio]

Just curious what tool you would use to make the T&G?

Most likely, router table with special T&G bits

[DUD]

I have done this, and am still doing it in My office area. It is a lot of work, I have the floor nailer, and access to the floor sander, and the tools.

I am building a cypress floor in My old garage. I cut the pieces off a slab, plane them, cut to usuable length. I then T & G them on router table, at least 2 passes. I also use the router table to cut the relief on the back side.

I did the 1st area of 8' X 12' in one session, the rest are coming slower. It is not a job to start on unless You have a lot of extra time. Bill

[Jeffrey Schronce]

I just looked up some prices - seems like QS red oak, or white oak can be had prefinished for around $3-3.50/sq.ft. all you need is install it. Unless I could get rough lumber at under $1.50/bf, I wouldn't consider it worth the cost of sanding/finishing and putting myself and my machines through such an ordeal.

I will Google for sources, but did you have any specifically?

I can't get QS for $1.50 even here in PA, so buying pre-finished for $3.00 sounds attractive.