Tongue and groove solid oak flooring in summerhouse.

[Stringman_uk]

Hi All
I have managed to buy some second hand oak tongue and groove flooring for my summerhouse.
It has previously been glued and taken apart so there is a bit of damage on some of the tongues and grooves.

As said it it in the summerhouse (3m x2.5m) so it doesnt have to be perfect.
It will be laid on flat 18mm osb.
My idea was to clean out the grooves as much as possible and tidy up the tongues and pick the best pieces to use ( I have around 10m2)
If all goes well I was hoping to secret nail the floor.
Then I will sand off the existing lacquer and re finish.

If I Dont have enough good planks could I get away with any of the below?
secret nailing in the groove?
cutting off the damaged tongue and butting it up (maybe with glue)?
Just using glue?

Thanks in advance

 

[big-all]

you could make a false tongue in damaged areas but you need a table saw/router/biscuit joiner and fill the groove opposite the missing tongue if different
also groove to groove iff you have long offcuts can pad out what you have again with a false tongue the correct thickness

 

[Stringman_uk]

Big all,
Thanks for that, making false tongues sound a huge faff, I like the idea of groove to grove if needs be.
If push come to shove I will butt them up and surface nail.

 

[big-all]

other points plan plan plan
choose the best and whole planks for high wear areas
bitty planks behind the tv or under sofa or just away from where the eye goes
see if you can source spare planks just in case so when things get tight you can decide iff the extra cost outweighs the risk off failure or extra wasted time

 

[Stringman_uk]

other points plan plan plan
choose the best and whole planks for high wear areas
bitty planks behind the tv or under sofa or just away from where the eye goes
see if you can source spare planks just in case so when things get tight you can decide iff the extra cost outweighs the risk off failure or extra wasted time

Im hoping I should have enough as I have about 10-11 m2 and the summerhouse is 7.5m2

 

[big-all]

Im hoping I should have enough as I have about 10-11 m2 and the summerhouse is 7.5m2

You don't actually have to buy it it just gives you a plan "B"

 

[Stringman_uk]

So I had a go at cleaning a bit of the tongue and the grooves.
What a bloody nightmare. Took ages and even then it still didnt properly but up.
so I trimmed off the tongue, sanded the edges and just butted it up.
It was much neeter.
Obviously I couldnt secret nail unless I went through the groove.
Would this work?
if not its not the end of the world to just nail from the top.
What sort of distances should I aim for with the nailing?

Thanks

 

[Notch7]

So I had a go at cleaning a bit of the tongue and the grooves.
What a bloody nightmare. Took ages and even then it still didnt properly but up.
so I trimmed off the tongue, sanded the edges and just butted it up.
It was much neeter.
Obviously I couldnt secret nail unless I went through the groove.
Would this work?
if not its not the end of the world to just nail from the top.
What sort of distances should I aim for with the nailing?

Thanks

I would be a bit nervous of solid oak flooring in a summer house

solid flooring is best in a house with a relative humidity of 40-60%

if it was me I would fix each board down to the OSB, double nailed with a gap between each board

 

[big-all]

So I had a go at cleaning a bit of the tongue and the grooves.
What a bloody nightmare. Took ages and even then it still didnt properly but up.
so I trimmed off the tongue, sanded the edges and just butted it up.
It was much neeter.
Obviously I couldnt secret nail unless I went through the groove.
Would this work?
if not its not the end of the world to just nail from the top.
What sort of distances should I aim for with the nailing?

Thanks

Another problem is removing the surface glue will not give you as glueable area as its now only surface contact where as origional glueing soaks into the surface to some extent spreading the load'in general glue on old glue can be far weaker in the same way squirting glue into a failed joint on a chair or table will hold but can fail quite quickly in heavy use

 

[Stringman_uk]

I would be a bit nervous of solid oak flooring in a summer house

solid flooring is best in a house with a relative humidity of 40-60%

if it was me I would fix each board down to the OSB, double nailed with a gap between each board

Sorry but whats double nailing?
Thanks

 

[Stringman_uk]

Thinking it will be easier to remove the damaged tongues and just butt up the edges. what sort of gap should I use? I was thinking business card type gap.
Thanks

 

[catlad]

Best leave plenty of expansion gaps if its solid oak flooring.

 

[Stringman_uk]

Best leave plenty of expansion gaps if its solid oak flooring.

Thanks for that
I was leaving 10mm gap around the perimeter of the room.
and about 0.5-1mm between the planks, what gaps are you talking about?
Just a question though.
If it was fitted using the tongue and groove using secret nailing you wouldn't put any gaps in ( unless the design of the T&G has inbuilt gaps) so is there a reason you should leave bigger gaps if its just butted up?
Thanks

 

[catlad]

If you are familiar with real wood then you will know it will do what the seasons do!
It will swell in winter, depending on how much moisture is around, and shrink in summer.

 

[Stringman_uk]

Catlad,
Thanks for that.

Yes i know it change with the seasons. I must confess in my head I thought it would expand due to the heat and contract due the cold, though its obvious when you think about wood and moisture ( i should know that as I store logs for burning!) I was just curious as to why it seems that that T&G butts up tight. I get that if its floating or glued there is movement accounted for at the edges. But wondered if the secret nailing would prevent expansion being spread across.
Since I will be laying it in the next few weeks ( the wood has been in the office for about two weeks already) and the office is well insulated and has vapour membranes maybe smaller gap between boards will be a better idea