Thread: Identifying Timber

Hi and welcome to the forum! You will find a huge amount of information here and assistance ........ when asked for nicely.

Your flooring material looks like very low-grade pine. In fact, I am yet to see poorer quality if it is flooring..... but it's odd. There are obvious (large radius) saw marks on the material that make me think it might be rough sawn, square dressed material, even outdoor material of some kind, but I am unfamiliar with the practices/suppliers in Newcastle so it is possible that at some stage this type of material was produced for flooring.

I am sure others will have a better idea than me!

Again, welcome!!!!!

Have fun!

Could this then be repairable with a sander, or is a covering the only option?

Thank you for your help

Mote
Square dress means that the faces between each board are flat and do not have the tongue and groove to lock them into a single single sheet of floor. This is the sort of practice done in old country housing where there was no access to machinery to mill the tongue and groove. How old is the house?

To check this, have someone walk across the floor whilst you look at the boards from below. If all the boards move (bow) independantly of each other then they are definitely square dressed. You may have to have this person jump up and down depending on how thick the boards are.

I regard to the timber type, if the material is actually "redder" than the image shown then its unlikely to be any form of pine and more likely to be a local eucalypt. Old pines especially cyprus tend to be more grey than red.

If this is a local gum specie it might look really good sanded and polished but you would have to put up with gaps in the floor between the boards. If decorated for its period it might look stunning but if you want a modern tight and glossy floor look covering up may be your only option. I have the ugly yellow pine at home but I chose to cover over with a real timber floor that comes pre-finished.

Hi Mote and welcome to the Forums.

I'm not sure what the timber is but my guess is cypress or hoop pine. It is not low grade and by the looks of the photo fairly standard for a timber floor in a house that age. I did the living room floor in my old house myself and the result I thought was really good for a first time. I was on a very tight budget and had a short time frame so the sanding could've been a lot better.

Do a search in the home reno forum for floor sanding and you should find some useful info to get you started. Here is a search to get you started.

Originally Posted by mote

Hi all,<O></O>
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I have just bought my first house. There is plenty of work to do and I am trying to get as much ready for settlement as possible. One of the issues I am trying to solve is what to do with the floorboards. At present they are carpeted, which has to go. The problem is what next! If the timber is a nice timber then I will just polish them, however, if it is that pine that looks very yellow and full of knots (not my thing then I would prefer another option like staining them (black Japan perhaps) or even painting them.<O></O>
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Is there a chance anyone could look at the image I have included of the floorboards (this photo is from underneath the house) and help clarify the type of timber and what the possibilities are? I don’t want to ruin good timber. If you need a larger image I can put it up on the server. Also the image is a bit redder than I remember the floor boards actually being.<O></O>
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At this point it looks like my wife and I will be doing all the work so this forum may become a regular haunt!


Than you all for your time.<O></O>
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mote<O></O>

Hey Mote .
Congrats on the first home , this place is a huge help so you'll be right .
We found nice boards in our new bedroom when we ripped the carpet up . We thought we would just put in new carpet when we get the mooler because l'm on the West Coast of Vic and thought we'd need the warmth . Strangely enough though we've been using it 6 mths now with no carpet and it's been really nice . Mind you we still have a winter to get through yet but it hasn't been cold at all yet and really refreshing to use as compared to carpet everywhere , l'd love to just paint ours up myself .
Cheers
MB

Thanks all!

THe house was built around the 1930's and is of a Californian Bungalow style. I feel the timber was less red in real life but hey, eyes are subjective. Anyway, at this point It is probably a case of wait and see.

Thanks again

mote

if it is on the original part of the house, then it could be Hoop Pine - I am just concerned about the obviously damaged board/s and the differing widths. A second look at the joists makes me think they're messmate which is a good sign. Take a pic of the exterior of the home and post it if you can - also, it is a easy thing to pull up a corner of carpet so if you could do that and take a pic of the floor from that side, it would help. Either way, if you want the polished boards look (like in my place) be prepared for a louder house

.... and it is harder to hide the dust, which is a total bummer as I have to clean ours!

above all - have fun! My first home was a CalaBunga..... if you intend to keep it in that period, there are some brilliant magazines I can recommend. Guaranteed, you'll never look at a CalaBunga the same way again!

Seriph1, thanks for that, it is in the older part of the house, I don't think I will be able to get into the house soon, but if I do I will be sure to get a look from the top!

Attached are three images showing the house. Note that the room behind the fireplace has brown lino down, not floorboards. I was told this is a californian bungalow, but I always thought they where brick!

mOte

Mote
I am at merewether and have a home of similar vintage with the floors polished , mine are cypress, with lots of knotts etc and came up a treat

One thing if you lift up a corner of the carpet beware that the floors haven't been japanned a foot or so around the edge as was common for this period, gives you a flase idea of the final colour and then some.


Rgds

Ashore, i have seen the Black Japan and actually quite like it. TO the point that if the timber is nothing special I may Black Japan the entire floor! It will be a wait and see though, as first I will have to identify the timber!

By the way Ashore, do you recommend a sander and finisher in Newcastle? I am considering doing it myself but that may be a dream!

mOte

Will Pm sanders name etc

Rgds

Russell

There are other paint-based options you might want to consider other than japanning. - to get some inspiration about Bungalows, have a look at American Bungalow magazine..... it will blow your mind. www.americanbungalow.com is their address I think

BTW cALABUNGA's were timber, brick, stone etc. there is a range of books on the subject written by and for Australian homes - let me know how far you want to go into it.

Well all,

I thas been ages since I started this thread and I think it is time to provide some follow up.

The floors where indeed Cypress Pine. Some black Japaning some lino. There was one hectic weeknd of removing carpet, lino, staples, excess nails etc. I then had a professional floor sander come in and sand back the floorboards.

Rahter than just getting them poliched I decided to stain them. The black Japan option looked way to risky and decided to use a mix of Feast Watson Walnut and black miced with the funghishield. the colour is almost a Cola Black. They came up a treat. They took much longer to dry than expected, but now they are finished they look great. The dark colour does show every piece of dust and dirt.

A word of warning, It is hard to get the Feast Watson stain in large enough supplies to stain floorboards. Even at a 20% tint. I ended up having to get the stuff sent up from Sydney. Which kind of put a spanner in the very tight schedule!

Thanks all for your help.

Photos???