I want to make my own flooring tiles from wood and install them as you
would any other flooring tile. I would be intalling them on a solid
concrete subfloor. Is this possible? Would I be able to use grout, or
is there a special grouting material that I would use? Would I use
construction adhesive or thinset to lay the tiles? Would I seal them
with marine varnish, or would a urethane coating be sufficient?
Any advice on this topic would be appreciated. I like tile, love
wood, and hate parkay flooring. This idea seemed the best of both
worlds. Please help.

Not a good idea.
Wood changes dimension as the water content changes.
Because of this wood floors are not made of wooden tiles.
If they were then gaps would open when the floor dried and it might/would
buckle if it got too wet.

Now, that being said, IF you put down some sort of barrier so any moisture
in the concrete could not find it's way into the wood, and IF you used a
flexible grout (really a sealant) which had elastic properties sufficient to
allow the movement of the wood then it would be OK. I'm guessing that you
would end up with something like a bunch of wood stuck in a puddle of
sikaflex. Maintaining it with the combination of wood and flexible sealant
would be a problem - as would refinishing it since the sander would not like
the sealant at all.

My advice, stick to the traditional methods of installing wooden flooring.

-Jack

"vegasdave" wrote in message
om...
I want to make my own flooring tiles from wood and install them as you
would any other flooring tile. I would be intalling them on a solid
concrete subfloor. Is this possible? Would I be able to use grout, or
is there a special grouting material that I would use? Would I use
construction adhesive or thinset to lay the tiles? Would I seal them
with marine varnish, or would a urethane coating be sufficient?
Any advice on this topic would be appreciated. I like tile, love
wood, and hate parkay flooring. This idea seemed the best of both
worlds. Please help.

Hmmm, interesting. While I agree in principle, just the other day on the way
home from work, I passed a road construction crew. I know, I know, what the
hell does this have to do with anything but wait......

Looking at the "cross section" of the ditch dug down the middle of the road,
it became apparent that the asphalt had been placed over the original
cobblestones. The original cobblestones were wood blocks placed on end...and
they were still there.

Must be something to it.

Rob


"JackD" wrote in message ...
Not a good idea.
Wood changes dimension as the water content changes.
Because of this wood floors are not made of wooden tiles.
If they were then gaps would open when the floor dried and it might/would
buckle if it got too wet.

Now, that being said, IF you put down some sort of barrier so any moisture
in the concrete could not find it's way into the wood, and IF you used a
flexible grout (really a sealant) which had elastic properties sufficient
to
allow the movement of the wood then it would be OK. I'm guessing that you
would end up with something like a bunch of wood stuck in a puddle of
sikaflex. Maintaining it with the combination of wood and flexible sealant
would be a problem - as would refinishing it since the sander would not
like
the sealant at all.

My advice, stick to the traditional methods of installing wooden flooring.

-Jack

"vegasdave" wrote in message
om...
I want to make my own flooring tiles from wood and install them as you
would any other flooring tile. I would be intalling them on a solid
concrete subfloor. Is this possible? Would I be able to use grout, or
is there a special grouting material that I would use? Would I use
construction adhesive or thinset to lay the tiles? Would I seal them
with marine varnish, or would a urethane coating be sufficient?
Any advice on this topic would be appreciated. I like tile, love
wood, and hate parkay flooring. This idea seemed the best of both
worlds. Please help.

If you want a very tough floor, then end grain up wood is among the
toughest. I've seen that in a railroad barn once. I don't know how the
wood has survived so long. It might be interesting to ask the road crew or
the transportation department what sort of wood was used.

Michael
"Rob Stokes" wrote in message
s.com...
Hmmm, interesting. While I agree in principle, just the other day on the
way
home from work, I passed a road construction crew. I know, I know, what
the
hell does this have to do with anything but wait......

Looking at the "cross section" of the ditch dug down the middle of the
road,
it became apparent that the asphalt had been placed over the original
cobblestones. The original cobblestones were wood blocks placed on
end...and
they were still there.

Must be something to it.

Rob


"JackD" wrote in message ...
Not a good idea.
Wood changes dimension as the water content changes.
Because of this wood floors are not made of wooden tiles.
If they were then gaps would open when the floor dried and it
might/would
buckle if it got too wet.

Now, that being said, IF you put down some sort of barrier so any
moisture
in the concrete could not find it's way into the wood, and IF you used a
flexible grout (really a sealant) which had elastic properties
sufficient
to
allow the movement of the wood then it would be OK. I'm guessing that
you
would end up with something like a bunch of wood stuck in a puddle of
sikaflex. Maintaining it with the combination of wood and flexible
sealant
would be a problem - as would refinishing it since the sander would not
like
the sealant at all.

My advice, stick to the traditional methods of installing wooden
flooring.

-Jack

"vegasdave" wrote in message
om...
I want to make my own flooring tiles from wood and install them as you
would any other flooring tile. I would be intalling them on a solid
concrete subfloor. Is this possible? Would I be able to use grout, or
is there a special grouting material that I would use? Would I use
construction adhesive or thinset to lay the tiles? Would I seal them
with marine varnish, or would a urethane coating be sufficient?
Any advice on this topic would be appreciated. I like tile, love
wood, and hate parkay flooring. This idea seemed the best of both
worlds. Please help.

"Herman Family" /without_any_s/ wrote in
message ...
If you want a very tough floor, then end grain up wood is among the
toughest. I've seen that in a railroad barn once. I don't know how
the
wood has survived so long. It might be interesting to ask the road
crew or
the transportation department what sort of wood was used.

They did that on some show - I think it was one of Bob Vila's Home
Again. One of the first seasons I think. They laid them as tiles in a
running bond and grouted them with something like sawdust and varnish.
It looked pretty slick - like wooden cobblestones.

On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 21:50:00 GMT, "Frank Nakashima"
wrote:


"Herman Family" /without_any_s/ wrote in
message ...
If you want a very tough floor, then end grain up wood is among the
toughest. I've seen that in a railroad barn once. I don't know how
the
wood has survived so long. It might be interesting to ask the road
crew or
the transportation department what sort of wood was used.

They did that on some show - I think it was one of Bob Vila's Home
Again. One of the first seasons I think. They laid them as tiles in a
running bond and grouted them with something like sawdust and varnish.
It looked pretty slick - like wooden cobblestones.


Good memory,

http://www.bobvila.com/wwwboard/messages/76623.html
http://www.bobvila.com/wwwboard/messages/6438.html


-Leuf

Herman Family wrote:

If you want a very tough floor, then end grain up wood is among the
toughest. I've seen that in a railroad barn once. I don't know how the
wood has survived so long. It might be interesting to ask the road crew or
the transportation department what sort of wood was used.

Michael

This type of floor is quite common in manufacturing plants where dropping
a valuable piece of metal on concrete would be disastrous. Tire plants and
plants that make tire molds have acres of block floors.

The blocks are creosote or tar soaked oak 4" long set on end. No glue or
grout is used, the blocks are just wedged in. The man replacing a section
of floor uses a hatchet, wide chisel, and a mallet.

The plant where I worked had yellow spray paint outlines on the floor in
several areas, when I asked what the lines meant, I was told to wait for a
good rain then I would know. The lines indicated where not to walk after
a leak in the roof had wet down the blocks real well and caused the
floor to "blister up". As long as you didn't knock any of the blocks out
of the blister and make it fall in on its self, the blister would subside when
the wood dried out again.

The largest, and one of the first, blisters or domes I saw in one of these
floors
was in the main floor of a facility that was being shut down. The dome was
20 to 30 feet in diameter and 3 to 4 feet high in the middle.

ARM

On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 21:46:07 GMT, "Herman Family"
/without_any_s/ wrote:

If you want a very tough floor, then end grain up wood is among the
toughest. I've seen that in a railroad barn once.

One of the most interesting wood floors I've seen is the
milk-unloading dock at Edge Hill Station, in Liverpool (the Edge Hill
of Stephenson's Rocket fame).

To quieten the early-morning noise of milk churns being unloaded, the
(outdoor) floor was made of wood blocks. However these wood blocks
were pie-shaped wedges, recycled from the railway. An early form of
smooth-riding patent carriage wheel was the Maunsell wheel, a cast
iron hub, steel tyre and clamped-in wooden wedges instead of spokes.

A variant of this is that I've seen is in use on the large manufacturing
area floors at Sikorsky Helicopter in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Wood
blocks, about 4 inches square. They carry a tremendous load without
noticeable failure.

If anyone knows what they are (wood type), where to purchase them and
how they are finished, I'd like to know. I'd like to use them in a two
level garage I'm planning and on my shop floor.

Phil

Andy Dingley wrote:
On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 21:46:07 GMT, "Herman Family"
/without_any_s/ wrote:


If you want a very tough floor, then end grain up wood is among the
toughest. I've seen that in a railroad barn once.


One of the most interesting wood floors I've seen is the
milk-unloading dock at Edge Hill Station, in Liverpool (the Edge Hill
of Stephenson's Rocket fame).

To quieten the early-morning noise of milk churns being unloaded, the
(outdoor) floor was made of wood blocks. However these wood blocks
were pie-shaped wedges, recycled from the railway. An early form of
smooth-riding patent carriage wheel was the Maunsell wheel, a cast
iron hub, steel tyre and clamped-in wooden wedges instead of spokes.

Thu, Sep 18, 2003, 12:38pm (EDT-3) (JackD)
snip wood floors are not made of wooden tiles. snip

Seen 'em in several parts of the world.

JOAT
Always remember that you're unique, just like everyone else.

Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT
Web Page Update 19 Sep 2003. Some tunes I like.
http://community-2.webtv.net/Jakofal...OMETUNESILIKE/

JOAT responds:

Thu, Sep 18, 2003, 12:38pm (EDT-3) (JackD)
snip wood floors are not made of wooden tiles. snip

Seen 'em in several parts of the world.

End grain wood holds up remarkably well under uses that will destroy concrete.
I've seen it used in factories with heaven knows what for a coating, in
buildings that were still in use (in the late '70s) but built in the teens.
Even then, there was a whole lot of heavy metal working going on (shooting pix
of a guy welding a wood stove for an article I did for Pop. Science some time
around '76, I thing: didn't do the cutting and welding directly on the wood,
but spatter sure hit it without real damage, and with no evident worry).

I think that stuff was oak, maybe white oak. Later, I saw similar stuff further
south that I'm pretty sure was SYP.

Charlie Self

"Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and
steady dedication of a lifetime. "
Adlai E. Stevenson

I worked on the Wells Fargo Bank in SFs financial district years ago with a
Fir end block floor.

M Hamlin

"Charlie Self" wrote in message
...

I think that stuff was oak, maybe white oak. Later, I saw similar stuff
further
south that I'm pretty sure was SYP.

"Jack-of-all-trades - JOAT" wrote in message
...
Thu, Sep 18, 2003, 12:38pm (EDT-3) (JackD)
snip wood floors are not made of wooden tiles. snip

Seen 'em in several parts of the world.

JOAT
Always remember that you're unique, just like everyone else.

In my defense, 4' think wood blocks are not wooden tiles.
Parquet may be considered wooden tiles, but the original poster specifically
excluded it.

-Jack

Mon, Sep 22, 2003, 9:31am (EDT-3) (JackD) says:
In my defense, 4' think wood blocks are not wooden tiles. Parquet may be
considered wooden tiles, but the original poster specifically excluded
it.

The original poster didn't mention 4" thick wooden blocks. And the
word used was parkay, not parquet.


JOAT
The whole of life is a learning process.
- John Keel

Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT
Web Page Update 20 Sep 2003. Some tunes I like.
http://community-2.webtv.net/Jakofal...OMETUNESILIKE/

The original poster didn't mention 4" thick wooden blocks. And the
word used was parkay, not parquet.


JOAT
The whole of life is a learning process.
- John Keel

Ah, "parkay", I thought he meant parquet.

Sorry.

-Jack

You might consider putting down a moisture barrier, then 1x2s on 16" centers
with foam insulation between them, followed by some subflooring and finally
put your tiles down in the usual manner. The upshot of it all is you want
to remove the tiles from the vagaries of concrete, and put them in a wood
friendly environment.

Michael
"vegasdave" wrote in message
om...
I want to make my own flooring tiles from wood and install them as you
would any other flooring tile. I would be intalling them on a solid
concrete subfloor. Is this possible? Would I be able to use grout, or
is there a special grouting material that I would use? Would I use
construction adhesive or thinset to lay the tiles? Would I seal them
with marine varnish, or would a urethane coating be sufficient?
Any advice on this topic would be appreciated. I like tile, love
wood, and hate parkay flooring. This idea seemed the best of both
worlds. Please help.

On 18 Sep 2003 12:27:29 -0700, (vegasdave) wrote:

I want to make my own flooring tiles from wood

Don't.

Making tiles is a job for huge presses. If you want to lay your floor
from timber au naturel, lay it as strips. You'll need a spindle
moulder to machine the edges, so you'd probably do this by
subcontracting to a joiner's shop with the right machine.

Unless you've grown your own timber for this, I don't see the
economics of it anyway. There's a big market in ready-machined wood
flooring these days, of all qualities, and the prices are competitive.
My cheapest local source of maple is to buy it as 3/4" finished boards
from a flooring maker, and machine the T&G off !

Not that this makes TOO much difference, and I haven't read all of the
replies here yet, but I noticed that my husband forgot to mention that
we live in the torturously dry climate of Nevada, and here they
declare 20% humidity to be DAMP(!)- go figure...we were actually
considering something like making a floor in a jigsaw-puzzle manner,
NOT a ripoff of ceramic tiles by making a bunch of squares.

I, personally, was thinking of marine plywood, or something comparably
resistant to re-shaping itself, cut to fit together and stained in
several tones, tons of protective coats, and then a thick coat of
something on top, like the 1/8" layer of clear stuff they pour on top
of bars and restaurant tables. It doesn't even have to be spectacular
looking wood grain - just so it's obviously some form of wood in
there. We're looking for a combo of inexpensive (at least RELATIVELY)
and completely unique, starting with a 10x10 foot toddler's room, then
maybe elsewhere if it works out well.

Thanks, Vegasdave's old lady ;D

"vegasdave" wrote in message
om...
Not that this makes TOO much difference, and I haven't read all of the
replies here yet, but I noticed that my husband forgot to mention that
we live in the torturously dry climate of Nevada, and here they
declare 20% humidity to be DAMP(!)- go figure...we were actually
considering something like making a floor in a jigsaw-puzzle manner,
NOT a ripoff of ceramic tiles by making a bunch of squares.

I, personally, was thinking of marine plywood, or something comparably
resistant to re-shaping itself, cut to fit together and stained in
several tones, tons of protective coats, and then a thick coat of
something on top, like the 1/8" layer of clear stuff they pour on top
of bars and restaurant tables. It doesn't even have to be spectacular
looking wood grain - just so it's obviously some form of wood in
there. We're looking for a combo of inexpensive (at least RELATIVELY)
and completely unique, starting with a 10x10 foot toddler's room, then
maybe elsewhere if it works out well.

Thanks, Vegasdave's old lady ;D

Well, that's different. Plywood would work.

-Jack