Many months ago I saw in a woodworking magazine an ingenious idea to
cut up 4 by 8 sheets plywood veneers of bircth, for example, and lay
them down much like to laminated hardwood floors. I was wondering if
anyone has done this?? Do I need to worry about shrinkage? OR can I
just cut and butt them up against one another? The veneers are very
thin so I guess 5 coats of varathane would be of benefit.

Comments....

Brandt

brandt wrote:
Many months ago I saw in a woodworking magazine an ingenious idea to
cut up 4 by 8 sheets plywood veneers of bircth, for example, and lay
them down much like to laminated hardwood floors. I was wondering if
anyone has done this?? Do I need to worry about shrinkage? OR can I
just cut and butt them up against one another? The veneers are very
thin so I guess 5 coats of varathane would be of benefit.

Comments....

Brandt

The ply would probably be softer than oak hardwood and I'd be worried
about durability in the long term. Every time a solid hardwood floor is
refinished they sand off about 1/16" or so. With veneer, could you
refinish it in a few years?

Many months ago I saw in a woodworking magazine an ingenious idea to
cut up 4 by 8 sheets plywood veneers of bircth, for example, and lay
them down much like to laminated hardwood floors. I was wondering if
anyone has done this?? Do I need to worry about shrinkage? OR can I
just cut and butt them up against one another? The veneers are very
thin so I guess 5 coats of varathane would be of benefit.

Comments....

Yeah. Bad idea. The veneer is far too thin and softwood plies are too soft
to offer any kind of long term durability, and without machining the edges
so that the pieces interlock (ie. tongue and groove) you will not get a
level surface. Nor will you be able to sand the surface level without
sanding through the thin veneer.

I have this friend who did a floor like that. He is so cheap that.......
Actually, he is cheap but the floor looked great. He made it from free
scraps he collected going around to all of the cabinet shops. He is not
really a woodworker but ne did a fantastic job. I would just worry that
dropping a pot on it of something heavy would damage the veneer that some
people find it easy to sand through.
max

Many months ago I saw in a woodworking magazine an ingenious idea to
cut up 4 by 8 sheets plywood veneers of bircth, for example, and lay
them down much like to laminated hardwood floors. I was wondering if
anyone has done this?? Do I need to worry about shrinkage? OR can I
just cut and butt them up against one another? The veneers are very
thin so I guess 5 coats of varathane would be of benefit.

Comments....

Brandt