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shnnnh
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# Posted: 3 Aug 2012 10:22am
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I'm trying to decide between solid and engineered hardwood flooring in my unheated cabin. The sub-floor is 3/4" Advantech plywood. Unless you all tell me otherwise I'm not planning any insulation or vapor barrier under the flooring. The floor joists are 2x8 and the cabin will be on a post foundation a foot or more above the ground.
Monthly average temps range from 36 to 76 and monthly rainfall is about 4 inches.
My cabin is only 12x12, so I'm drawn to a wide-plank, long-length floor to make the space seem bigger and less visually busy, but I'm concerned about the stability of solid hardwood given that I won't be controlling temperature and moisture levels.
The engineered flooring will probably be more stable, but the lengths tend to be really short, like under 4 feet, and getting longer lengths of the engineered stuff puts me in the price range of the really gorgeous wide-plank solid floors.
Laminate is out for me, and I'd consider slate or tile around the entryway but not throughout. I think the loft will be cork.
Also considering prefinished hardwood, because there's a ton of it around and it's inexpensive, but I think those bevels will drive me crazy.
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Hinhim
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# Posted: 3 Aug 2012 11:05am
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I built a walk-in cooler for my restaurant brewery using advantech as the floor. Great stuff, tongue and groove, very durable and treated for water resistance. I wouldn't use anything else.
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GomerPile
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# Posted: 3 Aug 2012 11:55am
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You want to add a vapor barrier of some kind under the flooring. At the very least use black felt roofing paper which will keep the floor boards from squeaking on the subfloor when you walk on it. It has the added benefit of retarding some of the moisture from outside.
I did the felt paper on my first log cabin that had a very "live" floor and had zero noise compared to the stuff I removed.
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shnnnh
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# Posted: 6 Aug 2012 11:09am
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So felt over the subfloor and under the floorboards?
Do you think that if I have that, plus the advantec, and use a pretty stable wood like quartersawn oak, that I'll be okay in terms of durability versus an engineered floor?
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GomerPile
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# Posted: 6 Aug 2012 11:50am
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The floor I did had a 1 inch T&G spruce subfloor on 6x6 beams spaced @ 4ft. I put down felt then 3/4 inch T&G oak right over the felt. 3/4 inch hardwood flooring is pretty stiff and durable.
Quoting: shnnnh So felt over the subfloor and under the floorboards?
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shnnnh
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# Posted: 3 Mar 2013 06:02pm
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In the end beauty trumped all other considerations and I went with a 5" solid Lapacho (similar to Ipe). I haven't installed it yet but I did end up insulating under the floor with the nasty pink stuff, covered with scrap sheathing. I am a little nervous about working with that dense a wood but will let you know how it goes when the time comes.
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dfosson
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# Posted: 6 Mar 2013 04:08am
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Flooring like roofing is something you need to get right. I went with hickory and did use the commercial roll of vapor barrier. Couldn't be happier with the outcome.
hickory flooring
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installing floor
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