Pine wood floor

[Saucyjack]

I'm thinking about getting a Pine wood floor for the Studio...right now it's half carpet,half plywood subfloor.I track and mix in the same floor,sorta a live end/dead end setup.
I can get the floor put down relatively cheap(much cheaper than Oak)and I like the look of the Pine wood planks.However,I a bit concerned about the durability....will the Pine hold up and look ok 5-10 years down the road?

My room a large"bonus"room above the garage so I also need to think about resale if we move in the future.If the Pine is really going to get chewed up,I will probably need to reconsider.

[Mike O]

Go with the oak (or other hardwood). What is the price difference there? My experience is that pine does not hold up well even under light traffic. A 100lb woman in heels "dents" it noticeably.

[Saucyjack]

Thanks Mike.....The Oak is going to be about double the cost by the time it's all said and done.I don't mind the floor having a worn appearance but if it's going to look like shit a few years that's another story.

[Mike O]

Originally posted by Saucyjack
Thanks Mike.....The Oak is going to be about double the cost by the time it's all said and done.I don't mind the floor having a worn appearance but if it's going to look like shit a few years that's another story.

More directly - It IS going to look like shit. I am in the process of installing hardwood floors in several rooms of house and I visited two homes where the designers clients thought that pine would look "nicely worn". Suffice it to say that they are not nice. And that is without amps, drums, etc.

Of course you can always have it sanded/refinished before you sell, but I think you will regret it. How many sq ft?

[Saucyjack]

The room is about 500 sq feet.

[jazzius]

Look out for some chinese oak.....can be almost as cheap as pine and looks alot better (and of course 10x more durable)

[Mike O]

Chinese oak may well be an option where it does not have to be shipped by truck very far. A big part of the high price of wood is shipping in the U.S. Pine is widely available locally. Oak is not in many areas.

[Bernd G]

Different wood will exhibit different acoustical properties. Generally I would agree: go with hardwood. Maple is very nice, and in some cases it can be had for less than Oak. Keep in mind that the wood adds "ambience" to the room in more than one way. Clients are ALWAYS impressed by maple flooring - it looks like an expensive studio. For this kind of heavy traffic you should consider think slates: 1 inch +. Make sure that the underlayment is done well and consider all of your conduit needs.
Forget Pine - it will look like a coffee shop at best, like IKEA at worst and it will sound like a Finnish sauna. I hate those knotty things. Consider this: what is "double the price" now going to be like 10 years down the road? Trust me - spend the money, you will enjoy the damn floor EVERY DAY that you work in there. 'nuf said.
Cheers

[atticus]

Try www.lumberliquidators.com. They often have closeouts and other specials that will save you money on hardwood flooring.

[Ted Nightshade]

Pine will get torn up deep fast.

I used Tennessee white oak that was the cheapest real wood flooring of any kind that I could find. It laid down so nicely, we never did sand it. That saved some bucks too. Mine was about 500 sq. ft. too.

[Beezoboy]

Actually if you get pre finished oak it can sometimes save a bit too. The wood is not that expensive. The installers jack up the prices a lot. What taked forever is the coats of polyeurethane. (sp?) Pre finished has the stuff on it when the put it down and if I am not mistaken has some sort of warrantee.

Do you not have some client that you can get to install it for free studio time? It might be worth calling around even or putting an ad in the paper. Go down to Home Depot and look at the price of hardwood uninstalled. It really isn't that much $$$.

BTW, my dad is asst manager at a big flooring, hardwood, and tile chain. So I can tell you that this stuff is not that hard to install whatsoever. If you are handy with a skill saw, tape measure and can figure out how to use the nailer, you could put the stuff down yourself. (Hardwood flooring uses a special nailer to get the edges on an angle) At my dads store, they'll even let you just pay an installer for a half day, and let him show you how to put it down so that you can do the rest yourself. Then you just pay rental on the tools and his half day.

If you were in Georgia I could probably get you the hook up.

Beez

[Saucyjack]

Thanks for all the info.

Sounds like Pine is not going to be the answer.
Anybody tried Bamboo floors?

Beeze thanks for the offer....I've actually got a buddy giving me the "bro" deal.

[Ted Nightshade]

Oh god, I forgot about the whole polyurethane paradigm. What a toxic mess! And don't think it will sound like wood!

I was fortunate enough to get a line on a discontinued organic floor finish made with beeswax and citrus oils. Surely there's a better way, and probably cheaper, than polyurethane.

[dbluefield]

Don't rule out heart pine. It is what you want for pine floors. It's growth rings are much closer than knotty. Also it is very affordable buying direct. Minwax red oak looks great on it. 2 coats of poly and it is very durable. Depends on your color scheme as well. I have 80 yr old heart pine floors -- how's that for longevity? But I'm not rolling heavy equipment daily on it. I've laid new heart pine as well.

All wood floors will wear -- perhaps maple would be an additional choice for rolling things around on. You can find reclaimed flooring, affordably. 1.50 - 3.00/ lin foot.
Parquet is cheap as well from HD.

Best,

Mack

[Saucyjack]

So the heart pine would be more durable?

[dbluefield]

Yes. The tighter the growth rings the stronger the wood.

I put about 800 sq feet down upstairs in my Kitchen addition, hallway and kids room. 3 years old and still looks great. The original heart pine was sanded and re-sealed.

What kind of look are you going for? Do you have existing wood floors in the house? Matching a look might be desirable.Where is your live room located?

Best,

Mack

[sounddevisor]

Saucyjack - regarding bamboo floors, they are gorgeous! My wife runs a yoga studio, and had bamboo put in - it looks amazing, and is supposedly quite durable - at least comparable to hardwood, and far better than pine.

Someone else mentioned www.lumberliquidators.com, another discount source is www.bellawood.com. I've been pricing various woods for a while for my live room - doing the installation myself, I don't think I'll have to pay more than $4 - $4.50/sq. ft. for prefinished hardwood.

[zenfreud]

Another vote for bamboo. It is about the most durable material you can use for flooring and is not expensive either. It grows like weeds, is sustainable, and is a very sound choice for building materials. I have heard that conventional nail guns may not work due to the hardness of bamboo, that either special nails or that glueing only and forgoing the nails may be recommended. Check with your local flooring suppliers.

[Logan]

Normal pine is soft and will show marks and dents, but that can look kinda cool too. The so called heart pine is usually old or reclaimed lumber and is from first growth trees. These trees grew very slowly and tightly packed consquently the growth rings are much closer together and the wood much more dense. Bears little resemblence to new pine.
However this stuff is not usually cheaper that newer hard woods.
Ash can sometimes be had for a reasonable price, sort of oak like but with a lighter colour and a much more noticable grain. Maple is also a great alternative, as is birch and beech. Cherry is cool but usually pricey.
You can definitely lay it yourself but I would look for prefinished stuff as sanding and finishing are things that are a trade in themselves. By the time you buy good polyurethane and coat it three times and rent a sander and pay for paper you will pay as much as you did for the prefinished stuff. Borrow a chop saw rather than a skill saw and rent the nailer. Make sure you get an air assisted nailer as you have to be John Henry too make the older, all mechanical ones, work. Don't hammer on the tongue to force the piece into place, use a piece of the flooring that is scrap.
Check out stores for discontined stock and if the tongue and groove is compatible buy different types and figure a pattern design. Seems to be lots of it blown out lately here in Canada, look around. Take care Logan

[Zarf]

We had Bamboo laid as a floating floor in our conservatory. It's cupped, split, come unglued and the finish scratches badly. Wish we'd never had it. The insurers blame the material - it's "vertically pressed" bamboo which is supposed to be stronger. We have underfloor heating, but it's pretty low temp. It's been through one English summer (OK, it was a hot one, but still.....).

Since having it laid I found more people with similar problems.

Just my £0.02....

[Meriphew]

How about some sort of nicely finished cement floor?

[Meriphew]

I just re-read Saucyjack's question and realized it was an upstairs room - so I guess that eliminates the whole cement floor thing.

[Saucyjack]

Yeah it's an upstairs room...kinda a big Room over the garage.

The thing is I've converted this space into a a 1 room tracking/mixing personal/project studio(God bless my wife).I've already pulled up carpet on half the room(which is a plywood subfloor).
I want to go with hardwood floors but I also realize that if we ever move I want the room to have some resale value.

I have a friend who can do the work fairly cheap and quoted me a good price based on Pine floor.The studio doesn't get a ton of foot traffic but the usual stuff...drum kits,rolling chairs,etc.,probably not to the extent of "real" studio but more like a bedrom as far as general abuse.
Sounds like Pine may cause me more trouble than the money it saves me.