Teak Flooring (interior)

go dart

meeting a decorator next wk and part of the project is setting teak floors on entire 1st floor. i imagine its carpet removel tack strip etc then install new. they have a sample of what they want (haven't seen)
i know that matl is extremly hard but can anybody offer any install tips/things to watch out for?

go dart

darn i'm just trying to keep this thread alive til i get some help

Teetorbilt

#1 would be aggressive dust control. Teak contains a lot of oil and will give you Brown Lung.

What is your subfloor?

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pruane

LOTS of saw blades, I think it is the silica in there.

Teetorbilt

No silica. The wrong speeds and feeds create the same problem as pine, sort of. The oils will burn and create a buildup on the teeth, in essence, making them 'dull'. There is a wax made for this, apply to the blade prior to cutting although I don't think that you will need it for a single flooring job.

The best advice is to start with some new, quality blades and build the price into the job. A good blade will run you $75-125 for 10". At the end of the day, dismount the blades and soak them in a shallow pan of mineral spirits overnight.

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go dart

thanks. subfloor is probably 3/4" cdx but could be osb. any trouble fastening the floor w/ a standard mallet nailer?

pruane

lots of silica and resin. I have built many an outside bar and table set. It is killer on blades.

Donedat

Teak is not really that hard. It's similar to Cherry in hardness. I've only sanded one teak floor. It was really soft as far as the drum sander was concerned. No need to use really rough grit on it. If it comes from a good mill, I would start out with 60 grit.

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Teetorbilt

Where does this insistance on silica come from? Does sand make it through a trees system? I have never heard of such a thing and have been in the boat business for over 40 yrs.

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Brushslingers

I'll have to agree on this one wholeheartedly... Silica is a sand additive but in Teak planks?

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pruane

check this
http://www.exotichardwoods-eurasia.com/teak.htm

Double-A

Many types of plants contain silica. This article explains how it gets there.

Short answer is, its absorbed just like any other nutrient and if not expelled, then stored, usually in the cell wall. I guess like people, some plants will eat anything.

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Brushslingers

Neat... learned something new, I assumed silica as -

http://www.paint.org/resources/cse_report.cfm

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maj

I don't know all the facts about silica, but I know it is a very fine sand (mineral?). So theortically, it is prolly pulled up with water through the trees roots. I'm just thinking out loud here, but that makes sense to me that silica would be present in many plants, not just trees. Might be that teak trees thrive in that type of soil?
I also know that silica is used in the making of glass.

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Teetorbilt

I learn something new everytime I'm here.

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ccoffer

That silica is what makes white oak heavier than red oak. The vessels in white are filled with silica. The vessels in red are empty.

Donedat

Hmmm...never hear that one before...but raw white oak does glisten in the sun.

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Teetorbilt

And red oak stinks to high heaven. Maybe silica is a good thing.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

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Donedat

Only if it's harvested from the Everglades.

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Teetorbilt

We get a variety or oaks here. Water, Pin, Live and a few small species, I've never messed with any of them because I don't care for the look of oak. In NC, it makes good firewood but ringing, cutting and splitting still stinks as does the occasional piece that goes through my shop.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

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