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Wood floors in an elevated bay house (Texas)

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Monarchy

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I am a VERY new homebuilder (1 year, 3 homes). Among the next three we'll start before the end of the year is our own weekend place on the bay in Texas (Rockport).

This home is our gift to the next several generations OR the next major hurricane. Accordingly, we're trying to build this house (2 stories on pilings) to be around for as long as possible which should minimize a little of the movement.

What are your thoughts on rough natural wood floors (as opposed to laminate/vinyl plan/et al)? We REALLY want to find a way, if possible, to include real wood floors.

This is mostly a house movement/Texas coastal humidity question. We will minimize wet swimmers/wadefisherman by having plenty of living area on the ground floor.

Also of note....
No sand to worry about
My lab cleans up spilled margaritas quickly
We'll isolate the fridge, sink plumbing and dishwasher from the wood floor (something akin to a shower pan or hotwater heater pan?)
We don't mind the floors showing wear after time...it's a bayhouse, right?
Bathrooms will be tile

Great site full of some amazingly talented people.....thanks for your brains...

Fair Winds
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
Floor

I think I should have said "solid hardwood floor"....as opposed to anything engineered.

As far as wood type, size board and finish? Assuming you can actually put in a solid hardwood floor...

Rough finish
Wider plank
Darker finish (or color)

We'd look at anything that fits this criteria....but mostly wondering if it's even reasonable to look at doing it this way.

Thanks for your patience with my nearly complete and total lack of any flooring knowledge
 
#6 ·
Monarchy, may I ask why you think you should have a solid hardwood rather than engineered. No offense intended it's just that I come across so many people that think solid hardwood is the way to go as a means of quality, but they really aren't sure why they think that. In your situation, I would recommend engineered hardwood. Here's why - It's made of layers of plywood constructed in a "cross ply" pattern with a layer of solid hardwood on top. So what you see and walk on is genuine hardwood. The benefit is, if your floor tried to expand or contract from rises or drops in humidity levels, the cross ply construction helps to resist the effects of this (cupping, bowing, and other nightmares). There is one downfall with engineered hardwood - its can't be refinished as many times as solid hardwood, if at all (depending on how thick that top layer of solid hardwood is) but are you really planning on refinishing that many times during the life of the floor? Hope that help you make your decision.

Sincerely

Hayley
 
#9 ·
Monarchy, I would recommend looking at Pine or Fir flooring, They handle moisture very well. Pine is what they use in engineered flooring, that is why engineered adapts so well to high moisture locations. Pine and Fir are soft floors, so a rustic grade flooring, I believe, is a great choice. Rustic flooring has character, which helps conceal some accidents. Hayleymench said it best about engineered, it cant be refinished as many times. You can get many sandings out of the real thing and I tend to lean towards the real thing. Pine and Fir last a lifetime, and is suitable to your conditions. Many cabins and porches have pine and fir flooring. I would definately look into the pine and fir. I have also put in alot of engineered flooring, you will have more options to chose from. BUT, I have yet to work on a 100 year old engineered floor.
 
#11 · (Edited)
We know that some customers insists solid no matter what. Engineered flooring sounds to them like veneer stuck onto ply. Good quality engineered flooring (dry-sawn with 3 -4 mm top layer) actually better than solid,but some customers are very traditional or stoneheaded. As long as the house is A/C'ed, I don't see any reason why not to install 3/4" solid wood as long as stability test passes. Woods like Brazilian Walnut-ipe-,Massaranduba,Brazilian Teak-cumaru-will perform well as long as professionally installed. White oak if rift-sawn is also very stable.
I have installed floors in homes just beside beach and over the water and never had issues.There are extra precautions to be taken-such as insulation/water barriers under subfloor etc.in water properties.
 
#12 ·
astor said:
Woods like Brazilian Walnut-ipe-,Massaranduba,Brazilian Teak-cumaru-will perform well as long as professionally installed. White oak if rift-sawn is also very stable.
Click to expand...

My vote would be for Texas Mesquite! That stuff is so stable, I think I'd attempt putting it in the bottom of a swimming pool. (Joking!)
 
#13 ·
Solid wood is the way to go. As those above stated, get something already used to wet conditions and you'll be fine. As someone above also stated, some of us thick headed individuals don't trust man made floors over solid.
 
Discussion starter · #15 · (Edited)
Thx for the input so far

Like all my other conversations re: flooring, there seems to be greatly varied opinions.

I'm officially a builder/contractor but really don't know ***** so treat me like a DIY'er.

The house is coastal Texas down by Corpus Christi. Lowest wood floor will be almost 20' above msl so water issues are lower probability.

We want wood floors (in lieu of tile). The biggest issue I've discovered with elevated floors is warping due to humidity level fluctuations. This house will be foam insulated (including subfloors) and we're using a Trane system that includes humidity control. BUT, even with that, I'm worried about floors warping.

This is the house we'll leave the kids. As such, life span is a huge consideration when making decisions. I just don't want to mess with the floors for a very long time. We also don't care if they get worn...it's a bay house, right?

As a rookie, I figured solid wood flooring would be best. Something hard and stable like a mesquite (too red) or almost anything that grows in Brazil, lol. But we really don't care. Wide plank, rough finish, no red tones, can take a spill...that's about it.

Does that change anybody's thoughts?
 

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#17 ·
Plans for interior climate?

I see where you plan on having internal humidity control. But this is a beach house. Which implies to me you may often have it opened up and not always closed with the A/C and humidity control running.

IF that is likely to be true, you are asking for a lot from hardwood, especially solid. Wood expands and contracts, and if you have the house open in nice weather then close it up and run heat and A/C you are yanking the humidity all over the place and are likely going to see the result in the wood moving and eventually expansion cracks.

If you are determined to do solid, I suggest no wider than 4" boards and preferably 2-1/4". Less problems with moving and cupping. And, regardless of what some people like to believe, I'm going to confuse them with the facts. Haleymench is right - engineered is more stable. But even it will move if temp/humidity swings are often enough and big enough.

One solid I would suggest is maybe bamboo. Carbonized color. Seems pretty stable. See the thread(s) here about bamboo because the cheap stuff is usually absolute crap. Usually prefinished 5/8". DO NOT buy the crap with just a laminated layer on top.

I disagree completely about the pine. I don't know enough about fir to say. But pine is very soft (except heart pine which is really expensive) and again, a lot of it is crap. I've seen pine floors that came with a cabin literally curled up looking like a ski after being in the house three years. Might get some good stuff, but I just don't think it is up to casual living without getting dinged up in a hurry.

Dark floors also show dirt easily. But that's your call due to taste.

Might try Brazillian teak or walnut.

Would urge you to consider luxury vinyl plank, some of the high-end stuff. Karndean has a very heavy duty commercial product that looks like antique hand-scrapped oak or hickory. Looks great, very practical, long lasting, yet won't kill you cost-wise now or in 25 years if you or your kids get tired of the floor and want to change it. Eliminates a lot of the problem issues we've discussed here.

I know you will almost certainly reject lvp or engineered hardwood out of hand, but for a decision this long lasting you owe it to yourself to go talk to a GOOD flooring retailer. If you are a builder you ought to be doing that for your professional life, so you can maybe double up and find someone to support your professional life, also. Best wishes on whatever you decide!
 
#18 ·
The last poster had some excellent recommendations and I would like to echo. Not all woods are stable and some move and expand with humidity more than others. Even some SA hardwoods can move a lot with humidity. Pine would be a very poor choice. Moves too much and far too soft.

Engineered flooring is designed to minimize wood movement. Good engineered wood, and I don't mean the Chinese knockoffs, would be a good choice for your location. Some can be refinished several times. Handscraped seems to be all the rage right now in Texas.

As the previous poster mentioned, there are some really nice vinyl planks that are impossible to tell from real wood. They're not cheap. Bamboo is very stable and extremely hard.

Solid hardwoods would also not be a bad choice. You could check into quartersawn or rift sawn. Make sure your HVAC is has been running for a couple weeks before you install and you should be all set. Always recheck the flooring and substrate with a meter.
 
#19 ·
Excellent advice

As the previous poster mentioned, there are some really nice vinyl planks that are impossible to tell from real wood. They're not cheap. Bamboo is very stable and extremely hard.

Solid hardwoods would also not be a bad choice. You could check into quartersawn or rift sawn. Make sure your HVAC is has been running for a couple weeks before you install and you should be all set. Always recheck the flooring and substrate with a meter.

Jaros is right on the money. If you decide to do oak then I'd highly recommend quartersawn, and suggest 3" widths or less. Extremely important you have the place buttoned up and acclimated, assuming it is going to usually be air conditioned, and do the moisture testing like he said.

Cost of the high end lvp's is going to be cheaper than the type wood you want, in all probability. You can lay it directly on the subfloor it you are using a T&G like Adventek. If it was my house and I'm thinking 40 years in the future, I'd probably go ahead and put down a layer of fiberock underlayment, or other high quality underlayment - no luaun.

We retail the Karndean hand-scrapped very heavy duty products at $5.49/SF for the Oak Royale (6" wide) and $5.97 for the antique hickory. Being in the trade a store will probably sell it to you for trade pricing, and if you have a good relationship and send all your business there they will likely cut you a better deal on your personal house. The glue is expensive, roughly $180/4-gal bucket, but it goes a long way. Figure $.10-.20 per SF for glue. Good luck and enjoy the shopping!
 
#20 · (Edited)
grahaminteriors said:
One solid I would suggest is maybe bamboo. Carbonized color. Seems pretty stable. See the thread(s) here about bamboo because the cheap stuff is usually absolute crap. Usually prefinished 5/8". DO NOT buy the crap with just a laminated layer on top.
Click to expand...
jaros bros. said:
Bamboo is very stable and extremely hard.
Click to expand...
I have not seen many bamboo flooring without any problem, gaps between boards,coping.dome effect,check marks, etc.Specially so-called 5/8" "solid" ones.They are not solid in anyway,at least 3 layers. I would not say it is very stable!
There is an exception with less problems; engineered strand "mountain bamboo" which is wild grown-not farmed-which is more costly compare to others.
Still after all things considered ,Bamboo is the last product I would suggest for this house.
 
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