As part of a subfloors-up restoration of a 170 year-old house I located 950 feet of 12 year-old white ash stored in a second story barn with good ventilation.

It planed down to 1", mainly 8" and 6", eight and twelve footers. Most of it is clear and superior to the red oak I found in the same location.

It will go down across 1 1/4" subfloor planks, tongue and grooved, but cupped in many places. If it looks too bad I'll sand some humps off.

I trimmed up a load of the stock yesterday to 7 3/8" and 5 3/8", with the rest at 5". The boards all jointed to a straight line. There is almost no twisting, though many boards are bowed in the middle. I figure if I stand on them they'll go down o.k., if I can get them through the shaper.

Questions:
1. Is 1" all right or should I cut the stock down to keep the nailer happy?

2. Is 8" too wide? I am prepared to drill and plug, as necessary, being an old boat man. This is an early Canadian house and I'm not very interested in having a seamless floor. I figure on a nice, even 1/8" gap between boards by next March, after shrinkage.

3. What do you recommend as a nailer/stapler? I'm leaning toward the heaviest pneumatic cleat nailer I can afford, but I've heard that a hammer-driven model sometimes works better in old houses.

Thanks for your comments,

Rod