Demonstration:

Lloyd Guillory will demonstrate how to make an oval bowl with a router, and Dick Gahn will demonstrate how to make a "weed pot," and also how to make chatter patterns on the lathe.

Directions: From I-12 go north on US190 (N Causeway Blvd) 5.2 mi; bear right on US190 Bus; bear right to junction with LA21; go 2.1 mi NE on LA21 to Lousiana St, turn right; go 0.2 mi to Plantation St., turn right; go 0.1 mi to Shady Lane, turn left; go 0.2 mi to 21098 Shady Lane.

• Joe Perret presided over the meeting held at Eric Carter's home Jamuary 22, 2008. Attendance was excellent: twenty-three members. Because of a last minute problem, the Secretary was absent, so there are no photographs from the meeting. However, Eric Carter was kind enough to provide a writeup of his demonstration, and the Secretary visited his home a few days later to add some photos to the description below. Any mistakes in editing the writeup are solely the fault of the Secretary.

• Lloyd Guillot showed an oval bowl made using a router. He will be demonstrating his technique at the February meeting.

• Michael Gaule showed several items from his woodturning shop, the Celtic Woodshop.

• Paul Robin showed his latest turned bowl.

Over the past two years, Eric Carter has periodically shown us photos of the progress he has made on his new house. One of the main features is his wooden floors, and Guild members who attended the meeting were treated to a fine demonstration of the techniques he used in installling those floors, followed by a tour of the ground floor of his lovely home, situated on ten acres north of Covington.

For this special meeting, Carter created a 4' x 4' mockup of a flooring area (shown above left -- it includes a plywood "subfloor," covered with roofing felt (photo above center), and a piece of "wall" to show how to finish the edges) to demonstrate the techniques he had used to install oak floors throughout his house, including areas with a patterned border (as shown in the dining room, above right). In the excellent discussion that accompanied the demonstration, he covered these points:

Material: He used #1 common solid red oak strip flooring that measured 3-1/4" wide by 3/4" thick for the demonstration. This grade of wood contains prominent variations in coloration and varying grain patterns. The completed floor in his den, entry hall, and dining room has the same dimension strips, but they are a more uniform Select grade. The feature strip used in the dinning room was 1-1/2" inch wide by 3/4" thick wenge, an exotic dark brown, almost black wood from West Africa (purchased through featurestrip.com).

Tools: Special tools useful for this project included a power nailer, circular saw, biscuit cutter, a router fitted with a 3/4" inch hardwood flooring router bit (available at toolbarn.com) and a flooring nailer. Carter used a manual floor nailer by Port-a-Nailer (purchased through amazon.com, but also available locally at Lowe's).

Moisture Concerns: Because wood expands and contracts with moisture it is important to make sure you are not in for a disaster because there is too much moisture in your lumber or wicking through your sub-floor (concrete slab). Moisture levels in your strip floor or sub-floor should be less thaup n 14%. Test the concrete slab first before you waste your money buying tools and materials. One method is to lay a 2'x 2' square of polyethylene over the concrete, then seal all four sides with tape. Do this in several places on the floor. If condensation accumulates under the plastic after 24 to 48 hours you may want to reconsider doing this project in wood.

Acclimating the Material: Before installing wood flooring, stack it indoors for a few days to a few weeks to allow the wood to adjust to your home's humidity level. The time needed will depend on the site conditions. Temperature and humidity should be maintained at or near occupancy levels. Your goal is to get the moisture level of the wood down to 12 -14 percent. An inexpensive moisture meter will eliminate guess work.

Sub-Flooring: Traditional 3/4" inch strip wood flooring is fastened down to sub-flooring and then sanded and finished. The sub-floor should be flat. You can use a straight edge to test for this. To correct areas that are not flat, grind down high spots and fill low spots by using sand or a cement-type filler. If you are going over a wood sub-floor, you will need to do the same plus fasten down any loose wood. If you are planning to install your flooring over concrete you will need to use at least 6 mil plastic sheeting for moisture protection and a nailing base of at least 3/4" inch plywood. Again, the plywood will have to acclimate until the moisture is down to a working level of 12-14 percent. Carter normally fastens a plywood nailing base to the concrete using a power nailer. Cover the sub-floor with a layer of 15-pound asphalt felt to provide some additional moisture protection and minimize squeaks caused by wood to wood movement. Overlap seams by about 3 inches. If necessary, you can tack down the felt with a staple gun.

Layout and Starting the Floor: Normally you want to start parallel to the longest wall. However, if the room is very wide or seriously out of square you may want to start at the room’s center. Measure the room's width at two or more points to establish an accurate starting. For long runs, snap a chalk line parallel to your starting wall. Screw down a stop strip with one edge running along the line. Break down several bundles of flooring and take an inventory. Cull out any bad boards and shorts. One of the members pointed out that breaking down several bundles also will ensure a good mix of color and shade.

When installing strip flooring over concrete the direction you lay the flooring does not matter, but for appearance you would normally run it in line with traffic patterns. However, if you plan to install the flooring over a raised floor the strip flooring should run perpendicular to the floor joists.

During installation, it is helpful to lay out several rows of flooring end to end, staggering them so no end joint is closer than 6 inches to 8 inches to an end joint in the next row. Watch your pattern for even distribution of long and short pieces. Very important: Remember to leave at least 3/4 inch gap for expansion at all vertical surfaces. This space will be covered by baseboard and shoe mold.

Demonstration: Carter started the feature/border strip 12 3/4 inches from the wall. Twelve inches is the length of the shorts that will be installed last as part of the border and 3/4 inch is allowed for expansion. He placed a stop strip just short of that mark and started with the longest feature/border strip.

He then installed successive rows of red oak. Remember to give it a sharp rap with the rubber side of the mallet to tighten the new row against the previous row before nailing. Slip the next row of board onto the previous board's tongue, set the nailer in place (photo above left), strike the nailer with the mallet and drive the floor nail through the tongue into the floor base. Each course will be nailed with your back to the starter wall. Most right-handers will find it works well to work from left to right. Nail spacing should be 8 to 10 inches. Use a minimum of 2 nails per board. Generally more nails the better. Keep the nails 3 to 4 inches away from the end of the board to reduce the tendency of splitting. Remember that end joints in two adjacent rows should not be closer than 6 inches; end joints should also not line up over a joint in the sub-floor.

Next he needed to trim the field of ends to accommodate the border strip that extends at a right angle from the starter strip. He had made a sled for his circular saw. Then, using a fine cut saw blade, the blade base was dropped to match the thickness of flooring and the field was trimmed (photo above center).

He then used a router to cut a groove (above right) in the freshly cut ends to accept a spline (below left) that will act as a "tongue" for the border strip. A biscuit joiner was used to join the mitered corner of the border. Then the shorts are fastened on the outside of the border (below right).

A few reminders and other pointers:

Don't rush through layout. Taking extra time will prevent costly mistakes, waste and embarrassment. Always keep appearance in mind while laying out the wood strips.

Use a straight scrap of flooring screwed to the sub-floor as temporary stop to establish the border's line. It will provided a clean starting point for the flooring and a fast, straight line for one side of the floor's border.

Begin installation by using the longest, straightest boards. For the best appearance, always use long flooring strips at entrances and doorways. Strategically mix shorts to your advantage. Incorporate the short pieces randomly in the floor. Avoid grouping them in one area. Reserve shorts for pattern borders, herring-bone fields (above left) and in areas such as under rugs, furniture, cabinets, halls and closets, where they are less visible.

The first and last few rows may need to be face-nailed by hand or using a finish nailer due to the close proximity of the wall. Don't try to drive the nails flush. Instead, leave the nail head projecting up about 1/8 inch, then use a nail set so to not to mar the wood surface. If the wall gets in the way, try using a block and a pry bar to wedge the boards tightly into position.

Stagger end joints on adjacent rows by a minimum of 6" to ensure the best possible look. Also, avoid "H-joints". This is when end joints, which are two rows apart, line up.

Put a "frame" or border around obstructions such as fireplaces (above right) to give a much more professional and finished look to a strip flooring installation. Use mitered joints at the corners.

The Wood Flooring Manufacturers Association (WFMA) provides excellent step by step instructions on their website.

Carter set a very high standard both for his demonstration and his beautiful floors. Thanks for sharing your work with us, Eric!

Fourteen members and spouses responded to the invitation from the Maritime Museum to attend a party for Boat Show Volunteers Friday, February 15. Over 300 volunteers enjoyed the food and live music at this annual event, sponsored by the Museum.

When Woody Glover learned that This Old House was rebuilding a Katrina-damaged home in the Lower Ninth Ward (photos before and after below), he emailed the show to see if someone could come and speak at one of our meetings.

Unfortunately his great idea was a bit late -- the show was about to film its last episode on Ash Wednesday, so it was unable to accomodate his request. However, he did receive an invitation for five members to attend the filming and meet the cast and crew (photo below left).

Joe Perret and Dick Gahn drew names from a hat and the five lucky members were treated to several hours of watching, learning, and talking with Norm Abram, Tom Silva, Roger Cook, Kevin O'Connor and others. All came away with photos with Norm, and even some autographs! For more details on the project, visit the TOH website. Thanks for setting this up, Woody!