wide plank floor

[DidjaDewit]

About to build new in middle Tennessee. Top of hill, good drainage, no excessive moisture, crawl-space w/ Advantek sub-floor. Want to use wide plank wood (6-12"), prepared tongue and groove by a local sawmill, finished on site.

Want low-sheen rustic look. I'll be happy when it wears and ages (within reason). We have a 70-lb black Lab and we're not good about keeping her toenails trimmed!

I've been cautioned against using wood at all due to the dog and warned that the wide boards will "cup". Does anyone have experience living with this type of floor? What's my best bet for wood type and finish? If I have the wood quarter-sawn will that reduce cupping? Our budget is moderate. Thank you.

[Rich]

IMO - anything wider than 7" will give you problems eventually. But to lengthen when that time comes you can countersink screws and plug them. If you want it really fancy you can even square plug it - although it's much more time consuming.
Quarter-sawn will cup much less than flat-sawn but is quite a bit more expensive too - as it's not as efficient to cut it that way. Any of the denser wood will work for flooring - cherry, maple, oak, hickory, lyptus is actually becoming popular too. But it's going to be very very difficult to find any of those hardwoods in anything more than 7-8". If I really wanted the wide plank look I would look for reclaimed timers and have them sawn or go with straight grain fir - but the fir won't stand up to your dog as well.

[Tom R]

- but the fir won't stand up to your dog as well.

My dog's 'fir' only stands up if he's mad. :lol: