A natural hickory hardwood was selected for the flooring in the main areas of the log cabin (excluding the bathroom and laundry room, which have tile floors). The "natural" designation indicates that no stain has been added to the wood.
The grain of the hickory creates a nice complement to that of the pine-log walls. The hickory is much harder than pine, however, so the wood surface won't dent or scratch as easily. The wood floor selected is composed of 4" wide tongue-and-groove plank flooring.
For this cabin, we opted to use prefinished flooring (planks to which a protective finish has been preapplied). Unfinished flooring is less expensive but would require the additional steps of applying sanding sealer and polyurethane finish to the floor once installed. The prefinished flooring, though somewhat more costly, makes the job go easier and more quickly -- and is "ready for walking" as soon as it's installed.
- The flooring crew begins in the living room. They get the job started by rolling out asphalt roofing paper (figure A) that will serve as a moisture barrier between the crawlspace beneath the floor and the underside of the hickory flooring.
- Once the paper is down, they snap a chalk line on the roofing paper to ensure that they are starting with a straight row of boards. They then lay down the first row of boards, adjacent to the wall (figure B). Because wood can shift and move, the installers are careful to leave an expansion space between the first row and the log wall. They use a power nail gun to secure the first row of boards to the subfloor.
- As the crew installs the tongue-and-groove boards, they use a rubber mallets to drive each snugly against the previous row (figure C).
- The boards, which are hand-selected and arranged to give a visual variety to the layout, alternate between dark and light. The boards also vary in length, and they are installed so that no two joints are closer to each other than 4".
- Once the initial boards are secured, the installers switch to a specialized and powerful floor nailer that drives 2" long staples through each of the wood tongues, where they will remain out of sight. The floor nailer is activated with a blow of the rubber mallet to a top-mounted trigger mechanism (figure D). Using the floor nailer, a crew member places a staple about every 8" along the length of each new board.
- At the end of each row, the installers measure and mark the last board needed to fill the remaining space. Each end board is cut to length precisely using a compound miter saw.
- The irregularity of the room -- such as the presence of the kitchen peninsula -- provides a few challenges for custom-fitting the flooring. The edges of the kitchen peninsula are treated as a wall. Individual end boards are cut to fit, then installed snugly against the peninsula kick-plate (figure E) to disguise the 1x4 wood risers the cabinet crew had installed earlier underneath the base cabinets.
- Flooring is installed in the spaces that will later house the refrigerator and the stove, since some of the floor around them will be visible.
- A board is custom-cut to fit snugly around the board that was installed earlier beneath the propane heater (figure F). The notched board is tapped into place with a rubber mallet.
- The crew continues to work their way across the floor of the cabin, continuing to vary the color of the boards and to stagger the joints in a random pattern (figure G).
- In the bedroom, the crew cuts the roofing paper to fit around the closet wall. They then lay out their first few rows and begin nailing the boards in place just as they did in the living room.
- The flooring is extended to the back of the bedroom closet (figure H). Short pieces of leftover flooring are used to fill in the small area of the corner recess.
- Once the last row is laid down in each room (figure I), lengths of prefinished baseboard are installed along the bottoms of the walls to conceal the expansion gap left between the walls and the flooring (figure J).
Tip: Even a tough, durable wood such as the hickory used for this floor is susceptible to scratches. One of the biggest causes of scratches is sand and grit tracked into the house on the bottoms of shoes. To protect your hardwood floor, place a throw rug inside outside each door to help reduce the amount of abrasive particles tracked in on shoes.
RESOURCES :
Log Home Repair and Restoration Services
Log Home Repair and Restoration Services
Website: www.loghomerepair.com
The Complete Guide to Building Log Homes
ISBN: 0806974869
Author: Monte Burch, Richard J. Meyer, Lloyd P. Birmingham
Sterling Publishing Co. Inc.
Website: www.sterlingpub.com
Small Log Homes: Storybook Plans and Advice
ISBN: 1586850431
Author: Robbin Obomsawin
Gibbs Smith Publishing
Website: www.gibbs-smith.com
Inside Log Homes: The Art & Spirit of Home Planning and Decor
Model: 087905963X
Author: Cindy Teipner Thiede, et al
Gibbs Smith Publishing
Website: www.gibbs-smith.com
Special thanks for DIY's Log Cabin Interiors workshop
Formica Corp.
10155 Reading Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45241
Toll-free: 800-FORMICA (800-367-6422)
Fax: 513-786-3024
Website: www.formica.com
| 
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
