Free Pallet Wood?

[No skills]

Don't forget your gonna get some movement in pallet timber when you bring it inside and it starts to dry out, loads of gaps are not great for a finished floor.

There's been a few houses on telly of late with ply floors. If I really had to go that route for a floor I think I would do the opposite of what others would do (ie not birch ply) - I'd use a cheaper structural spruce plywood that has a thicker outer layer. At least that way it won't wear through as quick and you could sand it a few times to extend its lifespan.

 

[wallace]

I made pallets for 18 years and anything used in uk cannot be treated. All the blue ones get is a spray of blue emulsion to hide any new timber after being repaired. They are pretty mingin, I hate it when you see them with food on knowing how they have been stored. I once boarded my loft out with new pallet boards and it soon had inch gaps.

 

[TFrench]

Look for reclaim parquet on eBay? There's some real bargains out there if you're prepared to travel a bit, and it looks fantastic if it's laid well.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[thetyreman]

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[ED65]

Ply wood only be for a sub floor surly? Never seen it as a finished floor before...?

Loads of DIY projects posted online in recent years with homeowners looking to do up a room, or the whole house, and save money have used plywood as the actual flooring not just the sub-floor.

It can be laid down in full sheets of course, which doesn't look nearly as pants as you'd imagine:

More recently I've seen it used to mimic boards by being cut into strips and laid conventionally:

Presumably you'd have to use fairly decent plywood for this to be a realistic long-term floor material in a high-traffic area, but it appears to hold up well with a good varnishing to protect it. Surely good enough for bedrooms at least?

 

[Petey83]

Found a pretty good deal on 70sqm of pitched pine parquet on the auction site. Fresh from a school hall so will need some TLC and probably take 10 times longer than something new or than using ply cut into boards but I'm in no rush.

Thanks for all the input.

 

[custard]

you can even find reclaimed cuban mahogany on ebay

In case you're ever tempted...it almost never is. Often times it's not even Mahogany, the amount of Afromosia and Sapele masquerading as Cuban Mahogany would make your hair curl!

I originally learnt furniture making in the days when it was pretty much a sub branch of the antiques trade, many of those guys are alive and well on Ebay. They're breaking up their unsold stock (the antique furniture market has seen prices fall steadily for fifteen years now) and punting it out as Rio Rosewood, Cuban Mahogany, Spanish Satinwood or anything else they can dream up. In reality they're usually African wannabe timbers and the furniture it came from was inter-war era tat.

 

[dickm]

Found a pretty good deal on 70sqm of pitched pine parquet on the auction site. Fresh from a school hall so will need some TLC and probably take 10 times longer than something new or than using ply cut into boards but I'm in no rush.

That will look super when it's done - I love pitch pine. But have to agree that it will take a long time to prep it.