I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends
I was blessed to have four guys from my Thursday night Bible Study volunteer to come over and lend their helping hands. One was called to work, so in the end we had three guys plus myself working for a few hours on a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning. I had arranged so we would install the finished floor.
Materials for the floor came from the CRATE WOOD gathered months earlier, and that wood had only partially been processed – squaring the ends and removing staples from the boards. The crate wood came in two varieties – 1×4”s and 1×6”s, and after cutting and removing staples, the lengths were variable. In order to use all the wood, a pattern was set to use 1×6”s every fifth row.
The wood is all pine – incredibly soft pine. Pine will be very susceptible to damage from moisture which I anticipate coming from a variety of sources – wet shoes, leaking fluids, spills, and general atmospheric humidity. Beyond susceptibility to moisture damage, the pine is so soft that anything dropped onto the floor will leave a three-dimensional mark. However, both of these factors are okay – the pine cost nothing and was going to be burned, it is incredibly easy to work with, and already had plenty of marks and scuffs and dings on it. I will increase the durability of the floor with a polyurethane or some form of sealant.
From an aesthetic viewpoint, once installed, the floor felt reminiscent of an old barn floor. The variegated colors add visual interest and help distract from the fact that these aren’t the most uniform boards to begin with because of their pre-worn condition. I appreciate that the floor, through its appearance, expresses that though the boards are in a new use, this isn’t their first use.
SHED 