Ash for floorboards

[doobin]

A customer wants me to mill this for floorboards for a loft in a timber garage. Is not planning on doing tongue and groove. 
 

What dimensions should I cut them to and how long will they need to air dry? 

[topchippyles]

Mill them around 32mm they will need stacking with sticks between the boards to air dry. Will they be inside away from the elements during seasoning ? Once stacked i would band them together like pallet banding to stop any movement. 

[lux]

Mill them and pop them down the road to @bigbeech he will likely kiln them for you for a good price. Be ready in 3/4 weeks probably. He is pretty close to your yard.

[muttley9050]

A customer wants me to mill this for floorboards for a loft in a timber garage. Is not planning on doing tongue and groove. 
 
What dimensions should I cut them to and how long will they need to air dry? 

It all depends how thick you want the floor boards when finished. This may be decided by the spacing of the joists. As a rule 400mm centers on the joists need 18mm and 600mm centers need 22mm. As it is going to be home milled timber I would be inclined to add a couple of mm on. So say 20 or 24mm depending on centers.
Allow to lose 10% of the size in drying. Ash is pretty stable and dries well so shouldn't need too much machining off to flatten.
So I would allow 3mm per side I wanted to finish. So 32mm minimum for par 20mm floor boards or 36mm minimum for par 24mm boards.
If the logs were oak I would allow extra.

[trigger_andy]

If he’s not planning on using the loft for anything other than storage perhaps they could just be banged in green? I’d also mill at an inch and a half

 

[muttley9050]

If he’s not planning on using the loft for anything other than storage perhaps they could just be banged in green? I’d also mill at an inch and a half
 

This is possible but thoughts to how they will be fixed will be needed and acceptance of large gaps when dried.
If two fixings where put into the same joist on each board, one at either side, then the boards may crack badly whilst drying as they are not able to shrink. When fixing green timber either one fixing per joist or one fixing and one slotted fixing would be better. Although only one fixing may give you a wonky floor.
If it's an unheated garage I would recommend a minimum of 6 months air dry but preferably a full year at least. If it is a heated garage I would air dry for 18 months, or get them kilned. However I would still air dry for 6 months before kiln drying.

[trigger_andy]

This is possible but thoughts to how they will be fixed will be needed and acceptance of large gaps when dried.If two fixings where put into the same joist on each board, one at either side, then the boards may crack badly whilst drying as they are not able to shrink. When fixing green timber either one fixing per joist or one fixing and one slotted fixing would be better. Although only one fixing may give you a wonky floor.

If it's an unheated garage I would recommend a minimum of 6 months air dry but preferably a full year at least. If it is a heated garage I would air dry for 18 months, or get them kilned. However I would still air dry for 6 months before kiln drying.

 

As I understand it the boards will not shrink by any significant amount longitudinally. Yes, there will be gaps created when the boards dry and shrink across the width of the boards. With Ash being naturally dryer than say Oak would there be as much as 10% shrinkage? Pre-drilling the boards before screwing them down might alleviate and cracking.

 

This is what I’ve done with the Spruce floor in my workshop and a large decking area I’ve laid in Larch. Neither have cracked, the gaps don’t bother me as getting the shop built was more important to me than gaps in the flooring.

 

We also clad my brothers workshop/office and the front of my workshop in green larch board and baton with the boards nailed down with no pre-drilling and no issues either.

 

All I was really saying is if it’s a loft floor, in a garage and the owner would rather crack on now and not a years time I don’t see a significant risk in just banging them down.

 

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, muttley9050 said:

If two fixings where put into the same joist on each board, one at either side, then the boards may crack badly whilst drying as they are not able to shrink. When fixing green timber either one fixing per joist or one fixing and one slotted fixing would be better.

I remember folding wedges being advocated to temporarily fix green floorboards while they dried , then sanding and nailing.

[muttley9050]

 As I understand it the boards will not shrink by any significant amount longitudinally. Yes, there will be gaps created when the boards dry and shrink across the width of the boards. With Ash being naturally dryer than say Oak would there be as much as 10% shrinkage? Pre-drilling the boards before screwing them down might alleviate and cracking.
 
This is what I’ve done with the Spruce floor in my workshop and a large decking area I’ve laid in Larch. Neither have cracked, the gaps don’t bother me as getting the shop built was more important to me than gaps in the flooring.
 
We also clad my brothers workshop/office and the front of my workshop in green larch board and baton with the boards nailed down with no pre-drilling and no issues either.
 
All I was really saying is if it’s a loft floor, in a garage and the owner would rather crack on now and not a years time I don’t see a significant risk in just banging them down.
 

It's not logitudal shrinkage that is the issue it's across the width. Two fixings across the joist will stop the board being able to shrink and it will more than likely crack. Softwood is much more forgiving than hardwood, but whatever green cladding is being fixed only one fixing per batton/stud should be used to eliviate cracking across the width. If I wanted to crack on with green timber I wouldn't be milling ash for the job. Any softwood would be better.
10% shrinkage is a good rule of thumb when drying hardwood but of course not accurate. As I said I allow more when milling oak.
I would rather plane another mm off than have saw marks left in a par board.

[trigger_andy]

11 minutes ago, muttley9050 said:

It's not logitudal shrinkage that is the issue it's across the width. Two fixings across the joist will stop the board being able to shrink and it will more than likely crack. Softwood is much more forgiving than hardwood, but whatever green cladding is being fixed only one fixing per batton/stud should be used to eliviate cracking across the width. If I wanted to crack on with green timber I wouldn't be milling ash for the job. Any softwood would be better.
10% shrinkage is a good rule of thumb when drying hardwood but of course not accurate. As I said I allow more when milling oak.
I would rather plane another mm off than have saw marks left in a par board.

We’re talking loft flooring here. The owner may or may not be overly fussed.