Alder for floorboards

[Arctostaphylos uva-ursi]

Hmmm. Well I think they would look great (nice and orange) but I still have my doubts about durability. I don't know about the seasoning and milling side of things but I would have thought that you wont get much heartwood out of each stem by the time you have quarter sawn them an plain sawn boards would just cup and warp.

[Big Beech]

Alder is knly orange when fresh cut, it was used as mentionex for piles underwater and revetment work for stabilising river banks etc. But it had to be submerged and used soon after felling.

Clogs are not orange as the timber finally drys natural colour, so expect the boards to be the same

[Timber Man]

Back in the day when we had large scale turners Alder was in demand from them.

Clog soles were made from Alder, but in more recent years there has been a swing to Beech .

[wills-mill]

I would worry about leaving it in the round, it can go fluffy and spalt very quickly.

 

It's very stable and dries beautifully, I don't think you'll have much drama if you plank it fresh. Very under rated as a general purpose timber.

[charlieb]

I cut alder splashbacks for my kitchen and some (indoor) window sills 7-8 years ago. It's been absolutely fine, and planed off really well. Much nicer than spruce I reckon. (But not orange as BigBeech says.)

I've heard it called 'Scotch Mahogany'. Doesn't seem particularly soft to me...

[Ilnumero]

I assume you want to just have floorboards on show, with no carpet?

 

I would try to go for wider boards than 85mm, 6" preferrably. You have a mill, so why not mill them instead of trying to saw them with a bench saw, surely that would produce a wider kerf and more waste.

 

Also, the wider boards can be nailed/screwed with three fixings per joist if you were concerned with cupping.

 

There are some very under-used timbers that get sawed up for firewood that could be used in better situations. I have just milled some leylandii that I was given as firewood and it has yielded some fantastic boards, 16" wide, and they're going to be used an a project that would have otherwise used much more expensive timber.

 

If you have the wood, use it and enjoy it.

[Peasgood]

For a preservative have a look at boron.

[Stubby]

Unless your house floods on a regular basis I would probably use another timber!

Although the tree has a wide distribution throughout Europe, and is commonly found near wet areas such as ponds and marshes, Alder has not been used very commonly for lumber or woodworking purposes.

One historical use where the timber has been employed comes from an unlikely source: for despite its poor durability above ground, (where it quickly rots and decays), Alder is quite durable underwater, and has been used for piles and supports: most notably throughout the city of Venice, Italy.

 

 

Alder was/is used for Fender Strat and Tele guitar bodies and has been since they ran out of swamp ash back in the sixties .

[Paul in the woods]

I've used fresh alder so know it goes bright orange on the surface and a sand will bring it back to a light wood. I hadn't considered spalting but I've just cut up a small log that's been outside for a couple of years. It has spalted and although a lovely mix of plain wood, orange and grey the wood is fairly soft so I'll bear that in mind.

 

The floorboards would be on show but runners/rugs used to reduce wear (we have an excitable dog...). Boron is on the list of preservatives to consider.

 

One question though, why does everyone suggest wide boards? I understand that 6" wide boards would be less work and can take more nails but surely a 3" board would warp/cup less? The trees aren't large, 12" DBH, so I'm not going to be able to cut large boards or quarter saw them.

 

I also don't have any for of mill yet, just the need for boards and a couple of acres of alder that needs thinning/coppicing. It'll go for firewood anyway, so if I make a mess of the boards I'll not lose much. Tempted to try to carve a pair of clogs though.

Edited August 6, 2016 by Paul in the woods

[Mr. Ed]

On 04/08/2016 at 07:27, Paul in the woods said:

I have plenty of small diameter alder trees to log and I need some floorboards so...

 

Has anyone used alder for floorboards? I am aware that although a hardwood alder is soft but the boards would be for a bedroom so should be ok.

 

I'm considering narrow boards, 100mm or less, as I think these will easier to mill, season and lay and be more tolerant to warping etc.

 

Now, how best to cut the boards to reduce warping? I've found alder seasons quickly so would it be possible to leave the timber in the round for a year before milling? I had also considered cutting into thick planks/beams to season and then cutting planks of them later. I.e. cutting a 90mm beam and then slicing my 90mm wide planks off it.

Hi Paul

 

Did you do this in the end, and did it work out - I have a similar plan for bedroom flooring in our rebuild. I'm unclear also about how persistent the orange colour will be - I have cut one stem which has been down for only a couple of months but the ones I'm proposing have probably been down for some time (a year or two?) - I've only seem them from fresh cut ends, which don't seem overly punky but do promise some wild colouring. If they're not rotten but turn out to be too wild we can always just paint them.

 

And it's known as Irish mahogany here, not Scotch! 

 

E