How to make a dowel board with your own hands
The floor is unusable and urgent repairs are needed. What material to choose for the finish so that it is pleasant to walk barefoot and the coating looks neat, fresh and comfortable? An excellent solution would be to use natural natural material - wood. Modern technologies make it possible to make a durable and attractive grooved floor board with your own hands from ordinary wood.
Content
What is a dowel board
The classic edged board has been used to finish the floor for many centuries. The result is a warm and even floor, but this coating has drawbacks that reduce comfort:
- annoying creak of floorboards, which can be very difficult to get rid of;
- cracks between the boards through which moisture and cold air pass;
- splinters and bumps dangerous to the skin;
- protruding hats of nails.
Grooved board is an edged floor board, with side surfaces machined under a groove for better installation.
Today, the floor of the wooden massif is devoid of unpleasant drawbacks, although traditional varieties of hardwood, oak and coniferous species are used to create it:
- larch perfectly withstands mechanical stress, it is resistant to abrasion and does not decay at high humidity. Such a floor can be used outdoors for the construction of terraces and verandas, it is not required to be varnished, if desired, colorless or tinting oil can be used for grooming;
- the oak has dense and hard wood, the oak floor will last a long time and will not be scratched from chairs or heels;
- pine and spruce are soft, they are pleasant to the touch, but require varnish.
A board is also produced from birch, alder, ash, mahogany, teak, and other valuable and exotic species of wood.
What is needed and where is it used
This natural material is used in construction for laying finish flooring and rough floors in private houses and apartments, on balconies and loggias, verandas and terraces, saunas and public premises.
For industrial and commercial premises with a large number of people and equipment, the need for frequent wet cleaning and constant mechanical stress, the use of wooden floor boards is not recommended.
Alder and aspen according to the current GOST 8242 can be used for flooring only in living rooms. Of cheap grade C boards, rough floors are usually made.
You will learn more about what a massive board is, what types and grades there are, advantages and disadvantages of a material, and also, unlike other types of coating, you will find in the article:https://floor.expertexpro.com/en/pol-pokritiya/massivnaya-doska-dlya-pola.html.
How is it arranged
The tongue and groove board has its own design features, thanks to which it acquires improved technical characteristics to create a high-quality finished floor:
- special locks are made on the side ends, consisting of a protrusion, the so-called tongue, on one side and a groove ideally suited for the tongue on the other side of the board. Thanks to this design, the boards are interconnected, snug against each other without gaps, a single canvas is formed. Materials with tongues are produced only at the long ends of the boards, and there are models with locks around the perimeter;
- the upper front surface of the board is processed on high-precision grinding machines and is characterized by increased smoothness, it is completely ready for use and does not need finishing;
- special grooves are sawn on the bottom of the strips to ventilate the boards and maintain the moisture level when laying floors on a solid foundation without creating a frame, for example, on a concrete screed or self-leveling floor. One or two wide grooves with a depth of up to 3 mm or several narrow grooves are made.
The thickness of the tongue and groove board affects the reliability of the floor
The dimensions of such boards are reduced to several standard dimensions for ease of calculating material consumption and ease of installation. The length of the board is usually chosen equal to the length of the room. It is possible to manufacture longer or thicker trims for individual orders.
Standard sizes:
- length varies from 100 to 400 cm;
- width reaches from 8.5 to 10 cm;
- thickness is from 2.5 to 3.5 cm.
Advantages and disadvantages of the material
The grooved floorboard, improved with the help of modern technologies, has many advantages over the usual edged board:
- the castle connection gives a uniform load distribution, tight fit and the absence of gaps between the boards, higher thermal insulation and sound absorption. The floor looks like a single seamless canvas, it does not need to cycle;
- sheet pile life is several decades. Repair will have time to get bored, but it will look just as great. In this case, you can polish the surface and give it a different tone with a stain or colored varnish;
- Standard sizes make it easy to replace a single plank or combine different types of wood into an original ensemble;
- the smooth front side of the material looks luxurious immediately after purchase, it does not require additional grinding, it can be varnished or protective compounds without the risk of raising the pile, it is pleasant and safe to walk on it barefoot;
- The absolute environmental safety of this natural material and the glueless compound allow it to be used in children's rooms and bedrooms. The antistatic effect does not attract dust to the floor surface and facilitates maintenance;
- Due to the presence of dowels and grooves on the back of the product, the floor is more resistant to moisture, does not warp, does not crack, does not creak. Lower ventilation prevents the development of fungus and mold;
- ease of installation allows lay the final floor even a novice specialist, which significantly reduces the cost of repairs;
- a variety of wood species, processing methods and various decorative effects gives ample opportunity to decorate the interior and give the house a unique style.
An even and beautiful wooden floor must be supplemented with a plinth to get a finished look of the room. About how to attach the baseboard to the floor, you can read in the material:https://floor.expertexpro.com/en/pol-pokritiya/plintus/kak-prikrepit-plintus-k-polu.html.
The tongue and groove board has drawbacks, like any natural material:
- low resistance to water, with constant wetting, the material can swell and rot. To solve this problem, the wood is impregnated with antiseptics, and also coated with protective oils, waxes, varnishes;
- the high cost of the material is due to its naturalness, the quality of the feedstock and the complexity of the processing technology;
- fire hazard is reduced by impregnation with flame retardants, which prevent the ignition of wood.
How to make a dowel board with your own hands
Another important advantage of the tongue and groove is the ability to do it yourself with certain skills in woodworking. This painstaking work requires free time and knowledge of the intricacies of technology, as well as the rules for choosing high-quality raw materials. In appearance and condition of the material, the board is divided into the following grades:
- extra is the most expensive variety, on its surface there are no knots and defects, it has an absolutely smooth, uniform structure;
- A is a high-class variety, but small spots and darkening are allowed on its surface without the presence of knots or other defects in the wood structure;
- B is the most popular mid-priced variety. Knots and other inclusions and spots on its surface do not spoil the general appearance, but create an additional decorative effect of naturalness;
- C is a cheap variety with admissible various heterogeneities of the structure and through knots.
Having decided on the grade, you should pay attention to other criteria for choosing the source lumber:
- humidity should be 10-15%, and ideally up to 8%, such indicators are achieved using industrial drying in special chambers, after which the board acquires its stable size and will not dry out anymore. You can determine the quality of drying by a shiny surface and a loud sound when tapped, and a high level of humidity is determined by the presence of condensation on the inside of the plastic bag;
- the integrity of the packaging will allow to maintain a low level of humidity and the quality of raw materials, when buying, you should also check the availability of certificates, checks and other accompanying documentation, it is recommended to choose products of well-known large brands that have earned the trust of consumers, a cheap board of an unknown manufacturer may be of poor quality;
- violations of the geometry and smoothness of grinding, especially with high-end products, are unacceptable, they will complicate laying and can ruin the appearance of the finished coating. These parameters are checked visually and manually;
- when combining several different types of wood, boards of the same standard size should be selected to reduce the number of trimmings. Wood species depends on the purpose of the room and the planned loads, operating conditions.
Necessary materials and tools
Boards purchased, now you can start work.
In large plants, sheet piling is performed on high-precision machine tools with programmed control.
For home sheet piling, you will need the following tools and materials:
- tape measure, level, ruler, square, pencil for marking;
- impregnation from fire and biological damage;
- jigsaw or hacksaw for size adjustment;
- jointer with quarter selection function, milling machine;
- clamps for fixing the workpiece.
In cases where massive floorboards cannot be used, it may be a good option to cover the floor with an engineering board. What is an engineering board and how to mount it, we will tell on our website:https://floor.expertexpro.com/en/pol-pokritiya/trehsloynaya-inzhenernaya-doska.html.
Step-by-step manufacturing process
Of course, it will not work to achieve the production class of extra grade boards in the home workshop, but to make a castle connection and to get a beautiful even floor without creaking and crevices in the future is quite possible.
Stages of work to be performed:
- Before work, you should hold the purchased raw materials in the room for several hours to adapt to the temperature and humidity. Dry clean board, ready for processing, must be fixed on the desktop with clamps so that it does not stagger and does not move during operation.
- Measure along the long side the middle of the end side surface and mark for the lock connection.
Wet wood has a darker color and matte surface - With a manual jointer or on a milling machine, you need to very accurately and accurately cut the quarter groove in one long end of the board.
This work does not tolerate errors, in case of displacement or curvature of the cut line, the board will have to be thrown away - On the other end, you need to select quarters along the edges of the drawn axis, so that the tongue is obtained.Thus, it is necessary to cut out the protrusions and grooves on all boards
- On the back of the board, cut gutters or grooves for ventilation, one groove is enough. On the front side, if necessary, grind
- Treat finished strips with antiseptic and fire retardant, which will extend the life of the floor and remove the need for repairs.
Video: how to make a dowel board with your own hands
The tongue and groove board will last for decades, if the material is selected correctly and the tongue and groove is done slowly and accurately. After laying, it is desirable to cover the floors with several layers of protective varnish, then they can be washed, moved heavy furniture and walk on them with heels without risk of scratching or pushing. Hard rocks that are resistant to mechanical stress can be coated with special oil, which emphasizes the beauty and reveals the texture of wood.
