How to repurpose this water-damaged oak wood flooring?

[FTG-05]

Friends of mine had a massive water leak that damaged and warped several hundred square feet of oak wood flooring in their home. If I want it, it's mine. The question is: What can I use it for? Each piece is approximately 3/4" thick, 4-8" wide and various lengths, usually 2-6' or so, see pics below.

Thus far I've come up with the following:

- Firewood - recreational
- Firewood - home wood stove
- Siding for deer blind
- Some other use?

The one downside are the nails, there's a bunch of them and no real way to get rid of them besides burning. If I repurpose it into siding or whatever, I'll probably just pound them flat.

Comments, suggestions, cheap shots and/or insults?

Thanks,

Note: it was raining the day I took the pics. Otherwise the wood was dry when it was taken out of the house; the plumbing leak was several months ago.

 

[coutufr]

Maybe cover the sides of a wood shed.

 

[BenTN]

I am always collecting repurposed building material. We are always building chicken pens, nest boxes etc. it would be the purtiest deer blind south of the mason dixon if you decide to use as siding.

 

[FTG-05]

Assuming I end up using it for siding, what about the bits and pieces left over? Burnable?

Thanks for the comments!

 

[coutufr]

Because it is varnished it should go to the garbage. A lot of people believe otherwise and It is ok. In the end we all do our best and hope for the best.

 

[FTG-05]

That's what I was worried about. I'm less inclined to use it in my wood stove, but I don't see any problem using it for recreational fires (i.e. outside bonfires).

 

[peakbagger]

Since you dont know what sort of finish is on the flooring, definitely do not burn it in a Cat stove. Generally wood with a surface coating is not legal to burn in a commercial unit and would get landfilled, but most homeowners would burn it. I wouldn't recommend it for open fires as it could be gassing the surroundings, but in closed wood stove or boiler if its burned hot I expect the majority of the nasties would be combusted. The problem is if the fire is damped down by cutting the air, then the combustion temps drop and the exhaust out the chimney could be toxic.

I would suggest it be disposed of responsibly by the person who owns it rather than it be used as firewood. If you dont mind predrilling. It would make a nice building material. I envision a corn crib sort of drying room basically 4 poles and some intermediate vertical studs with overhanging roof and then use the flooring on three walls with a generous gap between the boards. You could stack right up against the boards but still get full air flow. Of course cutting the nails would be real PITA.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

That's what I was worried about. I'm less inclined to use it in my wood stove, but I don't see any problem using it for recreational fires (i.e. outside bonfires).

Just stay upwind of the smoke if you burn it outside. I believe polyurethane (if that is what is) smoke is very bad for you.

 

[FTG-05]

Since you dont know what sort of finish is on the flooring, definitely do not burn it in a Cat stove. Generally wood with a surface coating is not legal to burn in a commercial unit and would get landfilled, but most homeowners would burn it. I wouldn't recommend it for open fires as it could be gassing the surroundings, but in closed wood stove or boiler if its burned hot I expect the majority of the nasties would be combusted. The problem is if the fire is damped down by cutting the air, then the combustion temps drop and the exhaust out the chimney could be toxic.

I would suggest it be disposed of responsibly by the person who owns it rather than it be used as firewood. If you dont mind predrilling. It would make a nice building material. I envision a corn crib sort of drying room basically 4 poles and some intermediate vertical studs with overhanging roof and then use the flooring on three walls with a generous gap between the boards. You could stack right up against the boards but still get full air flow. Of course cutting the nails would be real PITA.

I'm surprised by this response:

- Outside = not ok
- Inside = ok, if hot.

Interesting. I don't live in the frozen north American Siberia, so when I run my wood stove, it's *usually* only for one run per day. Hence I run it flat out. No need to futz with the air input leave it full out. In other words, I typically run very hot all the time. The only time I reduce air is for multiple wood runs per day, like today, ti's in the 20's outside, that stove is running hot and it's staying hot until I got to bed. None of this freezing my balls off here!


"....disposed of responsibly by the person who owns it...." That be me. That's my trailer that the wood is being piled onto. It's mine now regardless, that ship has sailed.

 

[FTG-05]

Just stay upwind of the smoke if you burn it outside. I believe polyurethane (if that is what is) smoke is very bad for you.

Ok, so just like any other wood we burn outside. We sit around the fire so that the wind doesn't put the smoke in our faces. Will that work?

 

[peakbagger]

Okay, you are looking for justification for a decision you already made. I gave you the preferred option which is to recycle it. Someone or something is down wind of your stack when you burn. Whoever or whatever is downstream of the burn does not have the choice of moving to avoid the emissions. So now the rationalization inevitably comes up that your burning skills and equipment are better than the standard guy so your contribution of nasties to the environment is minimal. Heck everyone does it is another convenient one.

The reality is its quite rare that a standard woodstove would operate at a high enough temperature to break down complex chemicals, in an open fire the likelyhood is much rarer. The numbers I seem to remember is a minimum of1600 degrees F for 3/4 of second, catalysts can drop that temperature. Even with that, if there are any chlorines in the coating, furans and dioxins are a potential byproduct.If they might be present, then add in activated carbon injection and a ESP on the tail end to get rid of the spent carbon.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Ok, so just like any other wood we burn outside. We sit around the fire so that the wind doesn't put the smoke in our faces. Will that work?

PB doesn't like it, and he's right not to.

I have a stack of thin oak flooring that I went through this exact exercise with, and I settled on burning it a little at a time, 95% in the stove, just a little in the fire pit. I also saved a bunch to repurpose when I can.

I think the finish was varnish, but I suppose it's possible that it's a thin layer of polyurethane. It was from the 60's or 70's.

In any event, don't breathe in the smoke. I believe it's diluted enough if you burn it a little at a time.

 

[mustash29]

?

 

[mustash29]

Okay, you are looking for justification for a decision you already made. I gave you the preferred option which is to recycle it. Someone or something is down wind of your stack when you burn. Whoever or whatever is downstream of the burn does not have the choice of moving to avoid the emissions. So now the rationalization inevitably comes up that your burning skills and equipment are better than the standard guy so your contribution of nasties to the environment is minimal. Heck everyone does it is another convenient one.

The reality is its quite rare that a standard woodstove would operate at a high enough temperature to break down complex chemicals, in an open fire the likelyhood is much rarer. The numbers I seem to remember is a minimum of1600 degrees F for 3/4 of second, catalysts can drop that temperature. Even with that, if there are any chlorine in the coating, furans and dioxins are a potential byproduct.If they might be present, then add in activated carbon injection and a ESP on the tail end to get rid of the spend carbon.

Exactly. Repurpose it for a building project or dispose of it properly.

I work at a commercial trash to energy power plant. We have restrictions on the types of "old wood" we can accept. The boiler fires run at 1800 - 2200 deg F at all times with a flue exit gas temp of > 840 deg F (which is a DEP permit limit) but we typically run around 1000 +. We also have urea injection for Nox control, activated carbon injection for heavy metal control, lime slurry injection for SO2 and other acid gasses control plus a > 99% efficiency HEPA filtration fabric filter on the exhaust for particulate control.

Open burning and home heating appliances do NOT have this sort of cleanliness, period.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Exactly. Repurpose it for a building project or dispose of it properly.

I work at a commercial trash to energy power plant. We have restrictions on the types of "old wood" we can accept. The boiler fires run at 1800 - 2200 deg F at all times with a flue exit gas temp of > 840 deg F (which is a DEP permit limit) but we typically run around 1000 +. We also have urea injection for Nox control, activated carbon injection for heavy metal control, lime slurry injection for SO2 and other acid gasses control plus a > 99% efficiency HEPA filtration fabric filter on the exhaust for particulate control.

Open burning and home heating appliances do NOT have this sort of cleanliness, period.

My point is, just a little at a time will dilute the bad stuff. A trash to steam plant concentrates everything and requires the controls. And, as you know, lots of bad stuff makes it into the incinerator despite the best efforts of the crews. Plus, how many just don't care.

I'm not disagreeing that the best course is to reuse as much as possible, and dispose of the rest properly.

An analogy: Working in an asbestos mine or a manufacturing facility that used asbestos killed lots of people. Many, many more remediated the asbestos in their homes with no ill effect with just a little care.

 

[FTG-05]

PB doesn't like it, and he's right not to.

I have a stack of thin oak flooring that I went through this exact exercise with, and I settled on burning it a little at a time, 95% in the stove, just a little in the fire pit. I also saved a bunch to repurpose when I can.

I think the finish was varnish, but I suppose it's possible that it's a thin layer of polyurethane. It was from the 60's or 70's.

In any event, don't breathe in the smoke. I believe it's diluted enough if you burn it a little at a time.

Actually, I sort of made that comment in jest, but now looking back probably didn't come across too well.

It's looking less and less that I'll use this for a deer blind siding:

- I don't think I'm going to get much quality material appropriate for siding, the guys taking it off don't care and apparently think it's just gonna be burned so why be careful
- Even if I did have enough good material for siding, I'd still have a bunch of cutoffs and leftovers, so I still have a disposable problem
- The weight of the oak siding could be a consideration. I plan to build my deer blind in my shop, then move it to it's final resting area with my tractor. If my tractor will barely lift it (like the last one) it defeats the purpose.

So I talked to my wood working neighbor Christmas Eve and he suggested planing a very small amount off the top, removing most if not all of the varnish, leaving relatively clean burnable wood. Adds another step, but if I borrowed his planer, I could set it up on my table saw, run it through the planer, then use my Dewalt miter saw to cut to length. Tedious work, but less strenuous than moving and splitting +2' rounds, so there's that trade off. The varnish dust would be dumped in my back 20 woods where the bugs and whatever could get to it.

I still haven't decided what to do with it yet. The good news is that the trailer is closer to the solid waste convenience center than my house, so if I decide to chuck it all, it's an easy drive.

Decisions decisions.

 

[mustash29]

"The varnish dust would be dumped in my back 20 woods where the bugs and whatever could get to it."



Sorry, but you seem to be dead set on polluting any way possible.

 

[FTG-05]

"The varnish dust would be dumped in my back 20 woods where the bugs and whatever could get to it."



Sorry, but you seem to be dead set on polluting any way possible.

Please explain the difference between that and dumping it in a landfill.

 

[BenTN]

Seems like too much work for firewood. Those boards wont feed thru a planer with all those nails and you sure wouldnt borrow my planer for such a project. So your left pulling 2000 nails from hardwood flooring just to burn it. I myself wouldn't burn it inside or outside. We usually roast wieners and marshmallows over outside fires and i couldnt imagine the gunk that would form inside my fireplace/flue. Sounds like your committed to hauling it away but what about paying for the landfill fee? If its yours either way and you have the acreage, make a pile and let it rot. Probably a much more contained way of disposal than burning.

 

[jwfirebird]

if i took the nails out to plane it, would put it down in the house, especially if you know some one that has those tools

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

"The varnish dust would be dumped in my back 20 woods where the bugs and whatever could get to it."



Sorry, but you seem to be dead set on polluting any way possible.

I'm not sure where you live and what you see there, but, to my heartbreak and great disappointment, whatever ship you are trying to save sank some years ago. Unless you are contributing major dollars to some environmental charity or are very active with your apparent convictions, you are barking up the wrong tree here.

Just so I can get one more cliche in, pennywise and pound foolish seems like an apt description of your emotions and efforts.