How to Install a Rustic Floor

A rustic floor can include knots and unusual grain.

Using wide planks and cut nails, you can install a rustic floor in the same style as floors built more than 100 years ago. A plank floor fits the primitive charm of a log cabin or old farm house. Because wide planks expand and contract more than narrow boards--due to changes in moisture--make sure the boards are thoroughly dry before installing them, and add a vapor barrier if the floor is over a damp crawl-space or cellar. In a hunting camp or primitive cabin, the gaps may not matter and will add to the rustic look.

Things You'll Need

• Planks, 3/4-inch thick
• Measuring tape
• Saw
• 2 1/2-inch cut or wrought nails
• Hammer
• Chalk line

Instructions

1. Sort floorboards into piles of different widths. Not all planks in a rustic floor must be the same width, but if a board isn't long enough to reach from one end of the room to the other, you'll need to find another board of the same width to butt against it.

2. Lay the first floorboard parallel to a focal point in the room, with the groove edge toward the wall, if it has a tongue and groove. For a focal point, choose the wall you see first upon entering, the longest wall, or any area where you want the floorboards to run parallel. If the rest of the room isn't square, floorboards that aren't aligned with the wall in another area will be less noticeable. Allow a 1/2-inch gap from the wall for expansion between the boards and the walls. Cover the gap later with the baseboard.

3. Measure the remaining distance, if the first board doesn't reach the full length of the room. Mark the length on another floorboard that's the same width as the first, saw it to length and lay the second board butted against the first.

4. Nail the boards in place, using a pair of 2 1/2-inch cut nails or hand-wrought nails for each floor joist. Place one nail about 3/4 inch in from each edge of the board. Hammer the nails so the heads are level with the surface or sunk slightly below it.

5. Lay the next board against the first and nail it in place the same way. Continue laying boards across the room, measuring occasionally to make sure they're parallel to the starting wall.

6. Measure the final gap between the last board and the other wall. Measure at both ends, mark the measurements on the ends of a floorboard, snap a line between them with a chalk line and saw the board to fit, with a circular saw. Nail the final floorboard in place the same way as the others.

Tips & Warnings

• Purchase cut nails or reproduction hand-wrought nails from an historic hardware catalog.

• Tongue and groove boards add extra strength between joists and prevent gaps from showing as plainly if the boards contract. But they aren't necessary for a rustic floor.

References

• "Hardwood Floors: Laying, Sanding and Finishing"; Don Bollinger; 1990
• "Wood Flooring: A Complete Guide to Layout, Installation & Finishing"; Charles Peterson, Andy Engel; 2010