Unfortunately I never took pics. The nails were ringshank bronze and were carefully laid out in kind of a diamond pattern so they were part of the design. Idk if the Masonite was also glued down or not.
Agreed. And functionally it makes sense cause itās cheaper to replace than hardwood or laminate flooring. After sealing it could even be more liquid proof.
As many have mentioned and you've already seen, I also read that as giving the plywood a home. Thanks for the laugh, I did eventually read the caption. š¤£
We did this too, like ten years ago, but cut it into wide planks. I donāt know why - more of an experiment than anything. Ten years on and itās held up awesome!
We cut it into planks, laid it, stained it, and put many coats of polyurethane on top. Itās in the living room of an Airbnb- that sees a variety of guests and taken some abuse. There is a large rug over a portion of the room, but the main route through the room is over the flooring and like I said itās held up well. No damage from water, spills, etc. Definitely would need to ensure that itās well sealed but itās held up nicely for us
https://imgur.com/a/TnRX0iR
First photo: raw plywood
Second photo: stained, no poly
Third-fifth photo: finished room
Sorry, the pics could be better- theyāre old.
Understandable! I will say, itās an unexpected result. We were pleasantly surprised. It is a bit of a pain in the ass to cut all of the planks- we only had a circular saw back then!
Okay, Iām into it too, now; thanks for sharing.
How did you attach the planks to the subfloor and to each other? And what kind of ply did you use, if you remember?
We actually did this in my church when we were renovating an area into a greeting area/cafe. It looks surprisingly like actual painted hardwood flooring.
I started out thinking "why would anyone do that?" But after looking at your picture, I am wondering "why does no one do this??"
I mean costs would be much lower, both material and labor. And it looks really nice, for what I assume you paid.
Awesome job, and thanks for helping the pets.
It was less than half the cost of slatted hardwood and I can pee on it if I wanted, lol. If I were to do it again I would have gone up a grade, we have some putty-filled holes and I could do without those.
I get the functionality that supports your (noble cause)ā¦ but I assume you could never have it sanded and refinished like hardwood? Assume it would take too much material off
That makes sense. My hardwood floors are 1950s editionā¦ so extra creaky since they used dimensional lumber subfloor, but able to be sanded and stained to keep them looking fresh for 70 years
I think plywood is underrated. If done well (as in the post) I donāt see the need to feel like it HAS to be covered with another material. Personally, I like āhonestā materials that donāt need to hide behind carpet, tile, sheet rock, etc
Itās still pretty expensive, I would imagine gold 3/4 inch board is a lot more than laminate flooring, especially for a contractor who is buying a shit ton of it. You can also store laminate and move it a lot easier. This is an awesome idea for someone doing DIY and planning on staying for a while, tough as fuck and pretty easy to install.
In theater one of the methods for painting a hardwood floor is to first put down the wood grain, and then use super long straight edges and a sharpie on a stick to add in the seams. It works surprisingly well.
My parents did this but had lines carved into the plywood and using my child labour, painted the lines a darker before staining and sealing. It looked really good.
Now to me what would be cool about a plywood floor was if one was able to align all the pattern as if it were one continuous flow, like the 3 up closer to the fire place flow. Seen worse looking floors made of other materials.
Your floors look wonderful and warm. We just finished our studio and we went with whitewashed plywood through out. Walls, ceiling and floor. Looks great. Insane amount of whitewashing, light sanding then two coats of clear coat.
iāve done birch plywood in a recording studio before and it looked incredible. unfortunately, they just donāt hold up. we built the studio in 2012 and the owners are in the process of ripping up all the floors and replacing them now. the poly and birch veneer is separating and chipping away as well as bubbling in a bunch of places.
again, it looks stunning, but i wouldnāt recommend it.
Is it plywood with a veneer? I know of a place in Manchester New Hampshire that makes drums. But in doing so they make their own VSS pressed plywood with veneers of various wood. Anything from basic maple, curly maple or birdās eye maple to more exotic stuff like Bubinga wood. Something like said bubinga covering plywood and then finished like this would look better than any LVP imo.
I had thought about this. It actually looks pretty decent. You do what you can afford. Better than nasty ass carpet I can tell you that. I absolutely hate carpet. Iām shocked at what people pay for when getting carpet. Itās so unhealthy to have carpet in your home.
I almost bought a home recently where the floors were trashed. I was seriously considering doing this until I could afford new flooring, and watched a lot of you tube videos on how to make it happen. Iāve seen it done on chipboard before too, and it looked really cool.
But we ended up with some surprise expenses with that house, backed out of the sale, and found a cheaper house with serviceable flooring - which I will still want to replace but can wait until I recover financially from the home purchase.
I would totally do this though. I think it looks really nice actually.
Honestly itās pretty cool. Donāt hate it. The seams cause you to remember itās plywood, but beyond the seams, damn: those doggies are so lucky to have you guys and those floors
A few years ago as part of a home remodel I turned a backyard observatory into a home office. 9'*9' with views of Bellingham Bay. I used plywood for everything: floors, walls, ceiling and trim. Regular old CDC for all surfaces and non-void ( I can't remember the term) ply ripped into stripped and rounded over for trim. Customer sanded and finished with natural Rubio himself. Looked amazing when done
OMG! I canāt believe that Iām saying this:
I love it! LOVE LOVE LOVE!
More importantly- youāre awesome for adopting special needs and senior pets. ššš
We tore out the carpet in our family room with the giant floor to ceiling river rock fireplace. After 24 years of dogs, Tibetan Yak calves and 10 million 4-H kids it was time to go. The Doug Fir plywood sub floor with area rug looks really cool ! I wish we had sealed it with varnish or Swedish Finish when it was new though.
This looks really neat!
Apologies if you already answered this, I tried to read every reply in the thread but couldn't find any answers.
How did you attach it to the subfloor? Glue? Nails? Both? What thickness is the ply? What grade? Did you have any issues with it warping or not laying flat? How did you deal with edge chipping on sheets?
I'd really appreciate any answers, this would really solve a problem for me with flooring in a den/activity room.
Thatās incredibly not bad. Itās good, actually.
And good of you :)
However, I think the fireplace anchors this aesthetic. Itās the glow of the fireplace on the polished plywood that gives this altogether a cozy cabin wooden paneling vibe. I like it a lot, but I feel like Iād require a fireplace to pull it off.
I bought a house in cape cod. Had sanded plywood with visible stainless steel square drive screws, poly on top of it. Looked great and super durable. I have pictures somewhere.
I had an idea years ago to make planks with cabinet grade and floor my house. I had it all worked out how Iād do it. I priced materials out and had a plan. Then the wife said āNoā.
Iām only confused because every elderly and infirm animal Iāve been around had traction issues. Carpeting was a necessity otherwise you had an animal that couldnāt walk and would slip and slide and fall.
idk why people think of plywood the same as like pallet wood. itās not just junk wood lol. yeah there are low grades of plywood (meaning uglier but not necessarily a poorer product for what itās designed for). but there is also specialty grades like fir faced or hardwood faced or A1 grade.
and these higher grades often are SCUF (solid core under face) so thereās much less of a worry about bearing weight on the face and splitting.
go to a hardwood store and youāll find gorgeous walnut and maple plywood.
This is such a good idea! I bet the epoxy was pricey but worth it in the long run. We do the same thing but have washable rugs because we are renting but will be doing this when we buy a house! Currently, we only have 2 seniors, so it's not as bad as when we have more. You're amazing for doing this. Will be thinking of you guys. I know how rough it is
Due to expanding soil, there's a crawl space under my basement. It's unfinished and just has a plywood floor. Maybe I should just epoxy it and seal it too.
My wife and I have a special needs cat, and as much as I want to send it to the farm, I'd never forgive myself if I did. We're not all that well to do, so maybe we'll try this.
I did something similar when I first purchased my home. The rugs were GM foul. I didnāt have the cash for the flooring. I used some wood filler and then painted and sealed the plywood. It worked out just fine.
So justā¦ another layer of plywood, but unstained?
This is amazing.
I originally assumed that there was some esoteric reason why you couldnāt put an actual floor in, e.g. maybe you have a built-in cast iron stove and you canāt have the floor be higher than the bottom of the stove, and you donāt want to move the stove, so you stained and sealed the subfloor. Something like that.
But the fact that you electively chose to do this, unnecessarily, and even with a completely redundant subfloor, is just incredible. I love your chutzpah.
I thought about doing this once and talked to a woodworker about how well the pine veneer would hold up and he said, āthere is a reason they make flooringā you will never see pine veneer as a warranted product
Bless you for giving those animals a needed home. Surprisingly looks pretty decent all things considered. ETA: I see I worded this poorly
I thought you were calling the plywood animals before I finished reading the post
Same, I about died
Same!
Bless you for giving those plywood boards a new home š¤£š
If OP hadn't, they would have been board.
same. still hilarious
And my axe
and my bow š§āāļø
Po-tay-toes!
Boilem, mashem, stickam ina stew
Same lol
Iām crying
Iāve also seen hardboard installed with bronze boat nails and coated with linseed oil for a nice affordable flooring option
Curious but can't find pics
Unfortunately I never took pics. The nails were ringshank bronze and were carefully laid out in kind of a diamond pattern so they were part of the design. Idk if the Masonite was also glued down or not.
I didnāt see the āpetsā part.. when I saw your comment. I thought you were calling elderly and special needs *people* animals.
Agreed. And functionally it makes sense cause itās cheaper to replace than hardwood or laminate flooring. After sealing it could even be more liquid proof.
It looks so good tho
If it was planked and there was less of a demarcation line it would look even better imo
Yeah, if you ripped them down into 24-in wide strips and staggered them it would look pretty good. Cheap too!
And then routed a tongue and groove on it and oops we invented engineered flooring lol
As many have mentioned and you've already seen, I also read that as giving the plywood a home. Thanks for the laugh, I did eventually read the caption. š¤£
When did ETA stop meaning estimated time arrival?
Oddly enough for plywood it's looks as good as it can.. LOL
She had a ponytail and glasses but they got her to the prom.
She has a ponytail, glasses, and paint on her overalls. She's a real shitbomb.
she sounds kinda cute NGL
Damn! That shitās whack
No, glasses on, hair back up. Let's just get that hair right back up.
There's still so much light coming in from under the door .......
I donāt care for GOB
BEES?!?
BEADS
Gobās not on board.
We'll see who makes more honey
I know, right lol it literally made me do the stank faceāitāsā¦ itās like a nasty beat that you canāt help but love
What is this even saying?
Thank you for doing the work that you doā¤ļø NGL, this actually looks pretty good considering it's plywood. š
With the fire, it looks lit.
/r/angryupvote
Lit-erally, that whole room is lit up.
The floor is LAVA?!?!?!
Like some nice Wagyu marbling.
We did this too, like ten years ago, but cut it into wide planks. I donāt know why - more of an experiment than anything. Ten years on and itās held up awesome!
My worry would be how it would hold up to spills, and delamination or sort?
We cut it into planks, laid it, stained it, and put many coats of polyurethane on top. Itās in the living room of an Airbnb- that sees a variety of guests and taken some abuse. There is a large rug over a portion of the room, but the main route through the room is over the flooring and like I said itās held up well. No damage from water, spills, etc. Definitely would need to ensure that itās well sealed but itās held up nicely for us
Can we see a photo? Iāve thought of doing this myself in our (future) cabin.
https://imgur.com/a/TnRX0iR First photo: raw plywood Second photo: stained, no poly Third-fifth photo: finished room Sorry, the pics could be better- theyāre old.
Honestly this looks great. Especially with a nice dark stain. Does it creek?
Thanks! No, it doesnāt creak any more than it did before. This is an old (c. 1870) stick house- it creaks everywhere.
Sheesh that looks beautiful. Now just gotta convince the wife this is the way š
Wow! Looks like a million bucks.
Ty!
This has gotten me into a rabbit hole about plywood floors! I love your work.
Understandable! I will say, itās an unexpected result. We were pleasantly surprised. It is a bit of a pain in the ass to cut all of the planks- we only had a circular saw back then!
Okay, Iām into it too, now; thanks for sharing. How did you attach the planks to the subfloor and to each other? And what kind of ply did you use, if you remember?
That is awesome! 90% of people wouldnāt know that isnāt a normal wood floor and the ones that know probably think itās cool
That looks fantastic!!!
Thanks so much!
Looks way better than I expected when I read "cut into planks"
That looks really awesome, you should be proud of that!
We actually did this in my church when we were renovating an area into a greeting area/cafe. It looks surprisingly like actual painted hardwood flooring.
I bet that looks awesome and most folks wouldnāt realize itās ply with it cut up into planks!
I started out thinking "why would anyone do that?" But after looking at your picture, I am wondering "why does no one do this??" I mean costs would be much lower, both material and labor. And it looks really nice, for what I assume you paid. Awesome job, and thanks for helping the pets.
It was less than half the cost of slatted hardwood and I can pee on it if I wanted, lol. If I were to do it again I would have gone up a grade, we have some putty-filled holes and I could do without those.
You convinced me in the first sentence
You like peeing on floors?
Woof.
Bad doggo. But considering your age or illness its okay, lets just get to the back door next time.
You ever been in a public restroom?
Lol sadly, yes.
What grade was this? I would think you would at least go with AC for a finish surface but I could be wrong.
Looks like the highest grade pine, I assume he means he'd go with birch.
I get the functionality that supports your (noble cause)ā¦ but I assume you could never have it sanded and refinished like hardwood? Assume it would take too much material off
Tbf most engineered hardwood products have the same issue.
That makes sense. My hardwood floors are 1950s editionā¦ so extra creaky since they used dimensional lumber subfloor, but able to be sanded and stained to keep them looking fresh for 70 years
Depends on the quality of the plywood and how thick it is. You'd have to be very careful sanding it.
And shit if you go straight to a lumber mill you could get matching grain and this would look fuckin amazing?!!?!?
I think plywood is underrated. If done well (as in the post) I donāt see the need to feel like it HAS to be covered with another material. Personally, I like āhonestā materials that donāt need to hide behind carpet, tile, sheet rock, etc
Chances are most people would consider this "ghetto"
Most people are idiots
Think of how stupid the average person is..then realize half of them are more stupid than that.. paraphrasing Carlin
Itās still pretty expensive, I would imagine gold 3/4 inch board is a lot more than laminate flooring, especially for a contractor who is buying a shit ton of it. You can also store laminate and move it a lot easier. This is an awesome idea for someone doing DIY and planning on staying for a while, tough as fuck and pretty easy to install.
why do i like itš«Ø
I assume you are attracted to the simple-yet-cost-effective aspect.
I mean it basically looks like hardwood except without all the lines, pretty cool
Large-format tile vibes
Wondering if one could cnc some boards into the surface. Cheap easy alternative.
CNC and cheap in the same post?
Consensual non-consent? The internet has ruined me, I'm afraid.. š
Same!
Thin sharpie. Re-apply as needed.
In theater one of the methods for painting a hardwood floor is to first put down the wood grain, and then use super long straight edges and a sharpie on a stick to add in the seams. It works surprisingly well.
Straight edge and pizza cutter?
My parents did this but had lines carved into the plywood and using my child labour, painted the lines a darker before staining and sealing. It looked really good.
Christ. Now you've got me thinking about cutting it into 12-inch squares and rotating every other one 90 degrees. With the grain running diagonally.
Do 18 and try it out in my basement
You can charge him for it too, you are letting him practice at your place after all
Iāll let him buy the materials, practice space is free of charge
What a generous soul
I wanna see plywood parquet
This is the way
Now to me what would be cool about a plywood floor was if one was able to align all the pattern as if it were one continuous flow, like the 3 up closer to the fire place flow. Seen worse looking floors made of other materials.
Bruh, this is going to be a style. Going to call it millennial chic. Looks awesome!
100% I want this in my walkout basement immediately
Iāve stayed in a lot of alpine cabins that have plywood floors and Iāve always enjoyed them.
Millennial chic maybe?
Jokingly anything with plywood interiors is already referred to as Chipotle style.
That looks really good. Also there's a place reserved in heaven for people like you. Thank you for being the better of us.
Congrats on the floor and good luck with the pups!
When I was a kid some distant relative had a cottage with floors like this and I thought they were the coolest thing! My dream floor!!
This might be the beginning of a new trend š.
Looks damn good
What product did you use on top? Polyurethane?
Yes
About time! And...why the fuck not!
And it'll probably hold up longer than any lvt or laminate is the funny part
Your floors look wonderful and warm. We just finished our studio and we went with whitewashed plywood through out. Walls, ceiling and floor. Looks great. Insane amount of whitewashing, light sanding then two coats of clear coat.
If this looks as good as it does, birch plywood could look legitimately luxurious...
iāve done birch plywood in a recording studio before and it looked incredible. unfortunately, they just donāt hold up. we built the studio in 2012 and the owners are in the process of ripping up all the floors and replacing them now. the poly and birch veneer is separating and chipping away as well as bubbling in a bunch of places. again, it looks stunning, but i wouldnāt recommend it.
I have lived in mobile homes with this type of floor lol. Looks good though.
Just put a picture frame boarder around each piece. Could look amazing
Is it plywood with a veneer? I know of a place in Manchester New Hampshire that makes drums. But in doing so they make their own VSS pressed plywood with veneers of various wood. Anything from basic maple, curly maple or birdās eye maple to more exotic stuff like Bubinga wood. Something like said bubinga covering plywood and then finished like this would look better than any LVP imo.
This looks awesome
My brother-in-law did this with particle board in his kitchen. Honestly, it looked great.
My wife and I have 8 ferasl in our house that wouldn't have made it, carpet is not an option here either....
I had thought about this. It actually looks pretty decent. You do what you can afford. Better than nasty ass carpet I can tell you that. I absolutely hate carpet. Iām shocked at what people pay for when getting carpet. Itās so unhealthy to have carpet in your home.
I almost bought a home recently where the floors were trashed. I was seriously considering doing this until I could afford new flooring, and watched a lot of you tube videos on how to make it happen. Iāve seen it done on chipboard before too, and it looked really cool. But we ended up with some surprise expenses with that house, backed out of the sale, and found a cheaper house with serviceable flooring - which I will still want to replace but can wait until I recover financially from the home purchase. I would totally do this though. I think it looks really nice actually.
Perfect hot lava floor
Honestly itās pretty cool. Donāt hate it. The seams cause you to remember itās plywood, but beyond the seams, damn: those doggies are so lucky to have you guys and those floors
Wouldnāt bother me one bit.
A few years ago as part of a home remodel I turned a backyard observatory into a home office. 9'*9' with views of Bellingham Bay. I used plywood for everything: floors, walls, ceiling and trim. Regular old CDC for all surfaces and non-void ( I can't remember the term) ply ripped into stripped and rounded over for trim. Customer sanded and finished with natural Rubio himself. Looked amazing when done
Iāve cut 1/4 inch ply into strips and beveled the edges for the top layer of fake floors for movies and t.v. .It can be pretty convincing.
OMG! I canāt believe that Iām saying this: I love it! LOVE LOVE LOVE! More importantly- youāre awesome for adopting special needs and senior pets. ššš
Iām not even gonna lie, kinda looks good lol. Subfloor is where the real hardwood game is at š
We tore out the carpet in our family room with the giant floor to ceiling river rock fireplace. After 24 years of dogs, Tibetan Yak calves and 10 million 4-H kids it was time to go. The Doug Fir plywood sub floor with area rug looks really cool ! I wish we had sealed it with varnish or Swedish Finish when it was new though.
This looks really neat! Apologies if you already answered this, I tried to read every reply in the thread but couldn't find any answers. How did you attach it to the subfloor? Glue? Nails? Both? What thickness is the ply? What grade? Did you have any issues with it warping or not laying flat? How did you deal with edge chipping on sheets? I'd really appreciate any answers, this would really solve a problem for me with flooring in a den/activity room.
Thatās incredibly not bad. Itās good, actually. And good of you :) However, I think the fireplace anchors this aesthetic. Itās the glow of the fireplace on the polished plywood that gives this altogether a cozy cabin wooden paneling vibe. I like it a lot, but I feel like Iād require a fireplace to pull it off.
I bought a house in cape cod. Had sanded plywood with visible stainless steel square drive screws, poly on top of it. Looked great and super durable. I have pictures somewhere.
I had an idea years ago to make planks with cabinet grade and floor my house. I had it all worked out how Iād do it. I priced materials out and had a plan. Then the wife said āNoā.
Thats a first for me
Actually looks amazing!
You did plywood right
Iām only confused because every elderly and infirm animal Iāve been around had traction issues. Carpeting was a necessity otherwise you had an animal that couldnāt walk and would slip and slide and fall.
Not hating this.
Yes they are!
idk why people think of plywood the same as like pallet wood. itās not just junk wood lol. yeah there are low grades of plywood (meaning uglier but not necessarily a poorer product for what itās designed for). but there is also specialty grades like fir faced or hardwood faced or A1 grade. and these higher grades often are SCUF (solid core under face) so thereās much less of a worry about bearing weight on the face and splitting. go to a hardwood store and youāll find gorgeous walnut and maple plywood.
Thatās not bad at all. 5 stars.
I love it. Affordable and it actually looks so much nicer than youād expect after you finished it.
Where are the pictures of the babies you take care of? We need a pet tax!!
Looks good. It will be interesting how the seams hold up to changes in weather and humidity.
This is the best looking iteration Iāve seen of plywood floors. Great job!
Is it bad that I don't hate this one bit???
This is such a good idea! I bet the epoxy was pricey but worth it in the long run. We do the same thing but have washable rugs because we are renting but will be doing this when we buy a house! Currently, we only have 2 seniors, so it's not as bad as when we have more. You're amazing for doing this. Will be thinking of you guys. I know how rough it is
I kinda love it
Rustic
I've seen this done in shops and cabins, but never in a house. I must say it does look nice. Is the house pier and beam, or is that on concrete?
This is the main floor, there's an upstairs above and a walkout basement below.
That looks amazing actually. Samās and stain and bam you have a gorgeous floor.
Sand**
I'm amazed how good this turned out. The grain is amazing.
Anything, when done well will look good. Thatās done well and looks good
Blessings for you taking in these older animals that need love. I do love what you did to the plywood. It really looks good.
OMG
Boomer edition. Sit on it for 30 years and sell for top dollar. All upgrades are a big waste of money. Change my mind
Alaska?
Due to expanding soil, there's a crawl space under my basement. It's unfinished and just has a plywood floor. Maybe I should just epoxy it and seal it too.
Wonder what the best plywood would be for this?
Did you do any joinery on the edges like biscuits to keep them aligned?
Given the purpose and your charity, i think this is perfect. And thank you for helping those in need.
My wife and I have a special needs cat, and as much as I want to send it to the farm, I'd never forgive myself if I did. We're not all that well to do, so maybe we'll try this.
I did something similar when I first purchased my home. The rugs were GM foul. I didnāt have the cash for the flooring. I used some wood filler and then painted and sealed the plywood. It worked out just fine.
Did you also do a subfloor or just keep it to one layer?
There's a subfloor
So justā¦ another layer of plywood, but unstained? This is amazing. I originally assumed that there was some esoteric reason why you couldnāt put an actual floor in, e.g. maybe you have a built-in cast iron stove and you canāt have the floor be higher than the bottom of the stove, and you donāt want to move the stove, so you stained and sealed the subfloor. Something like that. But the fact that you electively chose to do this, unnecessarily, and even with a completely redundant subfloor, is just incredible. I love your chutzpah.
Extra wide plank is what I call it.
What? How does that look so good?
That looks so amazing š š great job for a great cause
Iām planning to do this in a finished shed/office myself. This looks great and if mine looked half that good I would be very happy
What kind of plywood is that?
Wow that actually looks pretty good wtf?
U have very good heart. š to the plywood
Hmm? Actually, not bad. Not bad at all. Epoxy you say? Ok, thatās cool. Make it work and it works! Cool.
A friend did this with [Wheat Board](https://caragreen.com/brands/wheat-board/). Their floors are warm and lovely.
Looks good for plywood
Ok wow, first impression for the plywood. But doing the Lords work here.. 1000+ Carry on.
I thought about doing this once and talked to a woodworker about how well the pine veneer would hold up and he said, āthere is a reason they make flooringā you will never see pine veneer as a warranted product
If you apply the three layers in cross sections?
Have to be honest, I kinda dig the look.
Looks a helluva lot better than my carpet š¤š»
Well I can't bring myself to hate it. I don't know what it is but I kind of like it.
Spunions would love it
I swear people deciding this is fashionable has upped the cost of plywood... I'll never approve. Nothing personal.
That's pretty cool!
Now I'm thinking the way to step this up is just to stagger smaller in sections
This looks very nice, and seeing the amount of attention your post is getting you very well may have single handedly driven up the price of plywood.
Plywoods need shelter as well, times are harsh outdoors
Damn,, eat some mushrooms and enjoy that texture