biscuit joining floor boards

[jags]

hi all

i had a very annoying weekend trying to lay recycled floor board .Out of 21 m2 i was only able to get 7 m2 down due to the fact that the boards where end matched and because they where recycled most of the ends had been cut off ...
It has been suggested to me that to solve this problem i could cut each end straight and biscuit join the boards and this should do the same job ?
is this correct and are there different strengths of biscuits that can be used ....?

Thanks Rob

[bsrlee]

I wouldn't recommend that - the biscuits don't fill the whole of the cutout, so you would have 4 small unsupported areas for each joint, with the real possibility of breakthrough from furniture legs or females in heels.

It would be better, in my opinion, to get a set of router bits that cut a groove & matching tongue - I've seen several such sets on sites like Rockler's RouterMania or Lee Valley - most of the major router bit online stores have either matched sets or sell individual bits that do the same job.

If you don't already have a biscuit joiner, then the cost of a good joiner & biscuits would be the same or more than the cost of getting the router bits and a reasonable router, if you already don't have one. And you'd want a good joiner to do 21 m2 of flooring

[Wongo]

Whatever plans you have, you will throw them out of the window as soon as you start job. Unless you want to lay 2 to 3 m2 per day.

I was in the same situation 2 months ago. I joined the first 2 boards with a biscuit and gave up the idea immediately. I just didn't have time to muck around with it.

The boards are held together by the adjacent rows and I don’t see any problems with that.

[rod1949]

Cut the ends square accross the face and undercut the thickness to give a tight butt joint. The joint should be on a joist.

[jags]

thanks for the quick responce

i should of explained myself better. i have removed a wall dividing two rooms . one was the old kitchen and the other the old laundry which had a concrete floor so i have removed the concrete and layed joists and bearers in the laundry i am now trying to match the board in the laundry to the original boards in the kitchen . The area i needed to cover was only 13m2 (i got 21m2 so i had some spares i thought ) and as i mentioned i have already got 7m2 down .so only have 6m2 to do which aquates to 16 boards thick as the area i now need to cover is 3.40 m by 1.9m2

the joists are at about 350-s400 center and the board are T&G 19mm jarrah ( some end matched ). i am using roughly three boards per length so this would only mean a maximum of 43 biscuit joins and they would be in a area with no furniture . i would prefer to do the biscuit method if possible as i can hire a biscuit joiner for the weekend for $30 and need to get the job done as it is now holding up the rest of the house .
thanks again for the help it it greatly appriciated .

[echnidna]

Cut a slot in the ends and glue a loose tenon into 1 of the ends.

[pawnhead]

i can hire a biscuit joiner for the weekend for $30 and need to get the job done as it is now holding up the rest of the house .
thanks again for the help it it greatly appriciated .

Since you're not going to use it much, why not just buy a [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Woodworker-4-Biscuit-Jointer/dp/B000TD4AS6/ref=sr_1_7/104-1308259-8195110?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1190770254&sr=1-7"]cheap[/ame] one. You could probably get an ozito from Big W for $50. My brother has one that's rarely used, but it works well.
ozito

I don't see any problems with putting a biscuit in an unsupported joint, but I'd put max bond on the ends to seal against any drafts.

[jags]

thank for the help
i did some research on getting a biscuit joiner and drop saw today and the cheapest i saw was $78 for the ozito joiner and apparently the cheap drop saws come with the wrong blade so it might be better to hire it.but it is all starting to sound a little hard

if i end up joining some of the boards on the joists is the method just to cut the boards square and nail then together on the joists ?
And how far from the end of the boards should the nails be so that the end of the boards don't crack ?
Also will this be very visable as most of the old boards are not joined on the joists .
thanks again

[thesupervisor]

i would stagger the joins put extra timber between joists if needd be to pick up the joins say some 90x45 treated pine
i would be pre drilling the board to stop splitting
a square butt join would be fine

[glock40sw]

Hire a nailer that uses T nails.

[jags]

Well i thought i would update this as it might be some help to others .

as i think i mentioned i am adding recycled boards to an existing floor hence the reason why joining on the joists and using a nail glue will not work as i want the new part of the floor to look like the old part .

thanks bsrlee after all the mucking about your option seems the best .For some reason biscuit joiners are expensive in W.A the cheapest i found was $78.for the ozito

As most of the boards that i have left have got the tongue all i needed to do is cut the grove . so i bought a router for $55 and a bit for $35 and them went about modifing the router .it's amasing what you can do with prespex and a dremil drill i have modified the glide plans so all i have to do is slide the wood against the side wall and it cuts the channel i need for the grove .

hopefully thanks to the help i will get the job done in time tomorrow .so that i can watch the footy ..
Thanks Again
Rob