T&G porch floor challenge

[Straightlines]

Greetings, I have a difficult T&G porch flooring repair challenge:  There are some existing T&G floor boards on my porch (Doug Fir 2-1/4" W X 13/16" Thick) and I could only find and purchased nominal 3/4" X 3-1/8" W DF T&G flooring from my local lumberyard with the intention to rip them to width (on the groove side) and kerf in the new groove.  Seemed simple enough until I took a test core of the existing in order to confirm the thickness -- CRAP, was I ever wrong, and the new boards are too thin, not too thick, so milling them down is NOT an option.

Also, the original boards (beautiful old growth DF with super tight grain) are lain directly on the joists, whereas the new DF is VG, but not old growth, is thin, and clearly needs a subfloor to work.

Any suggestions out there?

TIA,
Bradley

 

[rizzoa13]

Can you get underneath? If so I would rip to width, put the groove back on and get them together. Then install blocking underneath from joist to joist and shim from the block g to your new piece so it can’t deflect. Try to use a solid piece of blocking, say 1/4” ply if you need to make up a 1/4” (or whatever it needs)

If your tongues aren’t lining up then you’ll need to rip both sides and add back your tongue but offset it on your new thinner board so that you click into existing and still come up flush on the face.

Bet you wish you had the right size stuff don’t you  [blink]

 

[sancho57]

can you buy 1 1/16" thk X 4" W and use a thicknesses to plane it to your desired thickness then cut to width and make your own tongue and groove using router bits

old growth is available but it isnt cheap if you want to match exactly.

Some lumber yards will do the custom machining for you for a price of course.
Something to look into and think about anyway.

 

[Cheese]

Are you trying to maintain an existing height with the new T&G?

If not, the 1/16” decrease in thickness will not affect the structural rigidity to any significant degree provided the joists are properly spaced to code.

The difference in the width of the strip flooring 2 1/4” vs 3 1/8” on an outside porch, really doesn’t make a difference in resale value unless it’s a house in a historic area and the value is in the Million plus area.

If it’s just a personal desire, I get that and then you just need to spend the money and do what makes you happy.