If you've decided that you want a timber floor for your tiny home, that is a great option. However, there are a few things you should consider as you select and install your floor. Here's are some tips to guide you:

1. Mirror sustainability in your timber selection.

Sustainability is one of the cornerstones of the tiny house movement, and you should mirror that concept with the type of timber you choose. Ideally, you want to use a sustainable wood that has been certified by the the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and luckily, the list is long and includes diverse options such as rosewood, several types of eucalyptus, Turkish pine and many others.

2. Choose hard timber.

In addition to sustainability, look for the hardiest, hardest timber you can find, and talk with a timber sales rep about how the wood has been treated and how long it's likely to last as flooring. If you anchor the wall directly to the floor, as many tiny home builders do, it won't be possible to replace the floor easily without taking apart your tiny home.

3. Insulate the timber from the trailer.

If you are building the tiny home on a metal trailer, you must insulate the wood from the trailer. Many people place plywood on top of the trailer, followed by the joists and finally the floor, and these layers help protect your timber floor from the metal of your trailer.

However, there is a more lightweight way to insulate the timber from the trailer. Start with a trailer that has been designed so that the ribs of the trailer can work as the joists of the floor. Then, lay the flooring directly on the trailer, but first insulate the trailer using foam insulation tape. The tape prevents the wood from coming into contact with the metal -- if the wood has been treated, it may cause the metal to rust with direct contact.

4. Use tongue-and-groove timber.

To ensure a tight fit and a relatively easy installation, use tongue-and-groove timber. Designed for use in floors and decorative walls, these pieces of timber feature a groove along one side that fits around a ridge that runs down the edge of another piece of timber. Tongue and grooves hold the wood together more tightly than just laying pieces of timber down next to each other.   

5. Attach thick boards from the underside.

If you don't want hardware to show on your timber floor, you can attach it from the bottom. However, for this to work, you need to use very thick boards, thicker than the length of the screws you're using, and you need to use a wood subfloor so you can screw up through that and into your timber floor. If you're screwing a timber floor directly to a metal trailer, you typically need to attach it from above.

 

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