Refinishing Fir Floors
10 years ago
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10 years ago- 10 years ago
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Normal/best practise in refinishing floors?
Comments (3)rooster99, you don't need 3 threads devoted to the same problem. Following up in the original thread would have been fine. You seem to have unrealistic expectations about what owning an old wood floor in an old home is all about. It's not about having a plstic perfectly smooth no blemishes skating rink floor. Older homes had imperfect climate control systems and zero humidity control systems. THe wood expanded and contracted with the seasons. In the summer, the gaps between the floor boards would be non existant, and there was probably enough humidity to have edge crushing as another poster told you. In winter, when things dried out, the wood shrinks, and the boards gap. That's what wood does. It's what it's doing now in your home. ANd, it's what you should have expected as perfectly normal. Adding in humidity as another poster suggested will help with the gaps between the boards, but there is nothing you can do to eliminate them, until summer is back and the additional humidity swells the wood enough that they come together. First of all, this is information that you should have researched and been aware of when undertaking an older home renovation. It's not an uncommon issue, and there is plenty of information available about it. Second, your contractors, if they are knowledgable and honest, should have informed you of this and set right your expectations before they began the job. THe fact that they are now suggesting fills and pouring on epoxy tells me that they are NOT knowledgable and were just as ignorant as you were. Not a good thing, and it begs the question about what else don't they know how to do properly. Or else they feel pressured by you to "fix" something that doesn't need fixing and by doing so will only create worse problems for you down the road. THe only different practice that would have been ideal in your renovations would be to install a humdity control system with your HVAC system. Stabilizing the humidity is the only way you can get wood to stop the expansion/contraction cycle. Ideally, finishing the floors would have waited until after the damp summer season, and before the dry winter season, when humidity levels were right around optimum, and then the climate control and humdity control would be enacted to keep them at that optimum level. But, even if you had waited until fall to finish them, unless you installed a humdity control system, you'd still have gapping as the winter air continued to dry out and the wood continued to shrink. If you want to minimize the gaps in the flooring, get that humdity control system installed pronto. Otherwise, the half assed fixes suggested by your "contractor" will only create more edge crush or flake out of the gaps when summer comes and the wood again swells. And, I doubt seriously if your gapping issue is causing any "trip hazards" or other nonsense. A good vacuum will get the dust out of the gaps far better than a broom and a dustpan did for your forefathers who dealt with the same issues....See Morepossible asbestos tile over original fir floor
Comments (1)My parents were redoing their bathroom floor and found asbestos tile on the bottom layer, above the subfloor. They had a private inspector to come out and confirm it and then tried to get estimates to remove it, but was told it would be too expensive for such a small space and to DIY themselves. My husband and Father researched the proper removal and did it them selves. They wore suits and masks N95, and plastic and duct taped off the area. Sprayed the tiles and glue down well with water during removal and tried to get the tiles up in whole pieces. It's not only the tile that can contain the asbestos but the glue- as well so you have to be careful....See MoreAnyone using a fir subfloor as a primary floor?
Comments (23)Hi Caroline, your flooring looks beautiful! Thanks for posting that the step up works fine in a real life situation. My meeting with the prospective KD was one of those times where when someone I think is a purported expert (him) says something and makes me wonder "gee, he's seen a lot of kicthens, he must know what's right". And I get steered down a path that is less than how great it could be. It's a reason I love reading the threads here--they are from real people who speak from actually living in their spaces day to day. Hi artemis, what's your dining room flooring? If you've already got about an inch upstep up to the kitchen's tile floor, then by removing the tile and using the flooring that's under the tile, I think you'd solve that existing issue. Have you've tried taking up a tile and seeing if it really is the subfloor that the tile is sitting on? From the floor height descriptions, it almost sounds like someone laid the tile on top of the original kitchen flooring (which would have been the same height as the dining room flooring and the tile now makes it 3/4" higher.)...See MoreFlooring Decision: Fir or Tile or...
Comments (17)One thing to consider---do you have pets? We decided not to refinish our fir floor (much as I love fir!) because we have a dog, and we've seen what our neighbors' dog did to their beautiful fir just in day-to-day use. It's a very soft wood, so it doesn't take wear and tear as well as its harder brethren do. That said, if you don't mind the patina on it and don't have dogs, you might be fine. Ours was in so-so condition after pulling up ceramic tile that had been set in tar of some sort, but it was apparently easily refinishable with some patching of a few boards. They can do a lot with not-great-condition floors. In the end, though, we used Marmoleum Click because it's a floating floor so it didn't need to be glued down or otherwise attached to the fir---easy for someone else to pull up if they want to refinish the wood in the future. (It's also turned out to be very soft for standing, though that wasn't something we considered.) That's something to consider if you won't be in the house forever, or if you think you might change your mind....See More- 10 years ago
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