Waxed wood floor pictures (pic heavy)

13 years ago

This is a follow-up from discussion on the hardwood floor refinishing thread. I promised to post pictures after I waxed some of my floors, so here it is. The results are not dramatic, but I didn't want them to be. We couldn't be more thrilled with how they turned out! For a bit of background: We have lived in our house for 12+ years. We planned on "some day" having the floors stripped and refinished, but I honestly never *loved* the idea of pristine looking floors. Up against the "worn" look of the rest of the woodwork, and the fact that I love the color and texture of our floors, it just didn't feel right. Thanks to this board, and one much like it, I figured out that my floors were maintained by waxing for the last 105 years. So, to protect them from the serious wear they are showing, I decided to wax them again.

You can see in the pictures that there are some serious stain issues, especially in the dining room. The only real fix for these would be a complete sanding and possibly replacement of some of the boards. Not an option at this time, and since I am just covering them back up with an area rug, they do not bother me in the least.

So, here I will try to post before and after shots. Again, don't expect dramatic results, this is just to show how a good waxing and buffing will spruce up what there is to work with.

Dining room before: (Oak floor)

After:

{{!gwi}}

Entryway before: (more oak)

{{!gwi}}

After: (sorry about the bright sun spot!)

{{!gwi}}

Upstairs hallway before: (maple)

Hallway after:

{{!gwi}}

I didn't get a before of this and am kicking myself now. This was by far the most dramatic change; the upstairs hall was very dull and scratched looking. Here is an after shot:

You can imagine what fun the kids are having sliding up and down this hallway (no slivers so far, thank goodness!)

Comments (6)

liriodendron
13 years ago
Your floors look very fine, indeed!

What kind of wax did you use? I have only tried Butcher's Bowling Alley Wax (a paste). How did you buff them?

Just so you know, though, your floors may not have been "just" waxed. It's likely they were either shellacked or varnished, and then waxed. You can tell which by seeing which solvent dissolves whatever is left ofthe finish. Shellac is soluble in alcohol (de-natured or grain kind). Varnish is not. BTW, these days "varnish" is almost always poly (whether water-based or not.) But before that varnish existed using other carriers and solvents.)

L
fanner
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the compliments. I used Bruce lite 'n natural liquid paste wax, then buffed with a rented Clark brand buffer. It was a heavy beast, but it did a great job. I will most likely invest in a small buffer of my own before my next job.

I tested the floors with both mineral spirits and dn/alcohol. The upstairs flooring was definitely shellaced, then waxed. Some day when I have lots of time and energy I would be willing to strip, re-shellac and then re-wax. I just did a few coats of shellac on my stair treads and I am thrilled with the outcome!
As for downstairs I am still undecided. It never did look like the denatured alcohol did anything, and the mineral spirits just brought up some of the old yellow wax. If there was shellac it is 100% gone. And they do not look to have been varnished. The floors in the Living room and parlor have been covered/protected with large area rugs for most likely their whole lives, by the look of them. And even there I don't see any evidence of shellac or varnish. Just deep golden floors. I only wish I could get all of the worn and exposed areas to look that good ~ but patina is fine with me too ;)

Thanks again for the feedback!
Related Discussions
Our guests - let's share pictures (pics heavy)
Q
Comments (29)
Terrene, thanks! With the hummer picture I had a shutter speed of 1/400 sec. I had another pic with only 1/160 sec and the wings were moving so fast that they were just blur and barely visible. They are fast little buggers. If you have bright enough light outside or a camera that lets you change the shutter speed, aperature, or iso it makes it easier. If I change one of those settings the camera will adjust the others to make sure it is exposed properly. I use a Canon S3 IS and I don't really ever use the auto settings. With the hummers since they move around a lot and there isn't much time to even focus with auto-focus I sometimes just focus on the flower they are favoring and wait for them to come back to finish the shot. I also like to use the rapid fire burst setting where you hold down the shutter button and it takes several pictures quickly in a row. Then I delete most of the pictures and only keep the best. Many of my bird pictures are actually taken through a dirty window or screen because they seem to only come out after I have gone inside. They also like to seem to wait until I am washing dishes at the sink just to see how fast I can dry my hands and grab the binoculars or camera. Trying to use the auto-focus through a window can be frustrating, any little spot on the glass throws it off.
...See More
Poll (of sorts) on Wood Furniture (pic heavy)
Q
Comments (3)
It seems to me that selling the dresser unpainted will make it most likely you will find a buyer - it can be stained by someone who wants it dark, or painted by someone who wants it coloured. You could even offer to "finish to suit". If thirty percent of people like light wood, thirty percent like it painted, and thirty percent like it dark, then by making a finishing decision you are eliminating sixty percent of potential customers by either painting or staining dark. Me, I mostly like my furniture light, and when something is stained dark I get a strong urge to strip it. There is an abundance of dark furniture available, less light-coloured. I think the frame might be maple. KarinL
...See More
Open Floor Plan Painting Problem (pic heavy)
Q
Comments (12)
"Your post has me a tad confused. You say you have shades in mind but for what? Can you please expand on what you're thinking you'd like to do, then people can make suggestions from there. " I want to use a blue colour for my kitchen and den area. You can see the den area from pictures 5 and 6. The living and dining area are in pictures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 and I want to paint those "rooms" green. What I was saying is I know what colours I want to use and am pretty sure of what shades, but I can't figure out where to start one colour and stop it. As you can see in picture six, one of the walls from the den area sort of wraps around to the dining area with a little alcove in between them. So, I'm not sure where I should stop my blue colour as it wraps around because of how that one wall is. So in picture 6 you see the den area and to the right a bit of the kitchen. I had originally wanted to do the kitchen walls in red, but because those walls also flow into the den area without a wall break to separate the rooms, I decided to just keep it all blue in the kitchen/den area. Colours are not the issue. Where to put them juxtaposed to each other, so as to keep the nice flow the house, is the issue. I hope that helped clear up what I was asking :) "OG, what a wonderful space! I can see your dilemma though with where to paint what shade blue or green. I thought I had it figured out only to move to the other side of the room and think, nope that won't work. If the colors are light enough I think I might just paint the ceiling the same as the walls or possibly a shade or two lighter. We have a few color experts on this board, so let's hope one of them see this and chime in." Thank you for the compliment. Yea I want to do something cool to the ceiling in the living/dining area. As you can see in photo one there's some really nice architecture and I'm trying to find a way to accentuate that. I was thinking of maybe doing the little alcove (photos 5-7) and the triangular area of the ceiling in photo one (the part with the fan attached to it) in maybe the same colour, but then thought otherwise. As far as where the blue and green should meet, I had one I idea of having them meet along the seam in the curve in the wall, as seen in photo seven, almost a line done the middle of the alcove. Again, not sure how that would turn out hehe. I have a bunch of crazy ideas floating in my head but as far as them being a reasonable reality I'm not so sure. Thoughts and comments much appreciated. I love the input and hope to see this room make a stunning transition. I need all the help I can get to make sure this room doesn't look like a circus gone wrong.
...See More
Rim Joist and floor joists rot (pic heavy).
Q
Comments (6)
I would be concerned how much the floor is out of level and if that has compromised the operation of any doors. You might need to take the load off of the framing in order to repair/replace the damaged portions. It is wise to use Grace water based primer (WB Primer) behind any Vycor adhered directly to sheathing (especially OSB) if you don't want water to get behind it. Unfortunately, it is usually sold in 5 gallon containers. Tyvek HomeWrap is pretty watertight (unlike most other housewraps) but it is not very abrasion resistant so I would not use it or any vinyl product as flashing. Avoid the use of unfinished aluminum sheet flashing against pressure treated wood or anywhere else where it will be in constant contact with water.
...See More
schoolhouse_gw
13 years ago
Thanks for sharing the photos. (love your baseboards by the way)
jiggreen
13 years ago
Great job!! And I love that you didn't poly the floors!!!

I'm going to leave mine as is also..after a good cleaning and waxing of course. If the wood scuffs or the dog's nails scratch it, so be it.....it will just add to the "story" of the house :) I do have a few rough areas that I'd like to sand lightly, just to eliminate the possibility of getting splinters (it is a bedroom area after all), but hopefully it won't take off much of the patina if I am really careful.

I know already that my mom and friends (who don't quite get the "old house" thing)...are going to wonder when I am going to sand, stain and poly my floors... some people just don't get it..that's why I love this forum so much! :)
ks_toolgirl
13 years ago
Mrsrichards - they look fabulous! Like they seem they would look long, long ago. (Which is a compliment in houses this old).
Good point, about the reaction different app's have to various finishes, also - I'm going to make a note of that for my "flooring" file! Thanks Liriodendron. :-)
I was "mesmerized" by the flooring, schoolhouse had me going back to look at the baseboards, which I hadn't even glanced at before... They look like what mine would be - if nobody had painted them & removed all the bottom (bull-nose??) pieces!
Absolutely beautiful, and how sore your muscles must be! Totally worth it. :-)
fanner
Original Author
13 years ago
Aww, thanks guys. Of the many blessing with this house one of the best is the fact that 98% of the woodwork has been left alone. There is some (crown?) molding at the ceilings in all of the upstairs that has been painted. And the kitchen floor was originally hardwoods, long ago coverd in possibly 2 layers of subfloor and vinyl. The floors have never had carpet glued or tacked down. I only wish we could have prevented the moisture damage/stains on the dining room floor.

@jiggreen - my mother in law (God love her!) probably thinks I am nuts for not wanting perfect looking floors. I also think no one believes that "just a good waxing" will protect them well enough. This has brought them through the last 105 years ~ we have lived here for 12 years and this is the first time I have done *anything* (besides swiffering!) with them. Seems like they were pretty well protected so far... And I don't think a poly finish would have prevented the black stains. And this is something that can be maintained another 100 years ~ without heavy sanding and re-finishing!

Ok, the soap box is caving in and I'm preaching to the choir. Thanks for listening ;) And I look forward to pictures of your refreshed floor! It is already breathing a sigh of relief.

Waxed wood floor pictures (pic heavy)

Comments (6)

liriodendron

fanner
Original Author

Related Discussions

schoolhouse_gw

jiggreen

ks_toolgirl

fanner
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Waxed wood floor pictures (pic heavy)

Comments (6)

liriodendron

fannerOriginal Author

Related Discussions

schoolhouse_gw

jiggreen

ks_toolgirl

fannerOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

fanner
Original Author

fanner
Original Author