Restoring a 130 year old home. Floor opinions wanted.
We like the look of old wood floors. Most of the home's floors will look fine after thorough cleaning. But the bathroom floor has so many stains we're not sure how to handle it to keep the charm without it looking awful. Pictures are of the floor all cleaned & ready for staining and sealing/waterproofing. Separately, I tried hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, lemon juice, Bon Ami & nothing lightened the stains. We don't like real dark stained floors but wonder if using a dark stain in the bathroom to conceal the staining and lighter everywhere else might look odd. So should we ignore the stains and just use a sealer that will slightly darken the floors? What do you think? The bathroom is 8' X 15' with only about 950 total sq ft downstairs with a living room, master bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, central hall/dining, mudroom. Upstairs are 2 bedrooms & a bathroom between them, about 700 sq ft. Thank you for your feedback!
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year-old home, link to pictures, LONG with details
Comments (14)Thanks so much for all of your kind comments! Lnersesian, I just posted a floor plan in photobucket. Sorry for the delay - all of our "official" floor plans are on giant architect-sized paper, not scanable with what I have here at home, so I just sketched one out. The walls are easy to identify but some of the notes I made aren't so easy to read, I apologize... if you have questions, I'll check back from time to time so I can answer them. At least it gives you an idea about the flow. The exposed beams are another idea we took from "Not So Big House." It gives a sense of separation between the living, dining and kitchen because it is all one room. It is nice to have den as an "away room" from the noise of the TV at times. carolyn53562, we used fir wainscoting in the downstairs bath. It was old - about 75 years - stored in my parent's garage all these years. They never used it and no longer wanted it. It was darker than some of the newer fir we bought because of its age. We just used a clear lacquer finish on it. The bay window is great for letting in morning light. The dining/island area could be a little dark without it, although it is nicely lit in the afternoon. I haven't made a cushion for that area yet, but anticipate it will be a nice reading spot when that's done. Last winter we did feel like we were living in a postcard! I love the quiet of snowfall... it was mud city when it melted though! Thanks again for all of your nice comments. It has been so inspiring to see all of the finished homes here, I just had to share our own....See MoreProgress on our 150+ year old small-town home
Comments (31)Teacher always said, 'Show your work.' Here's those two houses. Kind of interesting for me: the Peoria house is on what used to be called 'High Wines Road,' where the Peoria whiskey distillers all lived, which is why the district is crowded with beautiful old homes like this. I look forward to seeing your pictures. The house in Peoria, via Google maps. The house in Muskegon, via Google Maps....See MoreNeed Advice On Paint and Furniture for 100 Year Old Home
Comments (37)It's been awhile since I made an update, but this is where I'm at now: Crown moulding is installed and painted. Double-curtain rods and sheer curtains are up, but talked to my aunt who mentioned that I should consider reinstalling them above the window to give the windows a longer sleeker look. Took down the art deco chandelier to have it cleaned and fixed, but I accidentally tipped it over while it was on the floor and it shattered into a thousand pieces. Turns out it was made of cheap pewter. So I found and installed a Turkish style chandelier I received from a seller in Turkey on Etsy. I also installed similar styled Turkish sconces (I'll be replacing the globes with more colorful ones soon). I pulled up the carpet from both rooms. I painted the fireplace insert black. I painted the ugly gold lamp stands black, and added new shades. Things still left to do: I'm still looking for a chandelier for the living room. Repair and refinish the floors (the floor needs a number of boards refilled). Figure out what to do about the gap between the floor and the quarter-round/baseboard that was revealed after I pulled the carpet up. Replace current projector screen with a floor-rising one so that I'm no longer covering 80% of the front window at all times. Install a picture rail about an inch and a half under the crown moulding. Update/add electrical outlets (which will include an upgrade to my breaker). replace carpet in the living room with a Persian style carpet that's approx. 9' x 12'. Replace couch and coffee table. Retile the front of the fire-place. Have a number of the cracks in the plaster repaired. Acquire and hang paintings and framed posters on the walls. And that's just the Living Room and Dining Room. Sigh......See MoreFloors in a 130 year old house
Comments (14)Ok if you have been able to scrap it off I stand corrected on the need for refinishing. Here's the answer you are looking for. In an inconspicos place,lay 3 folded pieces of cloth ( 1 wet with meneral sperites,1 wet with acetone and 1 wet with denatured alcohol} on floor for 1 minute,as you pick each up,test floor finish with finger nail to see if is easily scratched off. Do not use any that desolved finish. If none desolved finish start with meneral sperits on 000 steel wool to lightly scrub guck. If guck doesn't easily come off,try acetone. If acetone work's well,it can be extended by mixing with water or mineral sperites. If acetone doesn't work,try denatured alcohol. If alcohol works you must work fast or you can mix with water to slow evaporation rate. When all guck is removed,floor can be waxed. If non of those work,try liquid sander. Liquid sander will dull the finish but can be wax out. If liquid sander doesn't take it off nothing short of sand paper will. So that we might all learn,come back and post results. Since I was so adimate on it being under finish,thereby not cleanable,I'm keenly interested in how this turn's out....See More
jlee2011
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoPictured here is my previous old country farm home that had the wide spaces of sub floor only in the kitchen. It gives you an idea of what we like. Each room had slightly different wood because the rooms were added as the family grew but they were all close to the same shade. We put 3 coats of poly on all the floors. Easy to clean and what collected in the spaces even in the kitchen came up with normal vacuuming. It also had stains but only around the perimeter & uniform so it still looked great in our opinion.
Thank you for your ideas! A more modest family built our current country farm home. It is better for just the 2 of us now yet room for visiting family/grandchildren. This is a very strong sub floor and there are signs they had some kind of the original linoleum over it until it was removed & used as a kid's hangout in the 60's. A pro historic floor refinisher said they are too cupped to use a drum sander...it would take too much wood off to take the cupping out & make the floor too weak. He suggested painting it. Ugh. Even as a sub floor we love the look of the natural wood and it was plenty warm even with our 28-34 degree winter. The pictures of the stained floor in question might not be the 1800s original floor since this was a back porch that had been enclosed when more children were born, as was the dogtrot. The pro said only the original 2 rooms off the dogtrot are heart pine and this is antique pine. I'll post pictures of the stains & poly experiment in what will be the linen closet when it is dry. I'd love to hear your opinion of it.
PROG & S Floor Service
6 years ago
miss lindsey (She/Her)