Restoring wooden floorboards.

lostinrates

We are literally in the process of taking up old carpet and chipboard in an upstairs room in our very old house this after noon, I am sitting next to my DH who is pulling it up as I type. The floor boards we have uncovered so far are all in ok as these things go in an old wreck like ours. They are unlevel and a bit up and down his, but that's in keeping with our old house, we can live happily with that.


They are unvarnished and will probably benefit from a treat with woodworm stuff (we just do that any way just in case with timber in out house )

The skirtings are 'modern' (1960s or 70s ish) and were put down above the chip board so are all going to be too high. How difficult will it be to scribe and fit new skirting? Is it a job a DIYer can do reasonably? We're game but not necessarily that skilled. . There will be one run of reall difficulty where the pipe work for rads runs over and attachs to skirting. We're considering bodging with a temporary fixing of a supplementary thing in the gap created by removing the chip board until this rads are replaced and further 'real' work in this room is done in a few years.


Also, we like the aged, matt pale colour of them. The only other floors currently exposed have a dark varnish on them, which also looks great and appropriate, but what could we protect them with that would keep the softer, more 'neglected' look of these....a wax? A matt varnish?

27col

When I was a kid, varnished floor boards were a sign of severe poverty. Not a style statement. Ah! The malign influence of make over programs.

lostinrates

27col wrote: »

When I was a kid, varnished floor boards were a sign of severe poverty. Not a style statement. Ah! The malign influence of make over programs.

Well, they are certainly more in keeping with our Georgian home than the carpet older than husband and I.

Each to their own taste, eh? Our rugs probably bring the floor value up a bit ( and more importantly to us, the warmth) and can be more easily and thoroughly cleaned. Though we have a bissel carpet cleaner the filth and smell coming of the carpets we've lifted recently is significant, if people want to make a judgement on our wealth doesn't bother me. I find it rather pleasing in fact. I just want to live in a home we like!

loracan1

Varnished floorboards? ours were covered in that horrible black bitumen type stuff, and as for 'malign'?! It's less of a style statement and more of individual taste surely.

Norma_Desmond

Just thank the Gods of DIY that you don't have to sand them and start from scratch - that was the job from hell - the dust even got inside the wardrobes which were at the other end of the house.

We only did our bathroom because we knew the floorboards could be beautiful - they were the most well preserved in the house - and 200 year old oak to boot.

We actually stained ours quite dark because our wooden window frames are, and yes, they look glossy and beautiful, but I'm not going through that again - ever.

lostinrates

Norma_Desmond wrote: »

Just thank the Gods of DIY that you don't have to sand them and start from scratch - that was the job from hell - the dust even got inside the wardrobes which were at the other end of the house.

We only did our bathroom because we knew the floorboards could be beautiful - they were the most well preserved in the house - and 200 year old oak to boot.

We actually stained ours quite dark because our wooden window frames are, and yes, they look glossy and beautiful, but I'm not going through that again - ever.

:rotfl: We live in a TOTAL restoration project. Doozergirl who contributes a lot here will tell you the Gods of DIY test us regularly, as do the god's of professional contractors test all who enter here:rotfl:

I think we are looking now ultimately at replacing about 14 boards. So that's pretty good I think. We like them looking a bit rough, we also have stone mullion window surround that took WEEKS to scrape most of the paint off to get back to the stone. So it will go with the ecclectic derelict luxe look we love.

Have to say, some of the holes are a bit bigger than we were hoping to live with for a while! :eek: and we have a few boards cracked through completely. Longer term we have a joist that's going to need some attention, but the builder was here yesterday and he reckons we're safe for a while. ( phew). But we'll start keeping our eye out for boards of the right width (we to some boards up in another part of the house to make a bathroom so started this thinking we would have some space but predictably these are a different width!)


Longer term all the boards all come up, the joists checked, and repaired / replaced where needed and probably underfloor heating out down.

On the landing outside here we have some 'structural carpet. We've seen the floor out there early on and I remember being a bit ':eek:' putting the structural carpet back down and now being fairly well trained not to step on the hole. I think we're probably a bit bolder now and when the new bathroom is commissioned (hopefully this side of Christmas) and this landing is only used by DH and I I think we'll reevaluate the state of boards out there and see if we thik with just us using them they could stay with out the structural carpet and dodgy holes chipboard so that we can easily get to the original boards for assessment, cleaning and replacement.

Norma_Desmond

Stone mullions - lovely!

Flooring wise we've got the original flagstones throughout downstairs and I have to say they don't mix well with bare feet - so it's a huge seagrass mat in the sitting room and a horribly tatty fake Aubusson rug in the dining room.

Thanking the DIY Gods again, the staircase just needed a stain/varnish.

Upstairs we've chickened out and gone for carpet - except said bathroom of course.

eta -
I love 'structural carpet' - know just what you mean!

lostinrates

Norma_Desmond wrote: »

Stone mullions - lovely!

Flooring wise we've got the original flagstones throughout downstairs and I have to say they don't mix well with bare feet - so it's a huge seagrass mat in the sitting room and a horribly tatty fake Aubusson rug in the dining room.

Thanking the DIY Gods again, the staircase just needed a stain/varnish.

Upstairs we've chickened out and gone for carpet - except said bathroom of course.

eta -
I love 'structural carpet' - know just what you mean!

Hehe, its true the structural carpet. Terrifying and true:)


We only have three stone mullions I think. The rest are an assortment of wooden casements and sashes from different periods, ranging up to 2013. Our latest window went in earlier this month and looks ok. Its got a minor detail wrong, but I can live with that.

We have two stair cases, one is really old, very basic and perfect. One is a still fairly basic, but its on the side of the house where a 'wing' fell down and we're guessing its probably pretty 'new'.

We've got 25 years to do this place. We've used three. We'll need at least the remaining 22 I think:)