Old wood flooring needing a bit of TLC

10 years ago

Hi we are based in Scotland (!!) and have just moved into a3 bed old country cottage. The living room floor boards are beautiful and so in keeping with the style of the house but in SUCH a mess due to the previous owners dogs.

Can anyone help us on how to best treat it and bring it up to a good quality?

We are brand new to this all so I am super thankful to find a website like this with loads of experience and wonderful ideas. Please be gentle!!

The line is from where they must have had a mat or couch or something.

Featured Answer

PRO

Scott Design, Inc.

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

Beautiful, beautiful floors!

Suggest you bring in a flooring contractor who appreciates antique floors. Depending on what kind of finish is on the floor now, he may be able to screen the floor and remove the superficial dirt and old top coat of finish and follow up with a new coat of satin or hand-rubbed finish without removing the character of the floors. I would not sand these floors to look brand new. There is a demand for hand scraped, antique-looking wide board floors and people go to great lengths and expense to make new floors look antique.. Your floors already have the character they just need to be freshened up.

I strongly suggest that a lay person not sand pine floors. They are too soft and you will be fighting with swirl marks that pick up the stain and look horrible. Even professional sanders put their best men on pine floors. Maple and oak are a different story.

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Comments (9)

wewaring
10 years ago
Hi there,
Depending on what the wood is, and how thick the floor boards are, you should be able to sand and refinish these floors. They look to me to be an old pine from the photo, and I'd guess the age of the house would make them more than thick enough for a sand and refinish.

It's a job that you can do yourself, IF you're handy, and have access to rental machines. (We're in SW France in a teeny village, and DIY is difficult for lack of tool access). If there are scratches that don't sand out, think about some strategically placed carpets or furniture, for it would be a shame to jettison these beautiful old floors just because of a few doggy scratches.

As for time, it took us a full morning to sand our maple floors (room was about 3 metres by 6) back in Canada, and 2-3 days to refinish (most of the time spent waiting for coats of finish to dry). I'm not going to suggest finishes, because I have no idea what would be available on the Scottish market. You might post a query on a UK site, just for appropriate brand names and lingo. Hope that helps!
Cheers, Wendy
Louise thanked wewaring
creeser
10 years ago
What beautiful old floors! You have a treasure. They definitely need sanding. If it were just scratches, I think it would only add to the character of the floors, but it looks as if some of the finish is flaking off. Check around for a sanding machine to rent. They look like commercial floor polishers and are easier on the back than something handheld. Just be careful because they can cut into the lovely wood very easily.
Louise thanked creeser
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Louise
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks to you both so much!

Yeah, we are super lucky to have inherited such beautiful floors in a relatively good condition.

Creeser, that's a really valuable comment, thanks a lot. If indeed (I suspect you are correct) that the finish is flaking - is there something we can do to refinish? I know of some people who paint a new finish on but I'm not sure if this is a good solution etc? (In the form of wood stain).

Otherwise it may be time for a nice cream shagpile rug! :-)
creeser
10 years ago
Here's a video that may help:
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0,,20238356,00.html
That cream shagpile sounds lovely! Being lazy, I'd go with that until I found a pro to refinish the floors for me. ;)
Carolina
10 years ago
Congratulations on your home. Lovely to have a real wooden floor. Youtube may be a handy tool for you too. For example:
Louise thanked Carolina
PRO
Wyland Interior Design Center
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
I agree with Scott Design, Inc. I was just going to say the same exact thing.

Definitely bring in a floor specialist that knows what they are doing. It would look absolutely beautiful!
Louise thanked Wyland Interior Design Center
Louise
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks everyone, we will take all this into account.

Scott Design - I certainly agree. We adore the old features of not only these floors, but the whole house. This was the incitement to move here :) So we certainly do not want to make them look new. Thank you v much.
blueluna
10 years ago
Slightly off topic but maybe useful. I was recently helping a friend with 128 year old house. the floors had latex paint splatters all over (renters!), we discovered that by spraying furniture polish on the spots, they rubbed off easily.

Old wood flooring needing a bit of TLC

Scott Design, Inc.

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wewaring

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Old wood flooring needing a bit of TLC

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wewaring

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