Are floorboards under carpet good enough to be exposed?
hopingforsunshine
2 years ago
Hi newbie here!
We moved into our 1930s semi a little over a year ago and never liked the carpet in the upstairs rooms. I would love to have exposed floorboards.
Having just pulled up a corner of the carpet in one of our bedrooms I've realised I don't a clue what I'm looking at.
Pretty sure they're pine floorboards but not sure if they're old or more recent? Not sure if they're suitable to be walked on/good enough quality. Also how much work needs to be done to restore it?
If anyone has done this, what should I be looking out for?
Thanks!
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Comments (6)Yes I was thinking to have it stripped but under the black paint there is plain very light sort wood strips my husband bought himself and carved it oh. it hasn't got that antique look.But I agree with you, if the beams were original wood and darker I would definitely do that. Often I was wondering if I had the wood stained oak would it work?I don't want a fake stuck on effect.Someone wrote in a post on an other website that they painted their beams brown and they looked like chocolate logs. Wish I knew how to make the beams look aged and weathered.May I ask what flooring have you got with.the beams?original floorboards?I was thinking to have rustic stone laid down in the living room but the house is already cold and there isn't lots of draught....See MoreWhat to do with hearthstone when polishing/staining old floorboards?
Comments (0)I moved into my Victorian home six months ago and am redecorating all of the rooms. They are in different states but mostly pretty good condition. At some point over the last century the dining room has had the entire fireplace and chimney breast removed. I discovered this when the walls were stripped and re-wallpapered over the weekend. My next job is to get the floors sanded and varnished. Yesterday I peeled back the (hideous) carpet and discovered a large concrete slab, presumably where the old hearthstone used to be (or the hearthstone itself? I have no idea). My friend suggested tiling over it, which I'm not opposed to in theory. My problem is that not only is the hearthstone itself 50cm deep, but since the chimney breast no longer exists, it's a further 40cm away from where the wall now is (with well-fitted stumpy bits of wood in between the wall and the back of the concrete). So that's almost a metre out, in a room which is only 2.8m wide anyway and which I am using as a dining room - i.e. the table in the centre of the room, so the hearthstone will be right underneath the chairs, and the edges would be a trip hazard. It wouldn't really matter in any other room since the furniture could be rearranged to accommodate it. But in a dining room, raising it in any way (i.e. tiling) simply isn't practical. Has this completely scuppered my plans to sand down the floorboards? Will I need to shell out for new wooden flooring that covers the entire floor? Or is there some way of removing this slab and its stubby surrounds, and filling the gap with reclaimed floorboards, without causing irreparable damage to the house? There is a bit of chipboard in place of some floorboards but only in one corner. The remainder are, I believe, the original floorboards from 1876. I'm very open to creative suggestions, but whatever happens, I refuse to have carpet in the dining room. The hearthstone is under the carpet on the left of this photo....See MoreFloorboards as main floor? (No sub-floor)
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hopingforsunshine
2 years agoThanks so much for all your comments! I've actually taken up the whole carpet now and that corner I pulled up earlier was a little misleading (see pic). The rest of the floor isn't in great condition, lots of gaps and I THINK lumps of dried plaster? and nails/staples/screws sticking out.
@Becky M can I ask what did you use to clean your floor?
cavgirl