The floor contractor met with us at the "new" house yesterday.?ÿ The floors upstairs are the original douglas fir floors.?ÿ He wanted to see it for himself which I appreciate (only the salesman had seen it).?ÿ He said the old floors are tongue and groove and they have been sanded so many times that they are almost down to the tongue.?ÿ So what happens is the thin piece of floor left over the tongue can break off when someone steps on it.?ÿ There's a few stains (possible old roof leak, the roof is new; the other shower leaked under wall into bedroom).?ÿ SWMBO wants all the stains out but he says he can't sand it that much.?ÿ I think I convinced her to let him only sand lightly then finish the floor.?ÿ What's the purpose of refinishing if all the stains don't come out? It's to smooth the floor somewhat and protect it.?ÿ I said get some rugs to place strategically over stains.?ÿ I personally like the character of the old floors; the stains are part of the history of the house.?ÿ The roof leak stain is more or less centered in the room so it's easy to cover.?ÿ A bedroom has an old shower leak stain which is on the common wall with the shower stall (it ran under the wall apparently, probably for years, room was carpeted so maybe not noticed that shower was leaking, shower is new, brand new plumbing visible in the laundry room below).?ÿ That one will be covered by a dresser.
Aren't old houses wonderful?
We had a 1889 house in R.I. I loved everything about it. SWMBO only liked the over sized claw foot bathtub.
"?ÿHe said the old floors are tongue and groove and they have been sanded so many times that they are almost down to the tongue".
How could he tell? Douglas fir is hardy according to this quote from somewhere, "Douglas fir is actually harder than some angiosperm hardwoods, such as chestnut."
Hope the house, which sounds really cool, doesn't turn into "the money pit".?ÿ ??ÿ
Dave: I love the look of DF, a few stains are no big deal, wood is like that. However, does that floor flex under your feet?
My home is 22 years old and I also have T&G DF floors, 1x8 on 24" centers. It was intended as a sub-floor. The Ex got in the middle of it (old man grumble).
Most of the floors were properly finished with tile per original plan, that worked fine.
Third floor (20'x14') was carpeted. It always drove me nuts. Last year I ripped it all up and replaced with plywood, and that will be tiled later this year.
Master bedroom got carpeted, I Hate It! It is like walking on a trampoline.
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40 years ago I built a house with 2x6 DF over 16" centers, it was like a rock, and quite attractive.
The DF in the Master is in good shape, it looks like a finished product over the subfloor, top nailed.?ÿ It is a little bit higher than the stairway landing and the rest of the upstairs floors.?ÿ The other DF floors are nailed at an angle below the surface (forget what he called that).?ÿ We think it is the subfloor, not intended to be a finished floor.?ÿ Due to issues and breakage we decided to install engineered floor over the other two bedrooms and stair landing and hallway.?ÿ The veneer on the engineered floor can be sanded and refinished once but it has a very hard factory finish on it so shouldn't need to.
And the concrete in the office downstairs just has some sort of red paint on it.?ÿ It's gotten wet.?ÿ So we are going to grind it flat and seal it (expensive).?ÿ They can use a waterproof pad and float the floor but I think it's better to seal it with epoxy.
The stuff they pulled out of there is Pergo, a quicky cheapo job they did, mold under the Pergo.?ÿ That is just particle board with a contact paper "veneer."?ÿ
The concrete work is either par for the course for 1935 or DIY homeowner poured.?ÿ A lot of the house has a DIY feel.?ÿ I think he had the block walls laid up by professionals and probably the plumbing and electrical but the old trim work looks DIY to me.?ÿ That's cool, part of what I like about the house, it's rough and unique.
The current house built in 1955 has 2x old-growth redwood mudsills on the concrete stemwalls, 4x6 floor joists on 4' centers, 2x6 t&g subfloor with oak floors (3/8 inch ?). They built the platform then built the walls and roof on top of that.?ÿ Those floors do not move, creak, or anything, they are solid. This new house has more movement in the floors upstairs.
Don't like carpet.?ÿ
We will have to acquire several rugs of various sizes.
"?ÿHe said the old floors are tongue and groove and they have been sanded so many times that they are almost down to the tongue".
How could he tell? Douglas fir is hardy according to this quote from somewhere, "Douglas fir is actually harder than some angiosperm hardwoods, such as chestnut."
Hope the house, which sounds really cool, doesn't turn into "the money pit".?ÿ ??ÿ
Where it's broken you can see the tongue below. Previous owners have sanded it down to 1/16 to 1/8 above the tongue so it has broken and there are missing pieces so you see the tongue below.?ÿ Consequently he can't flip the boards over either.
Have you considered an Oiled floor instead of your typical polyurethane. The oiled floor is not as hard of a finish, but you can spot touch up any scratches. With a Poly finish all of the scratches will show white and you really can't fix any large scratches without a complete sand. We actually own a wood flooring finishing factory and apply both a UV (polyurethane) and a UV oil product. There is a big push to the Oil just because of the natural look and the fact you can fix the finish. Check out the finish called WOCA.
About 15 years ago now there was a bowling alley and a roller skating rink in Cartersville and both of them had maple floors. The floors for the bowling alley were in great shape and the skating rink was in need of a good sanding and refinish. Well along comes CVS & Arbys and the bowling alley and roller rink fell to the excavator and the steel jaw rippers. I wanted to scream and cry at the same time every time they ripped up the hardwood floor of the bowling alley. It still makes my heart sick watching that excavator destroy it.
They can use a waterproof pad and float the floor but I think it's better to seal it with epoxy.
I did some cursory research on concrete floor finishes recently for my garage re-do and read enough horror stories about moisture from below destroying very expensive epoxy and paint jobs that I decided to leave it bare.?ÿ Are you convinced that moisture won't be a problem?
I asked the floor contractor more questions this morning.?ÿ We are going to grind and seal the floor (the moisture barrier pad is really just a band-aid).
The process is they grind the floor to open up the pores in the concrete then they apply a two part epoxy sealer.?ÿ He said it is a 20lb product meaning it can hold back up to 20lb.s of water in the concrete per 1000 sq. ft. over 24 hours.?ÿ 3 to 4 lb.s is typical for cured concrete.?ÿ The brand is Sika although he didn't know the exact part number.?ÿ I found what I think it is, a 2-part moisture barrier.?ÿ Sika states 25lb.s on their website.?ÿ Once that is done he can glue the floor down.?ÿ With the pad he could only float it.
This is not a floor paint or floor finish, it is made to go under wood floors on concrete subfloor.?ÿ Epoxy paint such as a homeowner would put on the garage floor has a short life span according to what I have read.?ÿ The problem in our garage in the "old" house is the previous owner for reasons only he knows put 9x9 asbestos floor tiles in the garage and so we have alkali damage to the concrete, a grid of eroded concrete under the tile joints.?ÿ The story my former neighbor told me was our predecessor was a Construction Inspector so he would get free leftovers.?ÿ One day a crew showed up with him and those 9x9s and they put them in the garage.?ÿ I've been throwing them in the trash whenever they come loose for almost 20 years, most are gone now. It would take more than just paint to fix that.
I have had this contractor do a lot of work, they aren't the cheapest but their finished product really looks good so I have faith in them.?ÿ Experience with home improvement contractors varies quite a bit.?ÿ I have window trim I've been fixing for the last 20 years because of another local company that just did an ugly job.
He pulled Pergo out of there, that is a very thin particle board with what looks like contact paper for a veneer.
