We spent a lot of time on the floors in my house; carpet removal, staple pulling, washing, paint scratching and sanding, more mopping, staining and finally shellacking, but it was worth it!! I love love love wood floors. I love the timeless look of them. The ease of cleaning and the peace of mind, knowing that whatever dirt we track in is not going to be with us for years to come. (Sorry the floors aren't too clean, a little construction dust still.)
This is the living room and dining room floors. I didn't get a chance to take pictures before the furniture was moved in as they were done just in the nick of time. I worried for days while the stain dried and then worried again while the shellac dried. But everything came out beautifully in the end!
The floors upstairs are pine.
Oak in the living and dinning room.....
And maple in the downstairs bedrooms.
It is very typical in old houses for the living room and dinning rooms to be oak or pine, the bedrooms to be pine and the kitchen to be maple. We aren't sure why there is maple in the bedrooms, very unusual. It certainly was fun to work on all the different woods!
We are hoping this week to get the quarter round (the small round piece of trim next to the floor) back on in the living/dining rooms and the bedrooms. When we refinished the floors it all had to come up, as the sander can't get that close. And of course 90 year old trim does not come up very well! Not to mention there was holes drilled in it and cracks and gouges. So all new has to be put back in.
What you think of wood floors? Do you love the look but not the housework? Or are you all for it?
Love wood floors. And we are blessed to live in our This Old House...and YES we have wood floors that needed work too. But, well worth it. They look great.
ReplyDeleteLove wood floors! We are remodeling a house with a concrete slab floor and carpet on top. All carpet will be removed and wood floors put in, except for tile in the two bathrooms and the laundry room. I've had people try to talk me out of wood in the kitchen, but it's been a lifetime dream, so it's gonna happen! So much cleaner than carpet.
ReplyDeleteSimply gorgeous floors! I never ever consider anything but wood in my own home. There's nothing like their beauty!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Dru
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI hope it's not to late to ask a question about your (beautiful!) floors. We are installing some recycled maple floors in our home and we're trying to figure out how to stain and finish them. What products did you use and would you recommend them now that you've lived with them a while?
Hi Kari!
DeleteThanks for visiting Apron History! We have now had our floors refinished for almost a year. Hard to believe! I do have to say the floors didn't hold up as well as anticipated. I think it was because we used Bulls Eye Shellac which has a very short shelve life. It is very very important to get a good can, there can be no bulging of the can. Also, another thing I think I did wrong was to thin it out (this was recommend to get a smoother coat, but you then need a lot more coats.) I did stain the floors first as I was trying to blend in pet stains. We used Minwax in Early American. Besides being messy, it was fairly easy to use.
Fortunately, because I used shellac, I can put several more coats of shellac on the floor and that should even out the floor again. Every coat of shellac you put on, melts a thin layer of the previous layer and blends together. This also makes it very easy to fix spots later on. It is also recommended that you wax a shellac floor. I haven't decided if I want to try this or not.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have anymore questions.
Good luck! Wood floors can be a bit of work to finish, but they are so worth it!
Thanks for the info! I found your site when searching for the GE Stratoliner stove and I've been looking through your old posts. Great stuff! :)
DeleteOur flooring is an old gym floor and while the price couldn't be beat, it has required a lot of labor. My poor husband has been working on it for months. He's far enough along that we're starting to think about how to refinish it. I sent him a link to your photos and he was really impressed!