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We are in the process of converting our two-family back into a one
family. It’s a 90-100 year old farm house in the central part of the city. (As
you might guess it used to be on the edge of town.) We want to keep it mostly
“old farm house” looking.
The flooring is all 3/4 inch thick, 3 1/2 inch wide tounge & groove. Maple
(blade dulling, blue smoke when cutting, HARD maple) was used in the kitchen
area and pine throughout the rest of the house. Most of the kitchen floor was covered
with linoleum and the wood is in good shape. Lot’s of character adding nailholes
etc. Some of the pine was painted and some was carpeted. We want to reclaim as
much of the flooring as possible and reuse it. We pulled up the flooring as
carefully as practical and have so far placed 3/4 plywood down to serve as a
subfloor.
Here are our questions:
How do we restore the old flooring? How much happens before we place it back
down? How do we place it back down? What happens after it is placed back down?
Do we remove the old paint before? Do we need to reestablish the tounges and
grooves, especialy at the ends where the boards were cut etc. (Router and bit to
match the old stuff?) What is the shortest practical length to reuse?
Is the old pine a realistic flooring option? (It has a nice look to it.) Should it be used only in low traffic
areas?
How do we prepare the subfloor. It is an old house and very little is absolutely
square or level or perfectly FLAT.
Thanks for any help you can render
The Taylors
Replies
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Peter and Co.,
You are doing the right thing by putting down sub floor, as much as the job bites. Prep your sub floor with tar paper just prior to laying the flooring.
I'd denail the maple by pulling the nails through the bottom of each piece with an end nippers. If there is alot of build up on the sides of the pieces, above the tongue, I'd scrape it down to get a snug fit. After nailing it down with a pneumatic nailer or stapler have it sanded and re finished @ aprox. $2.00+/sq. ft. by someone who does it for a living.
Same process for the pine but I guess I be wary of painted pieces as you really can't tell the quality through the paint. If it has water stains on the bottom don't use it. Pine is a softwood and it will wear readily. i.e. no high heals and no dogs if you would like to keep it looking like something. Pine would be better upstairs in bedrooms rather than entries or dining/living rooms.
As for re routing the ends, don't. Just butt cut them with a chop box to get a good edge or use the cut end as a starter piece or end piece which ever the cut side is on.
Any questions just ask.
David
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We are in the process of converting our two-family back into a one
family. It's a 90-100 year old farm house in the central part of the city. (As
you might guess it used to be on the edge of town.) We want to keep it mostly
"old farm house" looking.
The flooring is all 3/4 inch thick, 3 1/2 inch wide tounge & groove. Maple
(blade dulling, blue smoke when cutting, HARD maple) was used in the kitchen
area and pine throughout the rest of the house. Most of the kitchen floor was covered
with linoleum and the wood is in good shape. Lot's of character adding nailholes
etc. Some of the pine was painted and some was carpeted. We want to reclaim as
much of the flooring as possible and reuse it. We pulled up the flooring as
carefully as practical and have so far placed 3/4 plywood down to serve as a
subfloor.
Here are our questions:
How do we restore the old flooring? How much happens before we place it back
down? How do we place it back down? What happens after it is placed back down?
Do we remove the old paint before? Do we need to reestablish the tounges and
grooves, especialy at the ends where the boards were cut etc. (Router and bit to
match the old stuff?) What is the shortest practical length to reuse?
Is the old pine a realistic flooring option? (It has a nice look to it.) Should it be used only in low traffic
areas?
How do we prepare the subfloor. It is an old house and very little is absolutely
square or level or perfectly FLAT.
Thanks for any help you can render
The Taylors