I believe in many things – including life, liberty, and the pursuit of original hardwood floors.
They’ve got character, they’ve got depth, they’ve got history.
This is a more-in-detail post about the floors, since you all seem to have a crush on original hardwood floors like we do.
Our home was build sometime between 1910 and 1930. No one really knows… Ryan insists it was by 1910, I tend to believe it was around 1930. Strangely enough, the bathroom was not in the original structure. The kitchen was larger and there was only one bedroom. To be honest, we’ll probably never know the truth.
Regardless, the hardwood floors are old – somewhere between 80 to 100 years.
Ryan and I both love hardwood floors. But, just as important – the costs to refinish the hardwood floors are much less than replacement. That sold Ryan on the idea of refinishing hardwood floors. “How hard can it be?” he said. (haha….)
No one believed we could refinish the floors. They were in bad shape. Years of crap patina covered the yellow pine.
There were a handful of places that Ryan needed to replace boards. He was able to salvage some boards from closets and the bathroom (which we covered with another flooring) to fix the gaps in the floor. This was perfect because we had a difficult time finding old yellow pine in our neck of the woods.
Sanding the floors was a pain in my husband’s you-know-whatchie. The floors in most rooms were in very rough shape and had been covered for at least 50 years. The kitchen had layers of old linoleum, subfloor and tile on top. We went through three rented sanders before ending up with the little guy above, which did the best. (Lesson – do your homework. The guy at the rental store doesn’t always know what he’s talking about.)
Then Ryan also had to go around all the edges because this sander didn’t get close enough. Pain.in.the.bootie. He swore he would never do it again. Funny enough, he spent another weekend sanding floors this year at the little house. I guess memory fades the pain. (And, it seemed to go much better the second time around.)
(In case you wonder, I had very important jobs during this process as well – I took photos to document the process, calmed him down when he was upset, brought lunch and helped pick the stain color.)
After a weekend of sanding, Ryan put on one coat of stain and four coats of oil-based semigloss polyurethane. We tested out four or five stain colors before finding “the one.” We liked it well enough to use it at both houses.
And, that’s pretty much the process. After doing it once, Ryan felt more confident the second time. It’s not an easy process, but the end result is worth all the pain.
So – What is your favorite type of flooring? Do you love tile, wood or carpet? Do tell.
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Sara @ Russet Street Reno says
Huzzah to the DIY refinishers! It is a total pain in the a**, but so worth it! I love the stain your chose.
Centsational Girl says
Swooning over your wood. Seriously beautiful.
My fav? Wood + area rug = love.
Freckles Chick says
And yes, you are the epitome of true DIY’ers, not like some bloggers out there who claim to be.
::wait, was that out loud?::
Freckles Chick says
Wood floors please! Especially breathtaking original ones like yours. *le sigh*
I can’t stomach the thought of the years of grossness just sitting there and marinatin’ in old carpet.
Leigh says
Those are beautiful! You are a lucky girl to have those and a hubby who will do all that hard work.
Stephanie says
havent really had the chance to pick out floors (since all we’ve done is rent) but if we ever do build or have the chance to redo, andrew & i both agree on wood floors all over…except maybe carpet in the bedrooms (though maybe a big fluffy rug would be ok too) and tile/stone in the bathrooms.
Beth says
Oh my goodness, this is so fun to look at. My husband and I refinished the old wood floors in our first home in Lansdowne, PA and our living room looked nearly identical to your room with the old millwork and bookshelves. Love it! The turned out gorgeous.
Joi says
Your floors look gorgeous! Great work Newlywoodwards!
That’s a project we plan on tackling next summer…but we’re probably going to contract it out!
Mrs. 5C says
I LOVE our original hardwood floors, the older the better, I think! I think it improves the “soul” of the house. 🙂 Fortunately for us, they were refinished when we got here. You guys are awesome for doing the floors yourselves. My brother and sister-in-law are doing this as well and it’s backbreaking work!
You picked a great finish!
Melissa says
We also LOVE our 70 year old hardwoods. We redid the living and dinning room along with ripping out carpet in and redoing the floors in the bedrooms. I love the way they look and it really helps my allergies to only have a few area rugs. We also put a darker stain on our oak wood.
Allison and Jared says
Love it!
carrie says
Hardwoods are definitely my fave; hands down.
I have to give SOSOSO much credit to your main squeeze for doing it himself. It is by far the less expensive way to go but I couldn’t imagine doing our floors ourselves. Maybe it’s because we have 3 floors and lots of tight nooks & whatnot. Either way…
Ryan, I tip my hat to you, sir!
Emily says
Wood all the way. Our main floor is all wood and I love it that way. I grew up in a house with hardwoods upstairs too, so to me that’s the ultimate goal (but not for this little house). You guys are amazing (and true do it yourselfers. Makes me proud, seeing as how most “DIY” bloggers (I have no one in mind right now, no one}would hire out things like floors and kitchens)).
Jenny @ Words on Wendhurst says
Hmm. I love a beautifully tiled floor, but I think hardwoods are sleek and beautiful. And they are so much better for you healthwise than wall to wall carpeting that just collects the dirt.
I’m gonna go with hardwoods as my favorite. So glad you posted some tips, as we will need to refinish our floors at some point. 🙂