[SustainableTompkins] Advice on refinishing pine floors

[Joel and Sarah Gagnon]

As others have indicated, the flooring might be sub flooring, but then 
again, it might not. The subfloor/finish floor thing became standard 
practice in upper class homes by the late 1800s, but in working class 
houses not until mid 20th century. If the floor was intended to be the 
finish floor, it might have been of somewhat better quality than was 
typically used for subflooring, and more carefully laid. If it isn't face 
nailed, it was almost certainly intended to be the finish floor, but face 
nailing doesn't not necessarily mean it wasn't. Our house has face nailed 
pine plank floors, but it was built in 1862. It also has a tongue and 
groove fir kitchen floor that are narrow strips, nailed through the 
tongues. I presume they chose the more durable fir for the heavy wear 
kitchen and the more economical pine for the rest. Interestingly, the 
kitchen floor was not painted; the other floors were (although some of them 
were not painted in the middle of the room where a carpet would have 
covered the unpainted area -- why waste paint where it wouldn't be seen?).

I agree that the paint is likely lead-containing in a house of that 
vintage. If they are going to sand, they should wear respirators with high 
efficiency particulate filters that will catch the very fine lead dust and 
be careful with cleanup after sanding. Regular vacuum cleaners will pass 
the lead through and blow it all over the place. Better to use brooms and 
brushes, followed by a wash-down. A HEPA vacuum would work too, of course, 
but they are an expensive item. If they have a lot of floors to do, though, 
it might be a good investment since lead paint is a hazard for any 
remodeling in houses built before 1978, which is when they finally took the 
lead out of paint. My suggestion would be to repaint if the surface is in 
reasonably sound condition. Paint hardens the surface of the wood 
considerably and is an authentic material to use. As a surfacing material, 
it takes the wear instead of the wood.

Joel

P.S. If they decide to sand and refinish, I have found that the 
imperfections in the floor are best filled with material darker than the 
rest of the floor. The darker color tends to recede; lighter colors stand 
out and tend to "grab your eye". An inexpensive filler can be made by 
mixing sawdust from the penultimate sanding with watered-down yellow 
carpenter's glue. Dry thoroughly and then sand smooth. The glue needs to be 
watered down so the final product is a bit softer than it otherwise would 
be -- the straight glue mix is a bear to sand, and areas smeared with glue 
won't take stain as effectively as surrounding areas.

At 08:36 AM 5/26/08 -0400, you wrote:
>A friend has purchased a 100-year-old home downtown and discovered, under 
>a few layers of carpeting and tile, the original tongue-and-groove pine or 
>fir planking, which was painted. She would like advice on whether it is 
>possible for her and her husband to refinish these floors DIY, or whether 
>they should hire professional help. They want to preserve the original 
>floors as well as they can.
>
>Thanks.
>
>Wendy
>277-7611
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