Old wood floor maintenance

[kittywitty]

We've had old wood floors in the past. In our current house, they are about 80-100 years old. But they seem to be pine, I believe. They were refinished shortly before we moved in (within a few months). They were polyurethaned and really pretty after the old owners pulled up carpet and fixed them. A year later and they are gross. Not dirty-they just look very very worn. They are terribly scratched up and dented from the slightest thing-a car toy, dropping a fork, moving a chair (even with felt protectors), etc. The wood has crached and caved in several spots from the pressure of furniture-not even heavy furniture.

It's driving me crazy. I feel like I can't even live in my house because we might accidently scrap it and destroy 100 year old wood. I read that polyurethaning them should protect them for about forever. But they obviously are not well protected and we've never had this issue with wood floors, ever. Even with 100+ year old unfinished Victorian home wood floors.

I don't use harsh cleaners-just water or vinegar water like suggested. I don't scrub and have a microfiber mop. I vacuum on the hardwood setting and haven't had any issues with that.

Are you supposed to get your floors professionally buffed or something? How often are you supposed to get them finished? Any ways to protect my floors? We don't wear shoes in the house, have some rugs, and try to be very careful, but with kids and pets and living, it's hard to prevent it all.

Before we moved in: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36722567@N06/4715236543/

A few months later (much worse now): http://www.flickr.com/photos/36722567@N06/4213104641/
You can't see it really well in this picture, but don't have any other pics already taken.

[SleeplessMommy]

It sounds like a very soft pine. Pine is much much softer than a nice oak floor or 200 year old heart pine. (heart pine is the center of the tree)

You can have the floors screened and re-finished, if you like. slightly cheaper than sanding and refinishing.

I am wondering what kind of finish was used - water based or oil based polyurethane. The sheen of the finish also affects hardness. When we did a previous house we did 1 layer gloss then 1 layer satin finish - to get a satin look but the harder "gloss" finish. If you do opt to refinish, ask an expert first about your options. Satin I believe will show scratches less.

In general, I think babying the floor would be the way to go. Put shims under furniture, have everyone take shoes off at the door, vacuum frequently to remove small bits of dirt/stones.

From the pictures, you have beautiful floors. Find a way to love them.

[SleeplessMommy]

Originally Posted by kittywitty

The wood has crached and caved in several spots from the pressure of furniture-not even heavy furniture.

If you live in FL or the deep south, check for termites

[kittywitty]

Thanks. There are no termites, we are in the midwest and it was thoroughly inspected for them before we moved in, and I believe there were preventative measures taken just in case? I will have to ask about the screening. I have no idea what finish they used. We asked after we moved in, but the owners couldn't really remember. They only had it done within a year of selling it to us but only lived in the house 3 months, so they think they had it polyurethaned (definitely not wax) but that's all they could tell us. My neighbor is a contractor, maybe I could ask him? He did a little work on the house for the old owners and might know more about the floors.

And the cave-ins are small. Corners where the wood pieces meet and such-1-3" long cracks basically. If the leg or a piece of furniture is where they are perpendicular to each other (I don't know if you can see the wood pattern in the pics), then they crack really easily. Nothing unsafe, more just cosmetic and annoying.

[yeahwhat]

Is there any subfloor underneath the planks or at least another layer of planks? We have pine planks as the first layer of subfloor in our house (100+ years old) and some rooms have 2 layers of planks, but they wouldn't work as a finished floor and I don't think they were meant to.

[kittywitty]

I'm not sure. I think that there is. From what I can see in the basement, at least. The top pine boards are definitely not meant to be subfloor as they are decorative.

[SleeplessMommy]

It sounds like you do have a subfloor under the regular floor. The wood plank direction should be different - perpendicular to joists when viewed from the basement, parallel to the joists when viewed from the first floor.

Floor refinishing people are specialists, if you call around to your local refinishing contractors you may be able to find someone with a fix... or maybe just commiseration.

[HeatherAtHome]

We have old pine floors too. Pine is soft and will dent and scratch easily. We haven't refinished our floors yet but were thinking of going with some type of oil finish. Here's info on tung oil. I looked into it a while ago and supposedly if a spot gets scratched or worn you can just add oil to that one section instead of sanding down and refinishing the whole floor.

We've also decided to embrace the imperfections and are going for a more farmhouse look. (which works because it is an old farmhouse.

[kittywitty]

I wouldn't mind the rustic look, but the people who remodeled made the rest of the house very modern (it's some sort of 1900-1920 cottage) and we are planning on selling and moving here in about 1.5 years or so, probably, so I need to try to keep them as nice as possible.