Timber Floors and making them look better

Yak_Chat · Nov 16, 2007 8:14 pm

Just found some pics of my last place where I renovated the floors and repainted all the walls.

Basically I ripped up tiles and carpet , sanded and coated the floors.

It took a couple of weekends - but was well worth it.

Hmm

Now the work starts !!! :shock:

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/sunkosi/kitchenfloor3.jpg
Kitchen
This is after the bobcat guy had been in and lifted what he could with his machine.
See that section of tiles on the left hand side where he couldn't get to,

It took me over 1/2 a day to get those off with a crowbar, chisel and hammer. :shock:

The entire kitchen 7m x 5m and the entrance hall, had these yummy brown tiles cemented to the fibro, which was glued and nailed to the 100 year old hardwood Jarrah timber. :shock:

It was very lucky we could get his machine in - because I'd still be at it otherwise.

The Kitchen afterwards
Yes the old dog lived inside and thats' his bowl on the old wood stove concrete hob - which we painted black.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/sunkosi/IMG_0087.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/sunkosi/IMG_0097.jpg

The machine dug in a few times, but that was unavoidable.
This was a repaired section in the doorway.
Note the different width of the boards.
I think the gouges added character

Dining Room

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/sunkosi/Jarrah1.jpg
The timber was so hard I could not even punch the nails down.
So I just sanded them (that's the silver bits) and then I used Tung Oil, but that never worked (to dirty and dull in the country) so I re-sanded and them and polyurethaned it. These days I'd use a water based product

Again more concrete was found as the fireplace hob, painted it black, and yes that's wood fire ash everywhere.

While I was at it I did the hallway / lounge area which ended up having 5 layers.

2 layers of lino (Glued to the floor) plus 3 layers of carpet with felt underlay on top of that and of course, lots of nails and stables :evil:

Nooen had ever ripped up anything up - They simply put a new layer over the top

But then I found my prize !!!!

Which is what I'd been hoping for

The Baltic Pine and Jarrah.

I didn't sand the baltic pine smooth (it was a bit cupped) and as you can see had lots of rusted nail stains and colour, character, and gave a warmer country feel to the palce, as I felt that was part of the history of the house.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/sunkosi/BalticPine.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/sunkosi/JarrahandPine.jpg

Note the thick sandstone walls.
Good thermal mass once it was warmed up.

High ceilings were great in summer, not so good in winter. A long up to change a light and a long way down when painting them.

And the timber slat divider was a visual seperator from the entrance way to the main house.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/sunkosi/IMG_0085.jpg

From the entrance looking to the Lounge. Out that door was another bedroom, bathroom, and study. Note the drinks trolley - not a bar

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/sunkosi/Hallway.jpg

Looking back toward the entrance door.

And the house from the outside - nice wide verandahs on 3 sides, high roofline and just a really nice place with no neighbours on 30 acres.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/sunkosi/House.jpg
It featured in the weekend Australian magazine and we sold to an interstate couple a few years later, with enquiries from NSW, QLD and VIc.

Steve

Dukekamaya · Nov 16, 2007 9:11 pm

Wow that jarrah is dark, shows you how much timber darkens with age.
Who told you it was baltic pine? ( which incidently is only a trade name)
It looks absolutely nothing like baltic pine if it is, my guess would be that its Australian Kauri Pine.

Yak_Chat · Nov 16, 2007 9:30 pm

Locals told me it was baltic - but happy to hear it was Australian

Certain bits of the jarrah were not as dark as others - Unless it wasn't jarrah either. ?

PhoenixStar · Nov 16, 2007 9:37 pm

Great job Yak Chat. Did you end up keeping all the antique furniture - including the drinks trolley?
Thanks for showing us your home in such detail.... It was lovely....

Yak_Chat · Nov 17, 2007 9:07 am

The furniture was the ex's heirlooms - hand made for her parents wedding - so I left that with her, along with the crappy speakers.

DeeElle · Nov 18, 2007 7:29 pm

Hey steve
Great pics. I can almost smell that 'old house' smell. We sold our 100 yo bungalow 6 yrs ago, and I got all nostalgic looking at your pictures. We have kept some of the antiques and will mix them in with the new build, but gave away the 50's furniture just before it all came back into fashion :shock:

.

Its amazing how great it looks to mix the wood and yes the thermal mass was great for us as well - sandstone and double brick. But once that baby got hot, it took days to cool down!! Our daggy rental property is good that way ... heats up by 9 am and cools down with dusk.

I'll have to dig up our old pics and post them as well. What wonderful memories. Did you do most of the renovating yourselves?

Dy

Yak_Chat · Nov 18, 2007 7:53 pm

Hi DeeEllle.
This place was built properly and had no bad smells like some older not so well built places do. No rising damp etc.

The wide verandahs shaded the walls in summer so it never got hot - even on really long hot spells and the large trees to the western side did there job in summer too.

And yes - the only contracter was mr bobcat the tile scraper.
As for the 50's furniture - hmm which items are you referring to?
Steve

DeeElle · Nov 18, 2007 7:58 pm

Yak_Chat

Hi DeeEllle.
This place was built properly and had no bad smells like some older not so well built places do. No rising damp etc.

The wide verandahs shaded the walls in summer so it never got hot - even on really long hot spells and the large trees to the western side did there job in summer too.

And yes - the only contracter was mr bobcat the tile scraper.
As for the 50's furniture - hmm which items are you referring to?
Steve

Hi Steve
I was referring to our 50's furniture which we inadvertently sold b4 it came back into fashion.
Great house BTW.
Cheers
Dy

Dukekamaya · Nov 18, 2007 9:28 pm

Yak_Chat

Certain bits of the jarrah were not as dark as others - Unless it wasn't jarrah either. ?

Probably just the sapwod of the tree

PhoenixStar · Nov 18, 2007 9:38 pm

Hey Dukekamaya, what is your opinion of putting a polyurethane coating over freshly laid Boral Silkwood flooring??
Have you heard of anyone doing that? We are a little worried about the so called 6 thin coats that goes on this flooring and thought that the poly cosat will give it more durability? What is your opinion?

Dukekamaya · Nov 19, 2007 8:11 am

You couldn't be sure the poly will stick the existing coatings properly. Poly is deigned to go over raw timber. Yo will also vooid any warranty on the floor.

PhoenixStar · Nov 19, 2007 11:19 am

okay back to square one. Just that someone told me that they can give it a light sand after installing and put the coat on? Not recommended then.