1836 heart pine floors

[Malcolm Schweizer]

We just purchased a house in St. Thomas that was built in 1836. The house is a fortress of stone and brick with 16" thick walls. She has survived many hurricanes. The heart pine floors were sanded in 1995 but never varnished. They were in very poor shape. I rented a belt sander and started with 60 grit, then a vibratory sander with 60, 80, and 100 grit. Next I had to fill the many holes, some of which I left for character, and stain the filler (nobody on island sells the water based stain or powder pigment needed to mix a matched filler, so I just stained the filler after the fact- no time to order it online as I did not plan on this glitch and had to finish the floors before our lease is up where we are staying).

Next I did 2 coats of sanding sealer, followed by three coats of varnish, all coats being sanded between with 180 grit. 175+ years of wear and tear bounced back quite nicely. The color is the natural color except for five or six boards that had at some time been replaced with (gasp) treated lumber, so I stained those to match.

i wanted to share for all you wood lovers like myself who will appreciate seeing wood that was installed 178 years ago and probably was saplings 300 or more years ago- old growth stuff. In some places 30 ore more growth rings per inch.

[bob svoboda]

That's a special floor-nicely done!

[Bruce Volden]

GREAT floors............feet, not so much:eek:

Bruce

[Malcolm Schweizer]

The big toe had a run-in with a disc sander. Safety is key. (Still haven't learned that lesson)

[Raymond Fries]

Very nice. Congratulations on the house.

I hope you are getting a little more room for your woodworking...

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Very nice. Congratulations on the house.

I hope you are getting a little more room for your woodworking...

I am getting my own space. I will get pics up once it is filled with goodies.

[Raymond Fries]

Awesome! Congratulations on a new work area.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Very nice. Very nice indeed.

I notice that after the finish was completed, you started wearing socks - no doubt so you can get a running start and "surf" across the new finish.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Nice job!

Nothing beats the look of a nice wood floor.

[Erik Loza]

Amazing results, thanks for sharing. Would you be willing to post more pics of the house? I would be interested to see the exterior.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Hello Eric,
The house was Dutch built of local granite called "Blue Bit" which we like to call "Blue Bitch", and skinned outside in brick. Every 7th course of brick is tied into the stone wall. The outside is fairly simple. The roof is flush to the walls so that wind cannot lift it in a hurricane. The double hip roof (is that the right term?) is wind resistant. The cool thing, other than the view, is that one of the two cisterns was drained to make a storeroom hidden with a trap door under one of the rooms. A secret room! I call it the dungeon. It will be lumber storage and storage for other things not frequently used. In the downstairs master bedroom there are still marble tiles that match the marble used in the Reformed Church down the hill, rebuilt (after a fire) shortly after this house was built. I am sure they came from the same lot. The house was built on a corner, and was built to fit the lot, so one corner of the house has a sharp angle to it, which made trim work an interesting. The workshop has a wall that angles 15 degree from square. I hope that does not affect my woodworking!!!

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Danish built, not Dutch.

[Erik Loza]

That is awesome, Malcolm!

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Chuck Wintle]

We just purchased a house in St. Thomas that was built in 1836. The house is a fortress of stone and brick with 16" thick walls. She has survived many hurricanes. The heart pine floors were sanded in 1995 but never varnished. They were in very poor shape. I rented a belt sander and started with 60 grit, then a vibratory sander with 60, 80, and 100 grit. Next I had to fill the many holes, some of which I left for character, and stain the filler (nobody on island sells the water based stain or powder pigment needed to mix a matched filler, so I just stained the filler after the fact- no time to order it online as I did not plan on this glitch and had to finish the floors before our lease is up where we are staying).

Next I did 2 coats of sanding sealer, followed by three coats of varnish, all coats being sanded between with 180 grit. 175+ years of wear and tear bounced back quite nicely. The color is the natural color except for five or six boards that had at some time been replaced with (gasp) treated lumber, so I stained those to match.

i wanted to share for all you wood lovers like myself who will appreciate seeing wood that was installed 178 years ago and probably was saplings 300 or more years ago- old growth stuff. In some places 30 ore more growth rings per inch.

This is in the US virgin Islands?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Yes- St. Thomas, USVI

[James Conrad]

I best come down to inspect those floors personally, it will only take a week or so, I'll sleep in the shop. See you next week then?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Perfect! Next week I start sanding and painting downstairs. Bring a brush and a respirator. Also if you have any pipe fitting tools you can help hook up the new tankless water heater.

[James Conrad]

Don't temp me! Last time I was there was 20 years ago, spent most of our time on St. John, great times.

Nice work on the floors too!

[Jason Roehl]

I was just there 3 months ago! Sailed in on the Norwegian Epic in early December. The locals were saying they couldn't remember the last time they had 9 cloudy days in a row.

Thanks for the peek into life elsewhere.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I always feel sorry for the tourists when it rains, but we collect rainwater in cisterns so we love the rain!