Help! Old Pine Floor

[Tom Ives]

I'm a newbie here, and have a 1931 house. I ripped up the linoleum and the luan subfloor and found the original pine (i assume) floor. It was finished at one point, but now has old adhesive all over it as well as the old dark finish. It measures 1/2" thick (and 2 1/4" wide).

Is it thick enough to sand and refinish?

And if it is, are there any thoughts about the best finish? I read about sealers (Velvit) vs poly. Is one generally better for longevity and ease, or is it a matter of opinion?

Thanks for any help!
Tom

[Jim Becker]

Relative to thickness...1/2" is pretty thin. If that flooring isn't over a solid subfloor, I wouldn't consider sanding it at all. This is definitely a sanding job for a pro, however...pine is soft and even if you have "full thickness" to play with, it's very easy to gouge.

[Tom Ives]

Hi Jim, sorry it's taken me so long to reply, but for some reason I couldn't get logged on all day. Anyway, I took another look and the floor is 5/8" thick. I'm not quite sure what it sits on. You said it's a job for a pro, is that cause I make take off to much?

[Jim Becker]

Yea, you have to be really careful with pine floors. Even pros can screw them up. The wide pumpkin pine on the first floor of the 250 year old portion of our home especially in what is now our home theater room next to my office was over sanded by someone the previous owner hired and is at about the same 5/8" you describe...it's VERY bouncy, especially with the very wide joist spacing below and no subfloor to give it additional support.

[Tom Ives]

One last question before I have to consider the linoleum my wife wants...ugh.

I did some looking in the basement and the subfloor is 1x12"s, that sit on 1x8" joists that are spaced 16"oc.

In your opinon, would it be worth a try, or time poorly spent? Thanks again for your help!

[Jim Becker]

The fact that you have a sub-floor is significant...it gives you a little "room" to work. You could still opt to sand, but if so, I'd still suggest a pro do it. You want it cleaned up without any major removal of material.

[Jim Mackell]

In your opinon, would it be worth a try, or time poorly spent? Thanks again for your help!

I lived with a pine floor for 20 years. Refinishing is needed almost continuously if you have kids or if the floor has any regular traffic at all. Unless it's in a bedroom, it really not worth the bother. Any of the laminates will give you a better looking, better wearing surface.

Jim

[Jim Becker]

Well, Jim...it depends upon the look you want/prefer. If you always want pristine, shiny floors that don't exhibit wear, pine is definitely a poor choice! (Our whole home is clad in wide pine flooring, except for the brick in the kitchen and the new addition will also be pine) In Tom's case, he seems to be interested in restoring the pine floor that has been covered by yucky stuff for a long time. But topping with engineered or laminate is an option if that's not possible.

[Jason King]

Hello,

A few years ago I was living in an early 50's house and the LOML and I removed years of linoleum and vinyl tile to expose a nearly black pine floor. I spent weeks sanding the black off of the floor. I discovered two things:

1. The black stuff gums up sandpaper faster than you would believe, and the black stuff can be harder than the pine floor underneath. This is a recipe fro gouging your floors. I had several gouge spots that were caused by impatience and inexperience in refinishing floors.

2. People rarely cover up a pristine floor. While it does happen, I wouldn't be surprised to find that once you remove the black goo there's a whole world of water damage and patches to your floor.

That being said, if I had it to do all over again, I'd probably still refinish the floor, just to see what's under the black mess, but it's definitely worth it to have a pro do it. If it turns out that you don't like the results, you can always cover it later with a hardwood. good luck