Falling In Love With an Historical Farmhouse This Homeowner Wants To Preserve The Wood Floors As Closely As Possible

Previously coming from a new build in the Village of Medford, this homeowner truly sees herself restoring a historical property, and found one needing some love also close to the Village. As she has gotten settled in she has tackled many projects already, and next on the list was refinishing her formal living room pine floor.

She inherited the living room floor not only covered in carpet it was also painted . After taking a peek, she decided to tear out the carpet. And not to her surprise she found more of the termite damage (which she was made aware of during the inspection process,) but overall hoped it could be cleaned up and refinished.

The Problems or Challenges Are Identified

Termite damage was located in several areas. Some of the boards would have to be replaced. Even one of the floor joists needed some “sistering,” as they chewed in to it too. There is some cupping of the boards (indicative of moisture from the unfinished basement.) There are some major gaps, one of which is toward the front of the room by the bay window. In fact, in this area it was discovered the boards near the window ran at a 90° angle leaving a wide gap that certainly needed some attention.

Our Vintage Wood Dealer Hooked Us Up

We had to source some random width wide plank pine, varying in widths to 12″ wide. We would have to call upon our vintage wood dealer, who after hunting in his storage barn had just what we needed. Usually selling this stock at full retail, our dealer friend gave us fair pricing as we are in the trade business. Our client was pleased that we got the material (who had said she could live with other boards if not available.) Some of the boards were different, but most cleaned up well.

After Acclimating the Boards Our Wood Refinisher Started on the Repairs

With about 2 days of work our refinisher removed the pulverized boards. He added support, or “sistered” the compromised joint, and cleaned up the wide gaps by removing the board and replacing it with a wider one. The board removed was used elsewhere. Our client was pleased, and so was her puppy (Bumpy.) Very nervous around us, we won him over big time—his mommy tells us the room we were bringing back to life was his favorite room. And honestly as we were finishing up he was getting more and more excited!

The Sanding Began and The True Beauty was Revealed

The sanders were fired up, and the paint (not lead based thank goodness,) was sanded off. Extra sanding was necessary to evenly sand the boards on the cupped edge areas. Our tech did this by hand sanding the edges. (A note, on the list is to get some dehumidification in the basement to calm the board cupping down. This homeowner knows its necessary, but there are other issues with electric and such to do to get that ‘on board.’ So that remains a to be continued agenda.)

The Pine “Wood” Be Kept Natural

With the repairs done, the sanding done, now we were excited to apply the seal coat, and experiment with whether the clear finish applied was enough. Or, did we have to add some tint to the finish coats. Well the answer was yes- just a little “amberizer” tint was added to the finish to add some aging color that would better match the foyer color.

All Done, All Cleaned Up—Proud Once Again and Ready For Decorating

Every vintage job has its own unique set of circumstances. We are really glad we could restore this and make it proud once again. Bumpy and his Mom are thrilled! With another improvement that is period conscience, she could look on to the next one. We can’t wait to see the other “love” and projects she has in store for this  property. A labor of love we were honored to part of.

Each vintage or historic restoration is different. We are happy to discuss a special plan to restore them while preserving their unique beauty. Call for a free estimate. Call us at 609.953.0472 or contact us online.