Living here in the Sunshine State it seems that folks have an unusual penchant for $0.69 sq. ft. 20″ tiles. The most popular colors are blah, boring, and blech. People love to toss these tiles down over red oak, irreplaceable heart pine, and any number of historic floors. And these tile are spreading like a wildfire across the floors of historic homes. Something must be done! Which brings us to our number 2 worst mistake of historic homeowners…
Flooring
Historic houses are having their floors covered up, ripped out, or trashed in any number of ways to make room for newer, inferior products. Only in America would we be ignorant enough to cover what would be a $15 or $20 per sq. ft. floor with a $.50 per sq. ft. floor. Are we really that shallow? Historic homes have some of the finest flooring available. Have you ever seen a 70 year old vinyl floor? I didn’t think so. How about laminate flooring that has made it even 30 years? Me neither. Todays floors, even the top quality ones, come with 25 and even 40 year warranties which isn’t too bad, but why would you replace a floor that will last centuries with one that lasts only a third that long?
And in today’s real estate market most of us are being ever mindful of home values. The typical buyer of an old or historic home is expecting hardwood floors. “Maintenance-free” tile is not a selling point for these kind of houses. And while a click-lock engineered wood or laminate floor may be considered an upgrade on a new home it is a definite cold shower to your historic home’s market price.
Restorations
Wood floors are prime candidates for refinishing and restoration. If you have pet stains, loose/missing boards, rot, termite damage, or other issues these are simple repairs for a flooring professional. And if you get someone who says your floors aren’t repairable they are most likely either too lazy to do the work or trying to sell you new floors. Either way, RUN! I have yet to come across a solid wood floor that couldn’t be repaired. The same is almost never true for tile, laminate, vinyl or even engineered wood floors.
Before repairs
Probably one of my favorite jobs restoring a floor was this 1920s heart pine I came across. The home had been used as a business for a time and apparently there had been some damage to the original floors that was patched…well, let’s just say poorly, and then carpeted over. When the new homeowner found the damage she intended to tile over the entire house with the afore mentioned tile. I was referred to her when her tiling was about halfway done and convinced her (read: begged) her to save the remaining floors because they were not beyond repair. A week later after replacement boards were installed and the floors were refinished she had what looked like new floors! You can visit our website for more pictures of wood floors we’ve brought back from near extinction. www.austinhomerestorations.com
Repaired and Restored Heart Pine Floors
Solid wood flooring, like this, found in most historic homes is extremely resilient. It can handle multiple refinishings (done properly) over its life and is easy to repair in a way that is almost certainly unnoticeable. And what’s best, it can last hundreds of years with minimal care! So before you jump to “upgrade” the flooring in your historic home take a minute and think it over. Do you want a different color? Stain it. A different glossiness? Refinish it. You can even paint your wood floor to look like almost anything. The only boundaries are your own imagination. And if you are wondering if your floor can be repaired, the answer is almost always “Yes!” Search around for a hardwood refinishing specialist or restoration company and you will find someone up to the task of rejuvenating your floors. And trust me, it will be worth it!
Tired of the same old wood floors? You can make quite a statement with some stain or paint. I’ve included some fun ideas of what others have done with their hardwood floors. Get creative!
You can also learn more about the history of hardwood floors in our post A History of Wood Floors
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- Strip flooring painted white
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- A fun painted checkerboard design
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- White and Natural Stripes
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- A dressed up foyer
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- Add a decorative border with a different species of wood
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- Create your own pattern and colors
Read the rest of the 5 Worst Mistakes of Historic Homeowners:
You may also enjoy
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5 Worst Mistakes of Historic Homeowners (Part 1 Windows) -
5 Worst Mistakes of Historic Homeowners (Part 3 Siding) -
5 Worst Mistakes of Historic Homeowners (Part 4 Plaster) -
5 Worst Mistakes of Historic Homeowners (Part 5 The Details)
Tags: 1920s, 1930s, antique, architecture, building, bungalow, construction, craftsman, flooring, floors, green, hardwood floors, heart pine, Historic, historical, History, home improvement, oak, old, old home, preservation, refinishing, remodel, renovation, repair, repurpose, restoration, salvage, wood floors
Categories: 5 Worst Mistakes of Historic Homeowners, Flooring
Nothing like tile to date a house renovation. Much like shag carpet that makes you think, “70s renovation”, 12″ beige tile says 1990s+. Definitely not historic home appropriate.
You saved one! Nice. I hear what you are saying & wholeheartedly agree. I would take historic hardwoods over cheap ceramic any day!!
Cheers
Jim
I am in the process of completely renovating a 100+ y/o farmhouse and the demo has been slow-go due to shoddy additions & cover-ups over the years, but the worst has been the nasty tiles someone along the way stuck down in the kitchen. I’m still working to get those things up. They covered up what was beautiful heart-pine flooring.
Thank you for a well-written article (and series).
I’m really enjoying this series and your blog. I’ll be doing a post on renovation dos and don’ts soon, and I hope you don’t mind me referencing this (don’t hesitate to let me know if you do mind).
Thanks!
Thanks so much! I’m glad you enjoyed the series. It’s been a lot of fun writing. I thought it would be a single article but after I started writing it turned out to be a bit more.
And I would be honored to be mentioned or linked to by your blog!
After Tropical Storm Alicia Houston flooded very badly. Many old floore were waterlogged and had to be pulled up. It broke my heart to drive by mound after mound of removed flooring. We salvaged as much as we could, but so much prime floring went to the andfill it made me weep.
I have a craftsman home built around 1917 and would love to refinish the original hardwood floors. However, in our hallway, the last owner put pergo over them (but they are still there) because the owner before them stained a carpet purple on top of the wood flooring dying the wood as well. Is there a way to pull the purple stain out of the original floor and refinish and stain them to a normal golden brown. They are white oak (I think). Thanks!
Karen, The floors can likely be salvaged if they are sanded down and refinished. It really just depends on what kind of dye was used on the carpets and how deeply it soaked into the floors. But I think you have an excellent chance of getting the color out and saving your floors.