100 year-old kitchen maple hardwood floor: refinish (~$2k) or replace with oak (~ an add'l $1k)?
We’re doing a kitchen remodel on our 100 year old American foursquare. After removing a vinyl & a linoleum floor, we came to a maple floor, with a layer of paper (from the linoleum?) glued to it. There were also nails between every board, along the joists; evidently added to reduce the squeeks before the linoleum was laid. The kitchen is about 240 sf.
The floor expert said the paper wasn’t a problem; it should sand off. But he said he’d have to sand off each nail head before refinishing the floor, which would probably loosen up the floor & leave lots of nail holes. He recommended replacing.
Our cabinet maker suggested countersinking all the nails, refinishing, and enjoying the patina.
When our contractor countersank a few nails, it pushed the boards apart (tightening them, but also creating an ever-so-slight gap). It was also hard work; he recommended purchase antibiotics online replacing.
What to do? Refinish the current maple floor (~k), or remove & replace (oak is ~k, maple ~k, extra)?
DO NOT REPLACE. Sorry… Hundred year old maple is irreplaceable, even in the condition you describe. Maple is hard, durable, beautiful… if you haven’t seen your floor finished properly, I gaurantee you want to visit some sites and see the visual difference between oak and maple.
What you describe is called "Rustic" and if you don’t want rustic, that’s easy enough to fix. Take out all the nails with a v-tool. Save money, do it yourself. Fill the holes with wood putty. Now you need to set the boards so that they don’t move… so use finishing nails (the kind with the small heads) and countersink them. Add putty to the tiny little holes. ALL wood will move and gap depending on humidity and temperature. Make sure that the floors are sealed on a day when the gapping is minimal. Wait for it, it’s worth it. The more humid a day is, the tighter the boards will fit together. You can treat the boards with water to cause them to expand, but I don’t know how that’s done. You could probably look it up, or ask your contractor. Seal and finish.
Check the prices on antique wood, even the kind with nails and flaws, and you’ll see that what you have is actually worth the love and attention. Besides, maple shines when done right, and it doesn’t dent or scratch like other woods can (which is why cutting boards are traditionally made of maple). That’s why the work is hard, by the way. Power tools make it easy though.
I’m wondering if you’re contractor isn’t interested in salvaging those boards for his own use? Seems as a contractor he’d know the value of the original antique hardwood floors. In fact, I’m restoring a one hundred year old oak floor, and they had problems matching the grain because the hundred year old boards have finer grain and better color because they are "Old growth" timber, unlike comercial grade woods nowadays. I did all the work on the nails myself, and it did take a couple days… but the floor is almost done, and it is GORGEOUS.
Oh, and my contractor had NO problem restoring the oak floors, which were uncovered after a House Fire. So, if mine are salvageable, I can’t see how yours aren’t.
Good luck.
replace
If it was me I would replace it. Then you are pretty much guaranteed to be happy with the results. Otherwise it seems like you are just hoping for the best with the refinishing process. Good luck!
replace with oak is my opinion
Since the new flooring is most probably not 100% oak, I would stay with the old flooring. Old flooring is homier and warmer looking. If you were to purchase REAL oak flooring (not a laminate), it would cost WAY more than you are quoting here. Know that the trendy new "wooden" floors that are being sold today do emit a substance which has not been proven to be completely safe. Do some research on the Internet and you will find what I am talking about. Old flooring is worth the cost of having it restored. TOTALLY worth it. Good luck.
If money is an issue I would go with oak. But f money isn’t an issue and you want your old house to look like a new old house I would go with maple. I too ran into the same problem. My husband and I went with the floor that we already had down. That saved us money because we were doing it ourselfs. The nails were a problem. But our biggest problem was sanding. Our floor had so many deep scratches that we must of took off 1/4 of the top layer of wood. And that wasn’t easy. Good luck. Hardwood floors are a pain, but they are worth it.
Replace it…You will be happier, you don’t want to put 2K into refinishing and then not be happy.
Who gets the extra 1k? The contractors with the advice?Without seeing it myself its hard to say, however if there’s no termite or water damage it would be great to restore that old floor that came with the house.I think in the long run it would bring more value to your home and just think about the history that floors been through. Good Luck!
Hahahaha. At first, when I saw your question, I thought it started with "100 year-old KITTEN". HAHAHAHAHHAHA.
Sorry.
I don’t have an answer though.
first….i would get another quote. one thing you might do is buy some cut nails and after sanding the floors, install the cut nails to camouflage the other nails that can’t be set. this might fit an old house better than a new hardwood floor anyway. some people even add dings just to make it look old.
SORRY KEEP THE OLD….I would maybe get some more opinions from other contractors…..sounds like yours is taking you for ride…..think about it how do they refinish the insides of old historical buildings and keep all the originals inside and make them look new…..keep the flooring get another opinion…dont get oak you can never replace something that had been done 100 years ago….just think how youll feel when you redo the floor youll love it… i love old homes if it were me i would refinish it.
GOOD LUCK
100 yr old maple hardwood floor?! that is practically an antique. if you could restore it, do it! even if it would cost u same amount as replacing it w/ new one. that’ll add character to your home AND good resale value in the future. you must hire a good floor guy into restoring antique hardwood floor!
Can you show some pictures of the maple hardwood flooring?
DO NOT REPLACE THAT FLOOR!!!!
100 year old maple is not replaceable. Oak is crap compared to maple.
My parents have a 100 year old maple wood floor in their living room. My opinion- restore it. push the nails under, sand it down. you can even cover the nails if need be. Then I recommend Shellacking it. It’s incredibly hard to work with but if you get a good stainer to do it, it will be amazing. I wish I could attach at picture of my parents floor. if you want to see a pic let me know. stafford.jillian@gmail.com.
I have a degree in architecture and I took some grad courses in historic preservation.
DO NOT TEAR UP THAT FLOOR !!!!!
refinish it, it will be beautiful. the wood floors you can buy now are crap compared to what you have. you have old growth which is irreplaceable and far more beautiful. anyone who tells you otherwise has no idea what they are talking about and either want to keep it for themselves or have mindlessly jumped on the ‘replace everything with cookie cutter new crap’ bandwagon.
look around, you can find someone to refinish a floor for cheap money. I just did my 15×15 kitchen-old growth maple-over for 500 bucks and its stunning.
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