Tips for Restoring Old Floors

Wood floors of the Victorian era--plain, unfinished planks--have given way to parquet designs. Restoring these floors goes a long way toward creating an authentic period look.

Unlike unfinished planks whose charm came from natural wear patterns, shiny strip and parquet floors benefited from new finishing products such as oil, varnishes and shellacs that added a special look to the floorboards.

If you’re restoring a home of this period, opting for a varnish or shellac is a good way to give your floor an authentic, period look. Like painting, preparation is more important than application when you’re refinishing an old floor.

If a floor has been properly maintained, it’s often possible to coat over the existing surface with the same finish.

First prep a small test area by hand sanding it, then add the chosen finish. If it bites and has the right look, it’s probably the same finish that’s on there.

Dissimilar products won’t work on each other, so don’t be tempted to shellac a varnished floor. It simply won’t hold.

You can add a coat of wax over either, if you choose, to preserve and protect the finish while adding a bit of luster to the floor. Keep the surface free of dust and dirt with regular dust mopping.

Expect to rewax periodically as this protective coating wears away. It’s a small price to pay for retaining a piece of history.

A note of caution if you go with shellac: This finish won’t tolerate alcohol or water spills, so be sure to consider the room’s use beforehand.

If a previous owner refinished your old house floor with a coat of polyurethane, you might decide to strip it off and bring the floor back in a more authentic manner. Although this newer finish is extremely durable and offers a longevity most old-time finishes don’t, many restorers find it looks plastic and doesn’t mesh well in restored homes.

If the floor is badly stained and scratched, the floor’s thickness is the indicator you should use to decide whether sanding is feasible.

Extreme care should be taken when working on old parquet floors. Because these boards generally are only about three-eights of an inch thick, there’s probably only about one-eighth inch to work with until the tongue is reached. As a result, many restorers will recommend stripping the floor by hand, either with a hand scraper or chemicals if the finish must be removed.

Although this can be very labor-intensive it might be the only way to refinish some old parquet without ruining the floor. Because an old strip floor is thicker, many of these floors can be sanded.

There is another factor that should be considered when deciding whether to sand an old floor.

Remember that construction techniques common to many old homes are different from those we consider standard today. Old flooring often spans structural members. More than likely your floor boards are an inch or so thick, which is adequate for this large span. But when the board is worn or sanded down to seven-eighths or three-fourths of an inch you’re apt to get some spring in the floor.

Every sanding decreases the thickness of a wood floor by about one- to three-sixteenths of an inch, so there are only so many times you can sand down a wood floor. An easy way to gauge the thickness of the old floor is to remove the molding and baseboard or a floor heating register to reveal the edge of the wood.