Care of pine and limestone floors

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks, Nigel and Flyfisher. It's good to know that new boards can be matched in successfully Nigel.

Flyfisher, it's tricky to know what end of life means if you live in an old house. Lots of people who visit think quite a lot of things have reached the end of their lives! Unlike with your attic, the floor has happily taken the weight of people and furniture. It's mainly damaged around the edges, especially those which lead to outside. A few pics- can anyone confirm what wood it is?

Woodwormy section sanded yesterday

Middle not bad at all

Showing doorway with new boards

Typical old repair

 

[Tom]

Joce, when I visited your house which, by the way, is beautiful, I suggested how you could go about dealing with this floor. At the time, you were concerned about the state of the joists beneath and I suggested the following;

1. Take up the whole section aligned with the doorway (which would include the new boards). You would then have access, abeit limited, to inspect the joists and clear the rubble you mentioned (if you want to). You could then replace the boards, using reclaimed boards to take up the area of the new one, and stagger them - so that the reclaimed ones, if not a perfect match, would blend in. Any repairs to existing boards would have to be done in situ.

or

2. Take up all the boards, after numbering them. This would give complete access to repair/replace any rotten joists and clear all the rubble (and mouse nests!) to allow better ventilation. You could then replace any boards that really need replacing and, if you wanted, rip the edges of the remaining boards to give a closer fit and finally re-fit. You would also have the choice of sanding the boards once back down or doing them individually whilst lifted.

This isn't a difficult or particularly expensive job and, as I said before, certainly isn't beyond your capability. I have offered to help and, if you like, that offer still stands. By the way, have you changed your number? I sent you a text earlier but you didn't answer. Not sure if / why things have turned a little sour?

Jaqy

 

[Flyfisher]

it's tricky to know what end of life means if you live in an old house. Lots of people who visit think quite a lot of things have reached the end of their lives!

Absolutely right, of course. I'm sure we all know people who would think our entire houses are end of life and should be pulled down and replaced with something 'built properly', i.e. having straight walls and floors.

I meant 'end of life' in the sense of no longer doing its original job. In wood terms this usually involves rotting to the point of crumbling away or being so 'wormy' that it is more holes than wood - the sort of wood you can snap in a puff of sawdust! From the photos you posted, your floor doesn't look anywhere near end-of-life, just in need of a little local TLC.