Carpet versus floorboards, again

[JoceAndChris]

Finally, the bedroom is an empty room: always a poignant moment.

I was completely delighted, as well as rather surprised, to find the boards in a good state under the scabby old carpet.

Is it madness to have bare boards in a chilly bedroom in the winter?

Am I right in thinking bedroom floors in 18th/early 19th century cottages would be simple painted pine boards with rag rugs?

 

[robgil]

carpet can cause all sorts of problems , asthma for one.
go with the boards and see how you feel with them after a while , you have nothing to lose as your carpet is already up.
rugs are nice to step out onto from a warm bet though.

i am not sure though that old cottages way back in the day would have had painted floor boards , ive never seen painted floor boards older than the 80's, bare perhaps but painted?
the problem with painting is , its pretty permanent or at least a proper pain to strip should you change your mind.

 

[middi]

The main disadvantage in having bare floorboads in upper rooms floors is the EXTREME noise transfere to the lower rooms.
Thick underlay and carpets cures the problem if noise is an issue.

As to painted floorboars, well, it is a personal choise. I wouldn't .

 

[DaveBrigg]

Losing small items down the crack between the boards is also occasionally a problem. From the Victorian houses I've seen, common practice was to paint around the edges with a thick, very dark substance that is hard to remove and clogs up sandpaper. The centre of the room would have a large rug. Your boards appear to be quite narrow and untouched, suggesting that they are not as old as the rest of the house, and may have been covered since fitting. Another clue would come from their condition near the door, where most wear would be expected.

 

[ilona73]

Personally i would always go for boards over carpet wherever possible. To me there is something strangely romantic about having gorgeous sumptuous dark wood floorboards with deep heavy plush pile rugs strewn about.To me the noise transfer etc is more than worth the trade off for the stunning look and feel of natural wood underfoot.I plan to re instil wood floors in our house wherever possible during the renovations .
For me there is nothing like a wood floor.

 

[CHRIS]

We had a carpet fitted upstairs last Nov after a few years of them just being exposed like yours (12" pine) the change is fantastic with it being much warmer and much quieter than before, If you use a pure wool carpet it is much better and ours does not show the dirt or any dog hair at all - it is a long loop pure NZ wool one and cost a fair few quid but make the place look much more homely. The lack of a draught in winter is the best thing along with no splinters in the foot.

I still have solid oak random width boards down stairs as it wold get ruined in a second with all the traffic if it were carpet. But the painting idea is so last year!!!! all that shaby chic rubbish - its just an excuse for people who cant paint or are untidy.

 

[ilona73]

I still have solid oak random width boards down stairs as it wold get ruined in a second with all the traffic if it were carpet. But the painting idea is so last year!!!! all that shaby chic rubbish - its just an excuse for people who cant paint or are untidy.

speaking as an interior designer.. that is subjective lol!!!

There is a place for everything and every style... beauty is in the eye of the beholder

hehehehe

Painting floorboard is actually on the up not on the way out lol... not that i condone it mind!

 

[robgil]

i was always under the impression that people normally paint floorboards because the boards are in too poor a condition to leave bare and unpainted.
i would also add that it may be a big no no to a perspective buyer should you ever decide to sell.
i dont think its as bad as using , dare i say it , wood chip wall paper or magnolia ceilings such as that found in most , if not all rented property's across the uk. :shock:

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Although I agree that glowing, polished floor boards are lovely to look at, I found living with them totally impractical. keeping the dust down was impossible.
Whizzing the vacuum cleaner over a fitted pure wool or velvet carpet is far more effective. Warmth and cosiness is also a consideration!
A compromise is to have a quality carpet whipped and corded and lay it in the middle of the room, leaving a margin of boards around the edge--- you still have to polish them though, but at least you can pick up the dust when vacuuming.

 

[Feltwell]

I think it depends on personal circumstance as well as aesthetics. We've got carpet upstairs, floorboards downstairs. With 2 kids running around the noise downstairs would be unbearable if we had bare boards upstairs - in particular my 3 year old son seems convinced that he is Zebidee, walking around is boring, bouncing like a human pogo stick is much more fun!

If it was just me & Mrs F then perhaps we would have considered boards upstairs as well, although Mrs F may well have protested due to cold feet.

 

[ilona73]

i was always under the impression that people normally paint floorboards because the boards are in too poor a condition to leave bare and unpainted.
i would also add that it may be a big no no to a perspective buyer should you ever decide to sell.
i dont think its as bad as using , dare i say it , wood chip wall paper or magnolia ceilings such as that found in most , if not all rented property's across the uk. :shock:

People generally paint floorboard to achieve a certain look... more often than not it is for the Laura ashleyesque shabby chic dining room floor..It is a very popular look and also in childrens bedrooms.. mainly because its more practical for spillages etc.

Personally it wouldnt put me off buying but i cans ee how it would put off the "average purchase" as they will first thing of costing a carpet!

woodchip etc is the bain of my life as is magnolia... now thats for people with no imagination and fear of colour!!

 

[ilona73]

I think it depends on personal circumstance as well as aesthetics. We've got carpet upstairs, floorboards downstairs. With 2 kids running around the noise downstairs would be unbearable if we had bare boards upstairs - in particular my 3 year old son seems convinced that he is Zebidee, walking around is boring, bouncing like a human pogo stick is much more fun!

If it was just me & Mrs F then perhaps we would have considered boards upstairs as well, although Mrs F may well have protested due to cold feet.

I have 4 kids aged between 19 and almost 7... the youngest being my son Ozzy....i hasten to add.. all through our home and previous homes we have had wood floors with rugs and i cant see our new house being any different... apart from Ozzys room for obvious reasons!
Having said that when we had an old Manor house in cornwall with wooden floors the noise travel wasnt bad.. after a while you stop noticing it.,.....wait... maybe that was due to the kids bickering ..lol! :lol: :lol: :roll:

 

[Feltwell]

I like the look of old worn furniture much more than new or immaculate antique furniture, just as well given what I own. I just cringe at the term "shabby chic" though, it sounds like such pretentious twaddle!

Re. woodchip - I used to work with a deeply, deeply pretentious wallpaper buyer for one of the big DIY chains. Favourite wind-up was to remind her that after lining paper, woodchip is still by far the best selling wallpaper. :twisted:

I do detest it though - in my last house it was nearly everywhere, and on the few surfaces where it was missing they'd used Artex instead. Took ages to get rid of it all.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Many thanks for all the ideas: sometimes I worry I have exceeded my quota of questions, but you (collectively) are as generous with your 57 varieties of advice as ever.

I won't paint them then, didn't really want to anyway.

Sumptuous rugs and waxed floors: delicious and with enduring appeal.

And I have to confess to being a daily vacuumer - with a fab machine that has a good head for wooden boards. If you had as many uninvited creatures in your house as I do you would vaccuum daily too!

All I'm likely to hear when I'm cooking in my brick undercroft underneath is Lord Rochester stomping about, a noise I like.

Cold is an issue though, but as was remarked if winter is unbearable we could carpet it in the future.

 

[Lime]

Carpet or bare board?
I have lived with bare boards and they do look good.
On the negative side they are draughty, rather dirty, excellent for the loss of small items (or large depending how big the gaps are), damage relatively easily, can give plenty of splinters, cause noise and any guest with stiletto heals you may wish to kill after they have left.

 

[JoceAndChris]

A good summary Lime. My guests are kindly asked to remove their shoes here, and preferably do some spinning to buff up the waxed floors with their socks. They are then separated according to their sex- males- chainsaw activity- females - interior design help. If they don't plan to contribute they can stay at home.

One has to be firm with one's guests.

i am not sure though that old cottages way back in the day would have had painted floor boards , ive never seen painted floor boards older than the 80's, bare perhaps but painted?

OK, Laura Ashley didn't invent painted floors- this is what Ingrid Cranfield has to say in "Georgian House Style":

"Painted or glazed flooring remained popular even when cheap carpets became availabale towards the end of the eighteenth century. The floor of the whole room might be coloured, or just the borders round the carpet, and these were usually painted in the same colour as the other woodwork in the room"

and here is some fascinating stuff on early carpets:

"Among the more functional floor coverings in use in Georgian times were "ingrain" carpets, made (in Scotland) from two intersecting webs of cloth, to make reversible carpets, or after 1822, from three webs, which produced colourful carpets with a different pattern on each side. Ingrain carppets were used to cover hallways, stairs and servants' rooms... Druggets were carpet covers, made of baize, serge, or haircloth, which served to keep the dirt off luxury carpets and protect them from wear. In less wealthy homes, druggets were the only floor coverings. Other utilitarian and and robust floor coverings were paper carpets..."

And before we imagine the filth, fleas, lice and degradation of these floor coverings in the days before the Dyson let's pay a silent tribute to the tireless efforrts of housewives back then. This is what Elizabeth Gaskell has to say of Charlotte Bronte's home:

"Everything about the place tells of the most dainty order, the most exquisite cleanliness. The door-steps are spotless; the small old-fashioned window panes glitter like looking-glass. Inside and outside of that house cleanliness goes up to its essence, purity."

Shabby chic? Yes, I think a very modern invention that has nothing to do with how people used to furnish their homes.

 

[AMc]

I'm a bit puzzled by the noise comments - I've lived in 2 houses with a kid and bare boards almost everywhere and it's never been a significant issue to me.
I'm more puzzled by the 'dirty' comments. The amount of dirt is the same just carpet traps it and boards get visibly dusty. As the #1 cleaner in my house I prefer hoovering bare boards over carpet, much quicker and easier and they deal better with spills.

The small gaps thing is a problem if you are a compulsive ear ring scatterer or a small child with a lot of playmobil.

I'd go for a slight sand and wax on the boards - you can always fit a carpet later if you don't like it.

 

[outlaw]

Bare boards for me too, the noise issue is one that goes away even if you have kids, you get used to it. My wife likes laminate because its easier to clean. She insisted we had some up stairs in the girls rooms, I objected, and actually said "what if we have a burst water pipe". She stomped her feet and I went ahead and laid the plastic nastiness for her. Low and behold, less than a year later we had a main pipe go in the middle of one of the girls rooms.......Back to boards now.
I have even screwed tile batten to the floor downstairs, and laid polystyrene between them and laid 6" boards over the top, my own house is 1950's with "marley tiles", not anymore, we have a nice warm looking and chill free wooden floor.
As for finish on the boards, we went to wax them but tried a bit first. Good job too, we used real bee's wax and it turned the small area we tried into a skating rink, so I went off and got some squash court sealer. It has allowed a nice color to come up and doesnt make the floor shiney and slippery. We use a Henry hoover when needed, and a wooden floor wash treatment once a week. 2 adults 2 kids and 2 cats and its great.

Tony

 

[Nina]

I would also always prefer wooden floors. Ours have rugs on them. We have one carpeted area (sitting room) and we will be having carpet on the stairs due to the fact that this area seems more prone to the clatter of feet/shoes. Can't say that I have noticed the cold but there is a danger of losing things down the gaps in the boards. As ours are not very waxed/polished, I find hoovering once a week enough.... however we don't have pets (or small children) which may make a difference.

 

[CHRIS]

I still have solid oak random width boards down stairs as it wold get ruined in a second with all the traffic if it were carpet. But the painting idea is so last year!!!! all that shaby chic rubbish - its just an excuse for people who cant paint or are untidy.

speaking as an interior designer.. that is subjective lol!!!

There is a place for everything and every style... beauty is in the eye of the beholder

hehehehe

Painting floorboard is actually on the up not on the way out lol... not that i condone it mind!

I must have been ahead of the times as I used to have painted stairs about 3 years ago!!!!! Sorry but I was being a trouble maker as I do not care what people like or dont like as long as it is done well and also not just pain old Magnolia ala Mrs S Beeney.

The only reason for carpet is to keep the draught out and keep the noise down as we live on the flight path to Stansted and Mrs C likes to stomp around in her heals, it is much easier to fit carpets than pull up an original late Georgian floor that still has the lath and plaster ceiling below and stuff nasty polystyrene between the joists. I know that it used to be fashionable to paint patterns to pretend that you could afford rugs or carpets but I dont need to as I can afford it now as I saved up and did not claim it on expenses along with £142000 for my period property Ala our local MP, and Mr Lansley for what ever he had done!!!!!!!.

got some squash court sealer

WTF

I bet that is full of nastyness, I would go for a slightly less toxic option such as OSMO as it gives a much more natural finish and comes in matt or satin