orginal wood block floor?

[blencathra]

we live in a slate fronted victorian house in the lake district and have just removed our hall carpet to discover a wood block floor. The blocks/planks are 2" wide and either cross the whole width of the floor or have been cut to various lengths. Not sure if they are pine. Look slightly golden in colour in some areas, but are darker in other areas. The house was built circa 1869. Could this be an orginal victorian floor?

 

[Penners]

You know what we're going to ask for, don't you? :wink:

PICTURES!

 

[CatherineB]

Oh Penners, don't tease, blencathra has only just joined!

Pictures would be nice, though - then we can all advise and opine (perhaps more the latter) to our heart's content, blencathra.

Oh, and welcome!!

 

[Penners]

Yes, welcome blencathra. Seriously - pictures of the floor would help immensely in attracting informed opinions about its age, wood type and so on.

 

[MatthewC]

Welcome blencathra. Can we have some pictures please? I don't think anyone has asked for any yet. 8) :lol:

Stick around - you'll get used to the humour (especially Penners)

 

[Penners]

The reason why people quickly get used to Penners' "humour" is that they've heard it all before. Thousands of times. :roll:

 

[LadyArowana]

The reason why people quickly get used to Penners' "humour" is that they've heard it all before. Thousands of times. :roll:

What you will also be surprised to learn is that our dear Mr P manages to keep his smiling countenance even though he suffers horribly with a bad back, he never mentions it himself though.

 

[Penners]

I thought we had a deal, Milady. I told you in the strictest confidence, not to be repeated to anyone under any circumstances, that I'm in constant pain, but that I manage to smile through my tears.

Thank goodness nobody was listening.

 

[Moo]

I'm afraid, blencathra, that you're not going to get any sense from this lot until you've given them some photographs to chew on.

Once fed with enough pictures, it can be surprising how much useful information they'll dig up (in spite of bad backs).

xx M

 

[Penners]

Pictures! What an excellent idea, Moo!

 

[MatthewC]

Pictures! What an excellent idea, Moo!

What original idea! :lol:

 

[Penners]

I think we may scared blencathra off!

Do come back, blencathra. We're only using silly posts to pass the time until we see your pictures. I promise you'll get some serious answers when we can see your floor.

 

[blencathra]

Not scared off.. just very busy running our B&B..full house of brekies and rooms to do this weekend.. anyway Pic as requested..

 

[Penners]

we live in a slate fronted victorian house in the lake district and have just removed our hall carpet to discover a wood block floor. The blocks/planks are 2" wide and either cross the whole width of the floor or have been cut to various lengths.

Are they really only 2" wide? They look considerably more. It's difficult to get a sense of scale from the photo, or to see the detail of the grain, but if I had to guess I'd say it's oak planks. What you describe as "cut to various lengths" is quite normal in laying planked floors - shorter boards are simply butt-joined on top of a joist.

As to whether the floor is original to your house, that's very difficult to say. So far as I know, softwood floors were more common than hardwood in Victorian houses, and those boards do look in remarkably good condition for 150 years old. But it still might be original.

What is the "status" of your house? When it was built would it have been the house of a wealthy family, or rather more lowly?

 

[ChrisD]

We had this type of flooring in our previous house. It was replacement, approx 50 years old and Oak. I'd guess yours is similar, the edge beading suggests that it was laid after the wall finishes, skirting, etc. were applied and therefore not part of original fabric. Just a guess though.

 

[worms]

We had this type of flooring in our previous house. It was replacement, approx 50 years old and Oak. I'd guess yours is similar, the edge beading suggests that it was laid after the wall finishes, skirting, etc. were applied and therefore not part of original fabric. Just a guess though.

Yes, it looks similar to one of our floors, which is made of four-inch-wide hardwood planks and probably laid when the house was converted in the late 40's. The wood in our one is much darker, but lightens if it is not oiled/waxed. The planks are about an inch thick and not tongued & grooved.

If indeed mine dates to the late 40's, it is amazing that they managed to get hold of this quality of flooring - the gyproc used for the walls bears a warning to be careful about the quality fixings available due to the post-war austerity measures.

 

[Feltwell]

We had this type of flooring in our previous house. It was replacement, approx 50 years old and Oak. I'd guess yours is similar, the edge beading suggests that it was laid after the wall finishes, skirting, etc. were applied and therefore not part of original fabric. Just a guess though.

Chris is onto something there with the beading that has been added to the skirting boards, I'm sure. Can you see if the flooring goes under the skirting boards or just butts up to them (or stops slightly short to allow for expansion?). 2 thoughts:-

- The flooring is original, goes under the skirting and the beading has been added by a later owner as a draft-proofing measure to stop air coming up through the gap from below the (presumably suspended) floor

- The flooring is not original, does not go under the skirting, a bit of an expansion gap had to be left and the beading covers the gap.

Even this is not conclusive as the skirting could have been removed and re-fitted! If it doesn't go under the skirting though, it's almost without doubt a later addition.

It appears to be good quality and in good condition. Even if it is a later addition, it looks to be a nice one - are you looking to retain it?

 

[blencathra]

Thanks everyone for your input.
We did think that as there was beading on top of the flooring, that it could be a later addition. We still think that the wood could be pine as Oak is considerably harder and this floor does have several indents where it has obviously been scuffed with use and is slightly yellower in colour than the photo suggests. As we are trading, we have to do jobs quickly and therefore are unable to remove the beading at this time. My hubby has shone a torch under it and from what he could see, it looks like it buts tight up to the skirting. I guess we won't get the chance to know for definate until next winter when things are quieter and we have no guests.
YOU BET WE GOING TO KEEP IT!!

 

[CatherineB]

YOU BET WE GOING TO KEEP IT!!

Lucky you, regardless of its age it's a very attractive floor, I think

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

Hi, Blencathra,

That's a nice looking floor. Difficult to speculate about species, what with the colour of photo, and the effect of applied finishes. Pitch-pine was a favourite in houses of your period, or oak, or perhaps even elm. But my first guess would be pitchpine - a lovely timber. The narrowness of the planks suggests an overlay floor laid as a later addition, maybe reclaimed from another property. Can you see if it's tongued and grooved (try sticking something down a gap and see how far it goes)? What about nails? If it's nailed through the face of the boards with heavy nails it's more likely to be the original flooring than if it's been pinned down secretly through the tongues. What about the flooring in the rest of the house? Is it the same, or wider boards?
You've got us interested now....