Restoring 17th century floorboards

[Toby Newell]

Thanks Toby, interesting and useful! I'm currently working my way through 22 window frames (softwood, and about 20 years old, but badly maintained) and have used the Ronseal stuff with some success, but have always wondered if there was something better out there.

All the single pack ones are fairly similar.

You might want to look at an epoxy system if you are doing lots of filling. You apply a thin 2 part epoxy as a primer then a 2 part thixotropic epoxy paste as a filler.

 

[Toby Newell]

That floor would look amazing if sanded and varnished, I wouldn't bother trying to straighten it, etc. Now you've revealed it what other choice do you have? Carpets are naff and putting anything else over it would just be a bodge.

It's what I though Paul, but look at the condition, it's very bad. Needs to be lifted and plyed underneath. The gaps are huge. Would be 20kg+ of filler as it is.

 

[Lacan07]

It's what I though Paul, but look at the condition, it's very bad. Needs to be lifted and plyed underneath. The gaps are huge. Would be 20kg+ of filler as it is.

Yeah, those gaps are big, can you get 'thicker' slithers?

 

[Toby Newell]

 

[Toby Newell]

yes Paul. You can get 8mm as well as 6mm pine slivers, bit moot when you have 50mm gaps in 300yr old English oak

 

[SuffolkYank]

Hi all,
Recent home owner of a 17th ce
ntury grade 3 listed cottage.
Lifted the carpet and plywood over lay in the first floor bedroom this weekend to reveal original floorboards.
The floorboards are significantly undulated/dipping, mainly in the middle where floorboards from either side meet. Large gaps between each floorboards and repairs can be seen.
Need some advice on:
1. Whether it's possible to level the floor, mainly in the middle, and fill the gaps between floorboards somehow?
2. Best way to clean the floorboards.

Obviously getting a joiner around to have a look, but if anyone has any advice/experience in restoring original floorboards would be much appreciated. Photos attached

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Oh good Jesus. This was me. 3 years ago. I did the exact same thing. Took up the carpet and underlay, to reveal basically the SAME THING. After a year of head scratching and trial and error I resorted to the trusty.....TOBY NEWELL....
The property and floors are now amazing. He's posted a whole chronology of the work here.

 

[SuffolkYank]

500 to 850 yr old timber floor - full conservation and restoration in real time

The madness begins. Set up your mobile workshop. Clean the area. Mark the jigsaw pieces. Start to remove fixings.

www.periodproperty.co.uk

Here is a soupçon of the madness. 1407 property but upper level at the back probably later 1550 addition. Mainly pine this one, possibly one of oldest in the country, dark bits are oak, with a couple of elm infills.

I managed to save the floor, including remedying cowboy building work and someone cutting the bresummer in half at the near end. We only lost four or five hand sized pieces that literally crumbled to dust. Very expensive, very time consuming and very taxing to do, but now the most solid part of the building. And how many other people in the world have a 500 year old pine floor that has been preserved for another 500 years? Not many.

My favourite board had knots over a foot long. Do you know how big a branch that is on a pine tree? Could of been 500 years old or more.

Long time lurker here. First time posting. This link above from Toby......this is my property. Toby stayed on site for around 2 months and re-did these floors, and a whole load of other stuff in the property. He kept telling me to join this site properly and post and share some of my experiences with this refurbishment project. I will write more in due course. But suffice to say, I did the exact same thing as the original poster here. Took up the carpet and underlay to reveal a worm eaten mess of amazing old floor boards. I thought they were all oak, until Toby cleaned them up and it ended up being mostly pine. As he said above, probably some of the oldest pine boards still in use in the UK. Nobody, and I mean nobody, had a clue or the bravery to take this on. When tradesmen even bothered to show up to look at it, they scratched their head, some were honest and said no luck mate, it's too far gone, just put new carpet back down and forget about it. Some said, sure, no problem, then left and I never managed to hear from them again. Only Toby had the inclination to take this on. And yes, it will be a budget breaker, but it was the last resort option available. And man do I not regret any of it.

You all should also hear about the beams I had to deal with (which are now amazing). Have seen so many posts on here above how to deal with refurbishing old beams. I think I've cracked that nut (if you were to see the before and after photos). The beams in hindsight were one of the most enjoyable and cathartic jobs. Again, you can't find people do this work. They don't exist. I spent 250+ hours of my own time JUST on the beams. JUST in one room. Again, I will post more in due course.

FYI - this was a holiday let property I took on in 2021. It was in quite a state. I thought it would be a 3 month project. It ended up being nearly 2 years! Not sure if this is allowed, but you can see some of the "after" shots in the below link. Will post some "before" shots in due course....
airbnb.co.uk/h/oldmeetinghouse

Aaron