Jacob Beaty House (1874 Folk Victorian)

[Don M]

Sounds like things are coming along nicely. Happy New Year!

[Eperot]

Thanks Don, and thanks everybody who comes on here to look around and follow my work. Sheesh...1000+ views now, amazing. Happy New Year to you all!
-Eric

[Gothichome]

Eric, watching you work is entertaining, the progress you make is what keeps us coming back. Every month end it's a cliff hanger episode, just have to see what happens in the next episode.

[Sow's Ear Mal]

Hi Eric. Nice job on the floors. I'm working with my son and his fiancee on their stone house, and we've got the floors back down to the original pine. The debate now is whether to heat gun them and clean up with stripper and steel wool, for the well-worn, aged look, or go the route you took. I must say, the effect you achieved is nice and even and clean looking. My own floors here are very...oh let's call them eccentric, in the various levels they have. Kind of a b*tch to keep clean, especially with fur bunnies wafting around. Mind if I ask how you plan to finish them? I used Circa 1850 paste varnish. It's wearing off now, chipping off on high points. Now I wish I'd just waxed.
Can't wait to see your finished result. Cheers, mal

[Eperot]

Hey Mal,

Thanks for the compliment. For me the only route to go was sanding. I can see preserving original finishes and not sanding if the floors are in decent shape to begin with, but these were a wreck. Even if I'd been able to strip the layers of paint off with a heat gun and scrapers I still would have had some seriously crowned, gnarly, splintery boards for a floor. The only option in my estimation was to start fresh. That's the great thing about wood....brand new wood is always just below the surface! In reality I only took off about 1/16 - 1/8 of an inch depending on the head/shoulder of the boards which are an inch thick to start, so there is plenty of material left. As far as finish, I will do the same as the upstairs. 3-4 hand rubbed coats of Sutherland Welles Tung Oil finish, low luster. Really yields a nice color and warmth with endless ability to recoat without sanding. I will also have a good sized area rug to keep my dogs from abusing my work too much.

I think there is a line between as you said, a well worn aged look, and just flat out "your floors look like crap and are bringing the rest of your room down a notch". Mine were well over that line. So while the sanding may be drastic, it was the best choice in this instance.

[Sipi]

I own a 1920 folk vernacular and really like your baseboard treatment from the photo of bedroom #3. It' a nice clean and simple vintage look. Is it a millwork pattern or made up of 2 pieces. How is that done?

Almost all the original millwork in our house was replaced in the 1970's with some sort of cheap rainforest wood. I reproduced the window treatments from 2 original windows in a bedroom. But the baseboards were long gone. You do beautiful work!

[Eperot]

Thanks for the compliment...I'd like to take credit but all I did was duplicate the original baseboards to exact specs...they were all 5-1/2 inches tall with a quirk bead profile. I just used s4s 1x6" pine (so about 3/4" by 5-1/2") and used a bit similar to this one: (Bosch makes them in multiple sizes, mine is larger than this)

http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-85666M-16-I ... B000CNMHQA

It is nice and clean and simple, but was meant for the non-public areas of the house where guests would not typically see. Downstairs are totally different and more ornate.

[Sow's Ear Mal]

Hello again Eric, happy Groundhog day! Sorry to bug you, but I'm obsessing about my pine floors as they shed their finish. I tried a tinted wax on a small section but it disappeared so fast I think it will be an exercise in frustration. I'm thinking to try your Tung oil. I suppose I'll have to go over the floor and roughen where the finish is intact, then give it a shot. When I went to the paint store they had Tung, and Danish oil. I did a search and watched a youtube vid showing a comparison of these and other oil finishes. His method wasn't particularly scientific, but it seemed to illustrate that the tung oil remained a softer, weaker finish as compared to the Danish oil, which had a harder film. Would you have any advice in that respect as to which would be better suited to the old, soft white pine ? Thanks!--Mal

ps--any Jacob Beaty updates pending?

[Eperot]

Hey Mal,

I didn't realize you had floors with a finish on them already...I assume we are talking about your house, not your son's?
I'm not sure how an oil finish would do on floors that were not already cleaned up first...might be fine, might not. Perhaps someone else can weigh in? I've no experience with Danish oil, but I can't really imagine any type of oil finish varying that much in terms of strength...they don't really biuld a "film" on top. That's what surface finishes like poly do. Oils just soak into the wood and build up a bit of sheen but not protective in any real way.

Update is negligible. I've been sick with colds three times during the month of January so progress slowed. I did manage to build my double doors for inside the vestibule to the front door, but one turned out with a slight warp and I'm having a devil of a time straightening it out. On the plus side, I got my staircase handrail all assembled and my picture rail installed and painted in the hallway upstairs. Once I get the door figured out i just have to build the transom above it, install my newel posts and finish the handrails. Then that area will FINALLY be done and i can move back to working on the living room. Sheetrock and strapping are already in there, just waiting to go up.

[Sow's Ear Mal]

Ah, poor you. I haven't had a cold in two years, knock wood. I chalk it up to a boosted immune system due to all the spores, dust and microbial housemates I inhale all day long. Or you know...luck. Sounds like you're hard at it regardless. All I've done lately is replace the missing period trim around my upstairs windows, which took a lot of heat gunning and sanding, not to mention hole-filling. My stash of old trim is running low so I'm having to use the more wounded material now. Well, that task, and drywall and ceiling board paint. My floors have circa 1850 paste varnish as a finish. It's not really a surprise that it is wearing in spots, because the boards I used as flooring were from my haymow and some had some dry rot tender spots. I may try the oil anyway, after a good sanding. My son's floors have multi layered paint and multi layered heights, as yours did. I think we'll be drum sanding the area. Hope you feel better, ml