Old (er) house + we need new floors=???

[eclecticcottage]

Without getting into a huge explaination (see blog for that and many pics ) we have just a plywood subfloor in the livingroom-no choice. The rest of the Cottage except the bathroom needs flooring also (bad carpet, worse linoleum but really it's the soft spots that are the biggest issue).

I do NOT want the floors to look new, and reclaimed is WAY out of our budget. So I've been hunting around the net. I can't handle major chemical stuff (migraines) so many paints and stains are out of the question for me. I already figured on linseed/tung oil as a protectant. So I've found a bit about using coffee and vinegar/steel wool as substitutes for stains.

Has anyone ever tried this? I have a link to a blog and pics on mine for the coffee/distressing and I have to admit I'm impressed...

What did you do about floors so they didn't look too new/perfect in your old house??

[shazapple]

Friends of mine bought used beech flooring off of the local online classifieds. While not 'reclaimed', it has some personality and looks extrememly good.

[srks72]

I looked at your blog and i really like it. I just resently purchased an old farmhouse built in 1900. We are working to restore it and I have posted "wanted" items on craigslist and have received excellent responses. Just yesterday a lady responded to a requested I keep current weekly (3 weeks so far) for some solid hardwood flooring. I posted that I needed solid tongue and groove. I only needed about 60 sq ft. She sold it to me for $75, but the real deal was 1100+ sq ft for $350. I didn't need that much and didn't have a place to store it or I would have bought it all for the deal. LOL. It was all removed from an old school gym and all the nails were removed too. It was in really great shape too. Just a thought.

[Texas_Ranger]

Well, there is always the possibility of using traditional alcohol sed stains. They're just some tint dissolved in denatured alcohol. No idea how easy to find they are and how expensive they get for something as large as a floor but they should do a good job (make sure to do test patches on cutoffs though!).

If you choose a softwood floor it won't look too shiny and new for long anyway in my experience.

[eclecticcottage]

Thanks SRKS (for the idea and the comment on the blog)! I have tried CL but lately it's been a bust, aside from some free flowers (which is actually quite awesome).

DH doesn't like the idea of pine now. I didn't think he would, but he must not have really thought about it when I mentioned it before (too soft/easily damaged). Now we're looking at utility grade oak. I'm not a huge fan of oak (too tight of grains), but whatever works. As long as we can get the 5" width because I DO NOT like the builder grade skinny 2-3" strips that like every 1960's ranch seems to have (stained in the light honey color of course). I don't want too dark of a stain (the PO laid this horrible linoleum plank floor in a dark walnut color in the DR and it looks dirty ALL-THE-TIME. actually it probably wouldn't be TOO horrible except they laid them all end to end without staggering the joints, so ever 4' we have a joint line across the whole floor-it looks ridiculous) but I do want to bring out the imperfections and uneveness so it does look older/reclaimed. I am thinking of grabbing some samples and playing with staining techniques and oil combos so I can see if I can get the look I want. I want the variances of color, etc in the pieces.

The Cottage is meant to look pieced together a bit anyway, since that was common on cottages (reusing materials and decor to keep it less expensive). It's a lot easier decor decision wise, plus it's fun to just pick whatever I like-and it does lend to keeping costs down too

[mross_pitt]

What kind of linseed oil/tung oil? Most of these are fairly toxic and smell horrible unless your talking about certain products which you generally can't find very easily.


For a protective finish for the chemically sensitive I would try this:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=21694&source=googleps&utm_source=GoogleBase&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=Google


It has no odor. I'm talking put your face in the container and you can't tell the lid is open. It also dries in minutes and fairly smooth. I'm not sure how long lasting the floor protectant is, but at least it helps your longevity.


What about shellac for staining?

[eclecticcottage]

Hope's 100% tung oil. And boiled linseed. I am staring at a few pints of Hopes (we sell it), but I'll be buying by the gallon. Not the "tung oil finish", like waterlox. I used the linseed on a travel trunk (usually called a steamer trunk, but this was a bigger one that a true steamer trunk), on the wood strips. Smelled like, well, linseed oil (my grandpa was a carpenter and he used that all the time on projects).