Windsor Terrace Reno

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January 17, 2008

Beneath my feet

Now with the paint posts behind me, I can move on to other progress made. We were still waiting for our kitchen cabinets after the painting was done so the floors were the next big thing on the list.

If you go back to the beginning of this blog to the original photos, you get a small sense of how poorly the house had been taken care of over the years. I saw small sense because photos have a way of glossing over the most unattractive bits, the musty smell and all the other facets of a run down house.

With so little upkeep over the years, the floors were not in great shape.

The worst parts were where years of a leaking roof or rusty radiator had warped the boards completely requiring some time consuming replacement using salvage parquet. In other parts there were inexplicable holes in the ground that let you see completely through to the floor below. And that to the rather unattractive corners that were left bare when we had the radiators removed and we had quite a mess underfoot.

Even the parts of the floor that had no real "damage" had a few decades worth of wear and dirt on them. And I don't mean just normal dirt. Any protective finish these floors once had was long gone.

During our initial walk throughs, the contractor seemed quite confident that he could repair and refinish the floors without a problem. We weren't quite how that would play out but we figured we'd take our chances and hope for the best. (Despite our uncertainty, we insisted that he put down boards to protect the floors. We had to ask a few times for these as Im sure the workers thought us nuts to be protecting what looked like junk.)

As the work progressed, there were several areas where some of the "good" floors were taken and moved into a room that needed repair. For example, the room that became our master bath had some unscathed parquet that found its way into bits and pieces of other room repairs.

So we were quite happy to see that once the repairs were made and floors sanded, they were looking pretty good.

Its by no means perfect. There are spots that show their age more than others. But that doesn't bother me too much. Just another one of those "charms" of an old house. The worst case is in the bright blue room as that was once the upstairs rental kitchen. It was never meant to be exposed and the damage done in that room, is pretty rough even after the sanding. I may just leave it with stains and all or I may go crazy and paint it. A decision for another time.

Then we had to decide the stain. I really wanted a dark floor. Husband and contractor suggested no stain color - just sealer and poly. Their main concern was that a darker stain would have hide the original inlays that we worked so hard to save. Their points were valid so I gave in and went with it. It looks nice. Is it what I wanted? Not really. I still think it would have looked better with the darker stain. While I am partially regretting not holding firm on the dark floors - what is done is done. I think Mr. Limestone is very happy with it so thats a good thing.

As for the finish, I knew straight away I wanted a glossy finish. That seems to be a very unpopular choice for many brownstoners and I am aware. Im quite happy with the glossy finish and Ill tell you why. For one, the gloss adds light. In a house like this where light is a commodity, adding it in such a universal and "free" way was a no brainer. Second, a matte finish is a much more rustic choice. It can look lovely in the right setting and I have selected it myself in other homes. While there are other things that can give a rustic look in this house, none of them are intentional. I want the house to look polished and a matte finish to the floors wasn't going to cut it for me. Third, my style tends to be a little bit older with a dash of contemporary thrown in to mix it up. The floors are definitely the old lady in me and I think it suits the house. Im sure a lot of people would disagree with my logic and thats okay but I figured I'd throw my reasoning out there too.

What can I say? Sometimes when something is universally hated, I tend to be drawn to it.

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Comments

I am loving your renovation. Keep up the good work! I think you have made some great choices--especially the colors!

Posted by: PHfamily at January 17, 2008 12:04 PM

everything looks great - just out of curiosity how long was your house laying vacant before you were able to "save" it??? From the "before" pictures i would believe or guess anywhere from a couple to 20 year (I am remembering your finds in the bathroom medicine cabinet - all of that looked pretty old)

Posted by: guest at January 17, 2008 4:48 PM

For your bright blue room, you might want to consider simply replacing the wood floor. Maybe not right now but later. The room is small enough that it wouldn't cost that much. We had to install a new floor in our parlor because the soft pine boards were in unsalvageable condition. We bought very beautiful recycled douglas fir from Pioneer Millworks in upstate NY (google them). We also used their heart pine -- which is even prettier (and harder) but more expensive -- for an upstairs bathroom. They sell a lot of different species and, most importantly, are incredibly nice people to do business with. In any case, the place is looking better and better. Congrats.

Posted by: guest at January 17, 2008 7:21 PM

Believe it or not, the house was inhabitated just a year before we bought it. Im not quite sure how anyone lived here considering the huge holes in the plumbing stack, the mice and roaches and all the other "amenities" but someone did indeed live here.

Thanks guest721. I could have replaced the floor but I didn't want to go to the trouble of finding the really thin parquet. The issue is that we dont have saddles between the rooms and I really want to keep all the floors level with each other. I don't mind a painted floor for this room ... its something a little different. And if I dont paint it can always just leave it and put down a rug. Its not that important this room be perfect.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 17, 2008 10:25 PM

I am soooo jealous that you have managed to preserve your floors. We were convinced by our contractors that ours were beyond saving without spending $$$. He was wrong - I think our floors were about in the same shape as yours. Sigh. Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Posted by: guest at January 18, 2008 11:23 AM

If I was worried about the damaged floor in the blue room, I'd stain it a dark color rather than paint it. It will wear better, will mask the damage, and you'll get to have your dark stain in one room - this is your room, the teal one, right? Then use rug(s) where necessary over that.

Also, don't sweat the light floors - they look great, and they will also provide much more light in your house than darker stained floors would.

Posted by: guest at January 18, 2008 3:24 PM

Like your husband and contractor I prefer the clear sealed look in order to get the light feel you look for from the high gloss. However, it seems you have the perfect opportunity to try a dark stain you want in the small blue room. It'll help camouflage the stains, preserve the original floors for future buyers and give you the color you wanted to try.

Posted by: guest at January 18, 2008 3:32 PM

i've been following your renovation progress as i find it fascinating and psychologically rewarding to find something restored/renovated. re: the floors, i recently refinished my oak floors and went through a similar decision regarding stain and finish. i chose to stain the oak floors (in herringbone) to dark walnut and decided to go with a matte finish. i used sullivan flooring, and as they explained it to me, the more light a room gets, the darker the floors can be, and the darker the floors are, the more matte the finish should be. i'm pretty happy with the final result.

Posted by: guest at January 18, 2008 5:08 PM

Wow, what an amazing blog! I am a designer (who works for a general contractor) in Nashville and of all strange things, stumbled upon this site when doing a google search for 'subway tile' to show a client. I thought everyone on the planet knew what subway tile was, but I digress.
You have done such an amazing job with all your renovations, finds, steals and most importantly documenting it all. I hope at the end of this process you print out this whole blog and store it somewhere safe. This is the kind of thing that would be amazing for someone to pull out and read 75 years from now. Can you imagine if tucked in the wall somewhere you found documentation and notes from the person who picked out the 'gorgeous new pink and turquoise tile, perfect for my new bathroom!'?!
I try to bring my boss some perspective from the client on things like you have had issues with (i.e. the sinks and mirrors not matching up). We had a similar issue on a renovation that we're working on and I was mortified to find out the client had to point out obvious errors out to our foreman. The client shouldn't have to be doing this..when you pay a contractor to do the job, you expect just that, that they DO the job. And do it right (the first time)!

Oy vey, maybe I should just get my general contractor's liscense...

Posted by: guest at January 19, 2008 12:15 AM

Your place is beautiful. Just spent an hour reading all your past posts and it truly is amazing seeing the process.

Quick question, did you install new baseboards or have them refinished? i just bought a coop and am trying to decide which way to go (they're totally uneven and caked over with layers of paint). If you refinished, did you use Peel Away on those?

Posted by: guest at January 20, 2008 12:03 AM

Guest 1215: Thanks. I do plan on printing this all out and saving it. One of the reasons why I did this blog in the first place was to force me to document the reno.

Guest 1203: We didn't have THAT many layers of paint on our baseboards. I think the house was only painted 3 times before we got there. So there were some positive facets of having a house that was so poorly looked after. But we did reuse the baseboards without stripping them. Stripping them first would have been ideal but we didn't have it in the budget. They look fine now..by no means perfect if you are looking closely at them, but good enough not to warrant the expense of stripping. The baseboards are really good qualtiy wood and large so I wouldn't replace them with new.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 20, 2008 9:13 AM

You've made amazing choices in this process. How do you work a full time job and have time to do all this? Are you the bionic woman?

Posted by: guest at January 20, 2008 7:16 PM

Thanks guest. Sometimes it is overwelming and Im sure my day job suffers a bit from the distraction. Mr Limestone does a lot too so we share that burden. But in fairness, the contractors are doing all the hard work.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 21, 2008 11:49 AM

WOW! Everything is looking so fantastic. As always, your choices are elegant, clean, traditional but not stuffy. It's really coming together amazingly well and I can't wait to see the house in person someday soon!

Cynthia

Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 1:48 PM

I am debating what colors to stain my oak floors also. The paints are mostly medium tone, warm colors. Here is the context: BM Powell Buff in the living and dining room; BM Stonehouse, BM Goldfinch, Aura Boudior in the bedrooms.

Does anyone have an opinion on special walnut or autumn gold (bona stains)?

Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 5:36 PM

Thanks Cynthia.

Guest536 - You'll probably get a lot more responses in the forum but I wouldn't stain your floors based on what color paint you put on the walls (particularily if you've painted mostly beige which will work with just about everything). You'll probably repaint before you redo your floors. I'd choose a stain based on the kind of look you want in the house...darker floors are more dramatic/glamourous. A golden stain on oak floors will be quite yellow which would make it much more casual and sunny. Hope that helps.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 21, 2008 7:20 PM

I went with Golden Oak stain - now I'm regretting it - the natural looks stunning! Thanks again Mrs. Limestone for reminding me that my taste level is bit below yours! Now I've gotta go roll around on those floors for a bit and try to fall in love with it again....

Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 7:50 PM

You are right I should have posted my question on the forum instead of here. Thanks for your suggestion Mrs Limestone.

Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 8:43 PM

Mrs. Limestone, my taste is also old-lady mixed with modern. It's fun to find another such soul. I really don't think we're alone though. The feminine and glamorous touch is coming back into fashion for interiors, furniture, textiles and finishings. I think a few antique and curved shapes mixed in is what shows off modern pieces best. Modern with modern tends to blend all together in a room and turn blah.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 2:28 PM

Mrs. Limestone, I LOVE, love, love those floors!! Did you use an oil or water-based polyurethane? I really like the richness of oil based paints but not sure if I can deal with the fumes. Great work!!

Posted by: guest at January 29, 2008 6:28 PM