New Hardwood Flooring
I have an 1875 brick row house that has 8â€x 8†hardwood floors with strips of mahogany boarders throughout its 3 floors. Half its floors have been sanded and polyurethane several times, so there are nails protruding out and cracks in the wood. Another problem is while walking on the floor several things in the…
I have an 1875 brick row house that has 8â€x 8†hardwood floors with strips of mahogany boarders throughout its 3 floors. Half its floors have been sanded and polyurethane several times, so there are nails protruding out and cracks in the wood. Another problem is while walking on the floor several things in the room shake, needless to mention how it sounds on the level below. During the process of renovation several interior walls will be removed and I’ll have to replace the empty floor spaces, along with the repositioning of the boarders, so I think it is time for replacement floors.
I want to continue the same hardwood 8â€x 8†pattern and have received several estimates. One recommended putting the new parquet on top of the existing parquet floor, another suggested taking off the old parquet and replacing it with the new one, and still another suggested installing a new plywood sub floor and than the new parquet. Surprising the company who stated a new sub floor (which I thought would be more time consuming), gave me the cheapest price. Any suggestions on what would be the best way to go?
Anon 4:15, I noticed that our joists were notched at the top for the gas line, when I removed the basement ceiling. Does this necessarily produce bounce? We do have bounce in the floors, but it appears to be more from boards that do not end on joists, but are ‘hanging’ in between.
Anon 4:15, I noticed that our joists were notched at the top for the gas line, when I removed the basement ceiling. Does this necessarily produce bounce? We do have bounce in the floors, but it appears to be more from boards that do not end on joists, but are ‘hanging’ in between.
Oops, I also meant to mention that I really recommend installing new plywood sub-floors. We did it on our parlor floor as well (prior to laying the recycled doug fir I mentioned above) and the stability and extra sound-proofing it provides are great.
Agree with above posts that your joists may need some repair. We had to do extensive repairs to the joists on our top floor. Next step was getting rid of the crapped out old pine subfloor (lots of water damage from years of roof leaks) from the hallway/landing and putting down new plywood to create a stable surface. Finally, we moved some of the same original pine subfloor (but undamaged) from a bedroom that we had chosen to carpet and laid that down on top of the plywood. The result is a floor that is original but also structurally very sound. Moral of the story? If you can re-use any of the old parquet, try to use it all in one area (even if it gets moved to a smaller room) rather than using it for patching which will be much more noticeable. If you decide to go for new wood, I have to recommend — as I’ve done before on this site — http://www.pioneermillworks.com in upstate NY who have a terrific supply of salvaged wood flooring (newly milled as flooring usually from beams salvaged from old buildings). They have beautiful heart pine, douglas fir, oak as well as more unusual species. They are also very nice people to deal with — ask for Jared.
Check out the reno blog to see how we used salvaged parquet to match the original floors. We found the parquet at the Olde Good Things warehouse in Scranton, PA. You can call them up to see if they have enough. It’ll look so much better than new parquet!
No doubt about it, go with the last proposal. As far as the “bounce” goes, I’ve lived in Park Slope over 60 years, and all the brownstone/limestones seem to have some bounce.
If you have a good amount of bounce in your floors you may need to check the joists to see if thy have been ‘notched’. If the gas was installed after the original construction, the pipes may have been placed under the floors. This was done by notching the joists and laying the pipes. As a result, there will be a good amount of flex in the joists over time. Floor and sub-floor need to be lifted and the notches filled with wood blocks.
Sounds like among other things, your floor joints need to be reinforced. That will help stop the bouncing. I hate to replace beautiful original floors, but it does sound like yours were sanded down too far over the years, hence the exposed nails and the cracking boards. Most people don’t realize that parquet is only about 3/8″ thick. It only takes a heavy hand with a sander to do the trick. Can you at least salvage the border? Is it sanded way down too? My only problem with new parquet is that it looks too new. I wouldn’t put the new on top of the old, that won’t cure the bounce, and in fact, may make the new floor crack and be less stable. If you must, go with the new subfloor and new parquet. That way your joists can be worked on while they are exposed.