Not sure what to do with my wooden floor.
by
Sheila B
+17
We bought a older home to redo. My kitchen floor is 410 sq. ft., real pine wood, light color about an inch and a half thick. It wasn't taken care of and has big cracked places and broken places. Could we use wood filler and then sand the floor and stain it or paint it? It would be a hugh job trying to take all that up. Any suggestions?????
20 answers
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Do you have photos of the floor? You could replace individual planks, and that sounds like it might work better in your case than trying to use wood filler.
3po3
on Sep 27, 2012
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This sounds like this flooring might be 1 1/2" thick T+G which would make individual replacements a pain. As another complication is there may not be a subfloor below this. I have seen many installs where this flooring was laid directly on the framing. Being a thick product and "pine" it would be fairly easy to fill and sand. The more damaged areas would be repaired with epoxy, and not just "filler". This would be a relatively cheap and easy fix I'm not a personal fan of wood in a kitchen...or other areas that can see moisture...a more effective covering would be to install tile over this. 1/4" backer screwed to the floor then porcelain tile.
KMS Woodworks
on Sep 28, 2012
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Not only would it be a bit hard to replace, good luck finding pine flooring #1 grade that thick without spending a fortune on the material. Or are you saying it is 1.5 wide? Then it is most likely T&G and as KMS said a pain to take up and replace. There are several good quality fillers and materials that can be used to fix the damaged areas, How and what you do, is dependent upon what it is that you are trying to make the floor look like. Many people simply love that distressed look so you may want to reconsider what it is your trying to accomplish in the end. Perhaps only some minor fixes and then simply poly over the floor.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Sep 28, 2012
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Woodbridge...The planks are 1 1/2 " thick and 5 ft. long and 10 " wide. Weird !. Steve...Too many to replace even if I could find the same flooring. KMS...It is a T+G but a different kind from what we have seen. It has to be somewhere around 20 yrs old. We are considering putting another flooring over this floor since we filled in the cracks. Any thoughts?????
Sheila B
on Sep 28, 2012
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I'm with Kevin on covering this flooring with porcelain after screwing in an allover Hardibacker to prep the floor.
Z
on Sep 28, 2012
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Nevermind. I defer to Kevin. He knows way more about hardwood flooring than I do. And Woodbridge knows more about everything than I do.
3po3
on Sep 28, 2012
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Thanks everyone...
Sheila B
on Sep 28, 2012
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This is a T+G floor around 20 - 25 yrs old. I like porcelain but wondered if it may not be the best with little grandbabies.
Sheila B
on Sep 28, 2012
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Sheila, I would not cover those boards, If you decide to do that, I would pull them up and replace the flooring with plywood if your going to tile it. Pine boards that wide and thick are very expensive and it would be a shame to bury them under all that other flooring. As far as the grand babies. Put a carpet down over the tile until they get bigger. But I would not worry to much as long as it stays dry when their on it.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Sep 29, 2012
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While I am A fan of preserving the historic and authentic character of older homes. There are times when replacement or re-working something is the better option. If the floor is sound enough to not deflect then I would go with tile in a heartbeat. As far as little humans go...tile and hardwood are negligible in the ouch factor for tumbling kids...with tile you get the benefit of being able to keep it cleaner easier...which is always a concern with youn'ins....imagine a slice of peanut butter bread face down.
KMS Woodworks
on Sep 29, 2012
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I too am a big fan of preservation, but since this floor is already damaged I'm all for covering it up. Granted I've not seen photos of the damage so it may not be as bad as I'm imagining. I must add that I never would have chosen wood for a kitchen because of how often it needs cleaned and water and wood don't mix well. As for little ones I fought my hubby big time against ceramic/porcelain floors in the kitchen thinking of future, and ofcourse the breakage of dishes if dropped, but in the end he won out and I've never been happier. I've watched out grandson since he was an infant. He learned to walk at our home with all hardwood and ceramic floors and did quite well. Upright things seemed to get in his way more than the floor ever did. When I say fought, I mean we both did our own research trying to back what we each wanted. No yelling involved. ♥
Z
on Sep 29, 2012
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Becky, They are bad. Some chunks that are missing are 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch deep and 3 to 5 inch in length. We have used 2 large containers of wood filler already. We have gotten a few estimates on tile. Labor itself has been $2,000 to $2,400.
Sheila B
on Sep 30, 2012
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Ouch! Is there no way you can DIY it?
Z
on Sep 30, 2012
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I am sure we will do it ourselves. Just trying to find the best way to go.
Sheila B
on Sep 30, 2012
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Good luck Sheila. It would be hard to cover it, but gosh that's allot of work to fill in the holes that big too. If you fill too deep of holes in one shot it will take forever to dry clear through.
Z
on Sep 30, 2012
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Thanks Becky.
Sheila B
on Sep 30, 2012
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considering the size of the space that estimate for the tile is no too bad...less that $6 a foot.
KMS Woodworks
on Oct 01, 2012
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I thought it was kind of high just for labor. The material was bad enough.
Sheila B
on Oct 01, 2012
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I charge about 7 a foot for install + materials. This would include installing 1/4 or 1/2" backer. install tile, grout and clean up. I have heard of others doing tile installs at up to 11 to 20 a foot. Given the size of the project I often cut them a deal for large open spaces...as you can cover some ground quickly...working in a 40 sq foot bath room with a gazillion cuts, tub, vanity toilet etc. and the 7 a foot is a deal
KMS Woodworks
on Oct 02, 2012
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I am sure you are worth every bit or more. This is suppose to be a DIY expedition we are on. I will let you all know what we decide.
Sheila B
on Oct 02, 2012
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