|
Job of the
week number two segment takes us to the northeast USA.
Originally planned was a how to fix open radiator
holes in older hardwood floors in lieu of new HVAC
systems on the grounds of the US Naval Academy in
Annapolis MD. Unfortunately the job schedule wasn't
permitting such so I managed to get together with Rick
Scott of
FloorMedic.com and take a look at an early 20th
century home in Washington DC.
I Must Be
Up North! Old Classics
Prior to my
arrival the repairs had been done, but the key was
getting
new heart pine to match the old that were
installed in the early 1900's from my understanding.
The home had gone through a fire recently but the
floors were not affected by the fire. Instead some
boards needed replacement that were damaged or rotted
from years of neglect.
This was a
learning experience for me after taking a look in the
basement of this old classic. Now I can understand the
grief many are up against when they wonder what to do
with floors that dip, slope, or rise throughout.
Unfortunately we don't have any information on how to
correct at this date. Perhaps someone can chime in and
invite
us showing how it can be done with estimated costs.
Correcting
floors that may be out of whack due to foundation
settling and the like is not a hardwood installers job
responsibility. If this condition pertains to you we
suggest contacting a professional engineer for their
take and remedies. Shown in the image right is a small
sampling of what I encountered when touring the
basement.
Two floor
joists shown have seen some attention over the years
to flattening out the above floor. One floor joist has
been supported by a new makeshift lolycomb and
another with a wedged piece of lumber above the brick.
The area above leads to the basement steps that still
remains high on one side by about one inch.
To the job
at hand. Upon entering the home I noticed the method
in which the repairs were weaved into the old and
thought to myself..."Gee that looks kinda ugly, I
wonder why he did it that way?" This is is certainly
different for me and it did not occur to me there was
no original subfloor. Each end joint had to lay on the
floor joists for support and nailing.
Matching Color of Heart Pine Floors
The chosen
method of matching was the use of Minwax gel stain in
two different colors. Applied first is an Antique
Maple stain, allowed to dry for approximately 5-10
minutes and rubbed off. A darker Mahogany was
then applied (shown below), allowed to sit and once again wiped
clean.
The result
was a near perfect match in my opinion. In many cases
when handling board replacements on older floors a
good matching method can be done by removing older
boards from closets and replace with new. However like
many older homes, closet space is always limited. In
our job there were none on the first floor of this
home.
More About The Floor
This old
beauty had seen it's share of staples from old carpet
padding with some areas also covered by linoleum that
was a popular floor covering in previous years. Truly
an original distressed floor that was actually a
random width hardwood. Boards varied from 2 1/2 inches
in width to three, and installed in no set pattern.
The new owner of the home preferred the antique
appearance without drum sanding and filling cracks, or
what I would call massive gaps. Instead the floor was
screened and coated twice.
About The Contractor
Rick Scott
of Floor Medic employs a half dozen guys that do work
mostly in the surrounding Baltimore area, but will
travel to points around the eastern beltway of DC and
into town. Areas of expertise includes restoration work
but the company does handle new installations as well. If you should happen to be taken back by
Ricks approach, don't be mislead. He does look young
and may talk fast, but his work is top quality
considering the difficulty in finding real contractors
today. Ones that care more about quality instead of
production and moving on to the next job.
Being the
selected hardwood contractor handling all of the Naval
Academy work should ease concerns for some that
may wonder about choosing a reputable contractor in
the DC - Baltimore area. |
