*Disclaimer alert!* this one was not a DIY, I repeat, this one was not a DIY! ‘Why not?!’ I hear you cry! ‘You are all about DIY Mel!’ Absolutely right – I love to save money whenever we can and do the job ourselves. I like the satisfaction of knowing it was my hard work that paid off. But Oli hates DIY and we have just remortgaged the house, taking a little extra borrowing to get some of the outstanding jobs done in the house. One of those jobs was to restore our Victorian floorboards. I would now recommend that if you can afford to pay someone to do this particular job, you should. Read on and I will explain exactly why.
How the floors were
Our floors were not in a bad condition. The previous owners had put down solid wood floors, on top of overlay, directly on top of the original boards. They probably did this 15 – 20 years ago and it would have cost upwards of £3k, given the space the floors covered and that they had used good quality flooring.
The main reason I wanted to restore our Victorian floorboards is quite simply because I love original boards. I love them with their beautiful imperfections, their knocks and bumps and their glorious wood grain. There were other reasons though. The floors were two inches higher than the kitchen. We have huge statement lights that hung a little too low. The floorboards were also quite damaged in places: scuffed, scratched, marked with paint. At the very least they needed sanding back anyway. So why not just get rid and sand back the actual floorboards?
I am also pleased to report that our solid wood floor was carefully removed and has been re-homed via a lovely lady I met on Instagram (@greenhousetodreamhouse) who will be laying it, sanding it, staining it and generally giving it a new lease of life. So be assured, no floorboards were harmed (or sent unnecessarily to landfill) during this project.
Pros and Cons of Restoring Victorian Floorboards
The obvious question was ‘why did the previous owners not just restore the Victorian floorboards themselves?’ and there’s all sorts of reasons, not least fashion. The solid wood floors they installed back in the early 2000s would have been really top of the range and all the rage. I expect this is the reason. However, there are other things to consider before you start ripping up your floor.
The cons
What lies beneath
This is the biggie and this is the scary bit (scarier even than the film). And I will be totally honest, we got lucky. If you decide to restore your Victorian floorboards, you need to hope they are worth restoring! Our floorboards were in near perfect condition. You may not be so lucky. The floorboards could be rotten from water damage or woodworm. They may have been concreted over in areas. They may have been replaced for some reason and not be original boards at all.
All is not lost in this situation and damaged areas can be replaced with reclaimed boards, but it will make the job a lot more expensive. Think thousands.
Draughts
Personally this doesn’t bother me. I think old houses should be allowed to breathe and I own a stellar collection of woolly jumpers for winter. But whilst documenting the restoration on my Instagram account, I received dozens of messages warning me about how cold it would be. I have grown up in Victorian houses, complete with exposed floorboards and I have never noticed this, but clearly it is something that bothers a lot of people.
Again, there are ways to solve this potential issue. You can use strips called DraughtEx which slot in between the gaps in your floorboards. Gaps can also be filled with a mix of the sawdust and resin which then matches the colour of your boards and can be stained or otherwise finished as usual.
Noise
Some people worry about noise. Personally, I like the comforting pitter patter of my cat walking into the living room. We had wooden floors anyway so it isn’t that different (though there is no underlay so noise is no longer absorbed). I can say with my hand on my heart that noise is not an issue. It might be for you though, so something to consider.
The pros
They are beautiful
The restored Victorian floorboards are just beautiful. They make the house feel expensive (ironic considering the floors we ripped up would have cost more than we paid to restore our boards). Plus I feel that the craftsmanship of these beautiful old houses should be cherished and not hidden away under something less exciting.
Ultimately, this was the key reason for me. They just look so much better.
You gain height
It might not sound much, but we gained an extra two inches ceiling height by removing the old floor. The rooms are therefore instantly bigger, they look grander and no one bangs their head on our hallway light anymore.
How to restore Victorian floorboards
First, you need to remove your current floor. I would suggest checking the likely condition of the boards underneath in an inconspicuous area first. The were able to check the boards in our under-stairs cupboard and also where the dining room met the kitchen by removing some beading that edged the existing floors. At least this should tell you if you even have boards at all!
Once your existing floor has been removed, you can assess costs much more accurately. I will come on to that.
Black paint / Bitumen
When you embark on your project to restore your Victorian floorboards, you will likely be met with at least a partially black floor. Many Victorian houses have pine floorboards. The edges were often painted black to improve the look of the boards that were visible beyond a rug in the middle of the room (this was before the time of fitted carpets folks). As far as I am aware, it was just a fashion to paint the boards black and I made the assumption they painted only the bits you could see to save money.
If you have oak floorboards, they are less likely to be painted black. Again, as far as I am aware, this is down to fashion and oak simply being a more attractive wood. I haven’t been able to find any information to the contrary, though I must confess I have not spent a great deal of time researching this! If anyone has more wisdom on this, I would love to know – please leave a comment!
Sanding any surface is not without potential health hazards, as breathing in fine particles is never good for you. This is even more so when we are considering lead paint or asbestos. If you have any concerns at all that your floor may have been treated with something containing asbestos, you should have it checked by a professional.
Another reason it is sometimes better to leave these things to the professionals is because they come with all the gear to keep their lungs safe and they clean up properly afterwards. Please don’t put yourself at risk to save a few hundred pounds. Too many DIYers are unaware of the hidden hazards an old home presents and it pains me to see people ripping up floor tiles fixed with asbestos-containing adhesives and stripping lead paint without any safety equipment.
Remember: Safety first, always.
Damaged boards
Chances are at least some of your boards will be damaged. These can be easily replaced using reclaimed boards purchased from a reclamation yard.
The boards should be cut away on a joist so that there is somewhere for the replacement board to be affixed. If you are doing this yourself (we didn’t) you will need to use a multi-tool to cut away the damaged board. Use a mitre saw or hand saw to cut the reclaimed boards to size and nail (don’t screw – the Victorians didn’t have electronic screwdrivers!) the boards to the joist.
Sanding the floorboards back
Keeping in mind what I have mentioned above about checking the safety of the surface you are sanding, the hard work can begin.
It took three full days (8am to 4pm) and five different types of sander to sand our living room, dining room and hallway.
The main areas were sanded using a Bona Professional Belt Sander. This is not as easy as it looks and takes a long time.
The edges were sanded with a Bona Professional Edge Sander.
The difficult bits were sanded using a random orbital sander, a sanding mouse and a corner sander for getting into – you guessed it – corners.
The floor was sanded three times: a coarse grit was used to get all the black paint off, then a medium grit to clean up the boards and finally a fine grit to leave them smooth. A buffing machine was also required to finish them beautifully.
Staining the floorboards
As we have pine boards, we opted to stain them. The fact is pine will go orange over time and although it looks lovely freshly sanded, this colour won’t last. We decided to go for a very dark stain to make a dramatic impact and contrast against our light decor. It is also a nod to the Victorians and their love of black paint.
The stain we used was Mylands Fast Stain in Dark Oak. This was a good option for us as it dries quickly and we couldn’t get all the furniture out of our rooms, so we needed to be able to move it around. It would have been completely impractical to use a slower drying product.
Priming the floorboards
Next, sealer was applied to prime the boards. Again this is fast drying – about 30 minutes to an hour on a hot day. It’s recommended to leave the sealer for about four hours to dry properly. You can walk on it with socks once touch dry.
Applying Lacquer to the floorboards
Finally, the floorboards were finished with three coats of lacquer. We originally opted for a satin finish and quickly decided this was too shiny. So we switched instead to a matte finish. This still has a very slight sheen (just a few percent) but looks more modern.
Should you restore your Victorian floorboards yourself?
To DIY, or not to DIY, that is the question.
I love DIY. And my preference was to save money and do the work ourselves. We only went professional because we could afford to this time and my other half just couldn’t face weeks of DIY, which is fair enough.
And having gone for the professional option, I am really glad we did. Here’s why.
Doing it yourself isn’t as cheap as you think
When you actually factor in the hire costs of up to five sanders, a buffing machine, an industrial vacuum to attach to your sanders, the sandpaper sheets (you will get through a lot), the stain, primer and lacquer, you will see the costs really begin to mount up.
To restore our Victorian floorboards, we paid just over £2,000. This fee included all materials. Had we needed lots of boards replaced, the cost would have been greater.
If we had hired all those machines for a week, it would have cost about £500. We would then have needed to pay for all the sanding sheets additionally. The stain, primer and lacquer is an extra £100 or so. Replacement boards were a couple of hundred pounds. So basically we paid about an extra £1,000 than had we DIYed it. But….
We saved so much time
If we had done it ourselves we would have needed a full week off work (what a way to spend your annual leave) or we’d have had to spend a good few weeks doing it in the evenings (cue additional hire fees). It took a full five days to do our living room, dining room and hallway. Also….
There was no mess
I had so many warnings from people about this being a really messy job with dust everywhere. There was no dust. I have no idea why DIYers end up with loads of dust as I’ve never done it myself, but maybe it’s because our professional floor restorer attached an industrial vacuum to the back of the sanders. If you do go down the DIY route, keep this in mind and make sure you hire an industrial vacuum. This isn’t a job for your everyday hoover! And if you do DIY it, keep in mind that….
It’s much more strenuous work than you realise
Pushing a sander around looks easy enough, but it’s actually really hot, tiring work, especially in the summer. I know I would have come away from the week exhausted and totally over it. And finally….
The professionals do it really well
Hiring someone specialised to restore Victorian floorboards is worth it. I know that we have a better result for paying someone. Applying the stain evenly isn’t as easy as it looks. Cutting the boards to size isn’t as easy as it looks (in fact I don’t even think it looks easy when the professionals do it!) Filling the gaps is time consuming.
All in all, for us, paying a bit extra was totally worth it. I absolutely love the floors and the whole house feels more considered and luxurious. I am so pleased we did it and I am sure you will be if you decide to, too.
