Queen Anne house with planked area (Where rug used to be), how do I finish this area?

HI. I have an 1886 Queen Anne. It is a historical home, and, has beautiful parquet floors using 6 woods throughout. The problem is this: When I pulled up the carpeting in the living area, there is the beautiful parquet wood around the outer 24" of the room. On the inside of this, are 8" - 10" (varying) wide planks that go the length of the room, and, are shaped around a bay window. There are cracks between the boards- some are perhaps 1/4" or more. I was told that this part of the floor wasn't finished because carpeting would have been placed there as an "exhibit" since carpeting was very expensive then. My question is this: I don't want carpeting there. I have 4 small children and have a hard enough time with it like this. I need to know what to do with it. I am considering painting it, but, what do I do about the cracks between? Could it be refinished? Or just painted brown? Has anyone dealt with this before? Thanks.

Anonymous2007-09-25T21:26:33Z

Favorite Answer

what you could use is some wood puddy that is a simular color to the wood floor to fill all the cracks and gaps. then to make it look better you could sand it then stain it to a cherry wood, golden oak, light or dark oak then once it is stained you could brush on a clear protective coat that adds a shine and gloss to the wood. or go over the wood with all new wood or take out the wood and redo it to look like it was or go with something new like a floating wood floor.

10

Anonymous2007-09-26T04:21:05Z

It it best to hire a person to restore this area? I am a do it your self person, I would fill the crack with wood filler, if the cracks are big ones do not attempt ,to fill them all at one time, put some in let it dry than give another coat .After it is dried, Sand it with a belt sander, make sure you sand with the wood grain. Change sanding belts until you are down to at least a fine 280 grit. i rub on linseed oil to bring out the beauty of the wood grain, and than a clear shellac coat, you may have to go to your local paint store so they can match the existing floor color,
Good Luck!

20

Anonymous2007-09-26T03:17:50Z

I think you should go to a Lowes or some place like that and price new wood flooring just for that room. then also go to a store at does nothing except flooring!! but before you do replace all new floors try to match the old wood to new wood and make it aged looking like the rest. in our area we have amish guys that do a wornderful job at replacing hard floors. Also check and see the historical society in your area before you do any thing major it might deminish the value of your home.

00

mups mom2007-09-26T01:52:25Z

due to the age of your home and the enormity of the job to be done i would enlist the help of a restorer and not attempt this as a diy.....ask around with your neighbors and see who did work on their hardwoods....

00

Related Questions

what can i use to keep an area rug in place on a hardwood floor?How do I get candle wax out of my area rug?How do I keep my area rug from damaging my hardwood floors?Area rug moves around too much - what can I do?Our cat has been using our area rugs as a litter box, I even bought her two litter boxes one for each floor?

Trending Questions

will i past the home inspection to adopt a cat?5 answersAre LED light bulbs worth the money?9 answersHow do I get rid of stuffed animals?5 answersHow to soundproof a garage turned into a bedroom.?9 answersCan Wall tiles be used on floors?13 answers