English encaustic tiles, here in a New York City brownstone vestibule. (Photo: Alan Weintraub)
There’s no denying that flooring is essential to the allure of old houses. In contrast to the bland beige carpeting that often blankets new construction, the well-loved hardwood, tile, and linoleum floors of vintage homes hint at the thousands of footsteps that have trod their surfaces over the years. On the downside, all that wear and tear can make old-house floors a top-of-the-list maintenance item.
Whether you need to refinish your home’s original floors or start from scratch to correct a previous owner’s remuddle, these articles will get you off on the right foot.
Only a face-nailed, wide-plank pine floor, without gloss, looks right in a ca. 1690 bedroom.
Paul Rocheleau
Flooring Options for Period Homes: The flooring you choose sets the style, period, and tone for the room.
susanamons.com
For a compass rose, paint reproduces the look of inlaid wood species. (Artist Susan Amons: susanamons.com)
Photo: Sandy Agrafiotis
Traditional Painted Floors: Produce artful floors with ages-old techniques and some paint.
Variable width wide-plank floors in this early dwelling were probably cleaned, when they were new, with a mixture of lye and water. They’ve been painted to help preserve their character.
Eric Roth
Touching Up Old Floors: Floors may suffer indignities as they age, even as they develop patina. Refreshing a basically sound floor will keep it serviceable. Given care and respect, a wood, stone, tile, or resilient floor will last for many decades and beyond.
Old-house bathroom with mosaic tile.
Bo Sullivan
Best Bets for Bathrooms: There’s a reason why resilient flooring types and ceramic tile are the go-to floorings for utility areas in the home.
Wood flooring has beautified homes for centuries. Today it’s available in many varieties.
WolfFI30/Fotolia.com
Hardwood vs. Engineered Flooring
Which type of wood flooring is best for old houses? The answer depends on where you plan to use it.
Drive nails into a hardwood floor to fix a squeak
How To Fix a Squeaky Floor
Two easy methods for silencing annoying squeaks in your hardwood floors.
