Anyone ever "distress" a hardwood floor?

[Spidey]

The main floor of our house has pine hardwood - and we have a lab. You do the math...

We've been in the house for over two years and the dog has scratched the hell out of the hardwood. I was watching an episode of This Old House and saw the team distress hardwood by scraping and banging it using scrapers, chains, metal brushes, etc. In the end it looked quite nice.

My plan is that once the dog is no longer with us, I may do the same as pine is supposed to be a good flooring material for distressing. Has anyone done this and, other than looking very labor intensive, does anyone have any advice?

Thanks!

[densa44]

Pine is not a hardwood, quite soft really, it will be easy to sand out the scratches when ever you want, put down a nice new finish and you're done.

[recce43]

you want to use my 6 year old boy? he could distress your floors in a couple hours

[Okotokian]

The other option once he is gone is to simply refinish it normally. You can do it yourself if you are handy. I've had it done professionally as part of a larger reno.

[FishingMOM]

Originally Posted by recce43

you want to use my 6 year old boy? he could distress your floors in a couple hours

I can throw in a 7 yr old who can help cut down the time needed.
I bet if you ask sundance he can lend the kids some fish bonkers and they would have it done in 10 minutes flat.

[Spidey]

Originally Posted by densa44

Pine is not a hardwood, quite soft really, it will be easy to sand out the scratches when ever you want, put down a nice new finish and you're done.

Good point. Calling Pine a Hardwood is a bit of an oxymoron. I thought that I'd do what you suggested originally but the dog has now worn into bare wood in quite a few spots and created some pretty deep grooves in places - to the point that I'd probably have to take off 3 or 4 mm to smooth out some areas.

The other thing is that our cabinetry is "wood distressed" and thought distressing the floor could really tie it in.

Thanks for the other suggestions - I like the idea of child labor . We have girls, and I never thought to contract a few boys to come in and do their thing...

[Fisherpeak]

Pine is a terrible wood for flooring,way too soft.But since it`s down,don`t worry about distressing it,give it a year or so,it will be so distressed you may have to give it Valium.

[Fishnafterwork]

I helped a buddy do it once.. ( he does it for a living)..... We actually took chains and beat and pulled them around then spread gravel on it and put a chunk of plywood on top and went skateboarding.... Just put a bunch of "random" scratches and dings on it ....... No bother sanding and refinishing cause the dogs will just do it again!

[catnthehat]

Old growth pine is actually very hard as far as softwoods go, but it is very difficult to find these days -- the stuff they are bringing up out of the Gateneau adn Ottawa rivers is bringing top prices.
It is very desirable for decking on boats because of its density.
new stuff? pretty soft!!
I'd be willing to be that the two criminoids that reside at our house wwould wreck it in jig time!!
Cat

[riden]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Old growth pine is actually very hard as far as softwoods go, but it is very difficult to find these days -- the stuff they are bringing up out of the Gateneau adn Ottawa rivers is bringing top prices.
It is very desirable for decking on boats because of its density.
new stuff? pretty soft!!
I'd be willing to be that the two criminoids that reside at our house wwould wreck it in jig time!!
Cat

Used to be lots of pine floors in the good old days. Pretty sure they used the heartwood of the old growth too.

I woudl love to get hold of some salvaged boards

[CaberTosser]

Old Douglas Fir can be pretty hard for a softwood as well, I've seen some older homes in Calgary with them, as well as Mrs Caber's old house in Stettler.

The child labor you don't even have to pay, just supply about $7.50 in candy per head. Then give them tonka trucks, gravel, 3/8" nuts, bb's, a pogo stick with a modified foot, small wooden mallets, and some bike chains.

[deanmc]

Distressing sounds like a great way to get out some aggression. lol Maybe look for some volunteers on the fishing forum. lol

Slow growth not old growth for hard pine. Some old growth is 30" diameter. you want 150-200 old trees with 12 inch butts for hard pine.

[deanmc]

This looks like fun. Can I pleeeeeease help?




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmkb1UxY8ww

[Clgy_Dave2.0]

Uhhh....just one little minor question to the OP...are your floors "pre-finished", or "site-finished". If they're pre-finished that presents a whole new set of problems. You cant just distress pre-finished floors.

[Spidey]

Originally Posted by Calgary Dave

Uhhh....just one little minor question to the OP...are your floors "pre-finished", or "site-finished". If they're pre-finished that presents a whole new set of problems. You cant just distress pre-finished floors.

I don't believe they are pre-finished - I found some spare boards in the garage and they are raw. However, in case I am wrong, what's the difference? The flooring is not bevelled but is there anything else I need to take into consideration?

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Spidey

I don't believe they are pre-finished - I found some spare boards in the garage and they are raw. However, in case I am wrong, what's the difference? The flooring is not bevelled but is there anything else I need to take into consideration?

Pre-finished biards are generally done with a very hard laquer, something that cannot be emulated unless it is re-sprayed.
it tends to chip and break insted of denting when stuff is dropped on it.
Site finished floors are more often than not brushed or rolled, or oiled.
Also, many pre- fineished floors contain a stain.....

Cat

[deanmc]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Pre-finished biards are generally done with a very hard laquer, something that cannot be emulated unless it is re-sprayed.
it tends to chip and break insted of denting when stuff is dropped on it.
Site finished floors are more often than not brushed or rolled, or oiled.
Also, many pre- fineished floors contain a stain.....

Cat

Also you need to completely remove the lacquer on a pre finished floor before you can re-stain it.

[Backbay]

I have a couple of friends who spent a lot of time and money renovating their house. She's an interior designer, he does interior painting and finishes.
They had new floors laid, quarter-sawn red oak in herringbone pattern. The floors were laid by an old Italian guy; flooring was his life's work. He finished sanding on a Friday, and returned Monday morning to lay the poly down.
Over the weekend, my buddy Dave had at his new floors with a chain, just like in the video, so they wouldn't look new anymore. They didn't.
Dave says the poor old guy almost had a heart attack when he came over to the house on the following Monday.....

I do some flooring. This is a cottage where I used reclaimed hemlock (barnboard), and sanded the whole floor with an edger to give it more of an uneven, antique look...

[rugatika]

sounds like your dogs already distressed your floors.

[bsmitty27]

I wouldn't try to sand down the pine to get a perfect finish. That's not what a pine floor is all about. It will become distressed on its own with time. If you want to speed up the process. In idea is to paint or stain floor. lightly with desired colour (greys, browns, to match cubboards) then sand and finish with poly. It will leave dark color in depressions. You could add more distressing before you paint.
I grew up in a home with pine floors. Think of them as having a patina (living finish like copper) that changes and evolves over time. Its amazing how many of my neighbours did pine floors in their homes after seeing my parents.
On new pine floors the first couple of dings hurt. But it's part of the process.
Brad

[catnthehat]

These fine flooors were distressed by two "experts" in about a week - two weeks, but they work with a passion for their calling!

Cat