Sounds to me like what I have always referred to as "southern hard pine" or
"long leaf pine". It makes a beautiful wood floor and is most often found in
utilitarian rooms like kitchens and attics. I love the look but the
splinters are nasty. I suggest that you try sanding an area and see what
happens. I have always had success even when the floor looked bad.

Let us know how it works out!

Please note my direct phone and fax numbers have changed again

Eric Hammarberg
Associate Director of Preservation
Associate
LZA Technology
641 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10011-2014
Telephone: 917.661.8160 (Direct)
Mobile: 917.439.3537
Fax: 917.661.8161 (Direct)
email:  [log in to unmask]



-----Original Message-----
From: deb bledsoe [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Saturday, July 27, 2002 2:45 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: wood consolidants


OK crew, there have been a lot of posts in the past about masonry
consolidants of various types, but I've never seen anything about wood....

I have a situation here with the Uncle's parlour floor that I have a
question about.
It is some type of pine or fir, kind of orange colored, and dates to the
1870's.
It had something over it at some point, like linoleum or something, and/or
it was painted brown, but nothing is left but a residual bit of gunk, and
most of that is worn away in the traffic areas, and the floor is
splintering. The wood is all "dried out", even in this humidity.

I doubt I could even sand it, at this point. The surface comes up in big
splinters when I just walk across it in socks in a lot of places. I want to
refinish it in some way that is very low maintenance, but my only experience
with wood floors has been with jobs where the flooring itself was still in
real good shape and just needed sanding etc, and then we cleaned up stains,
matched patches for old register cutouts, and put down multiple coats of
polyurethane. Nothing complicated.

Where should I look for information to get started on deciding a course of
action?

deb

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