Wwgrmd: floorboard, an existential crisis

Im currently in the midst of reflooring our house project and I've hit a bit of a wall.

Having laid out the new boards for the 3 bedrooms, I'm looking at the original remaining boards we managed to salvage and beginning to have some serious doubts and second thoughts. 

Between the damaged ends, tongues and grooves, remaining nails and nail holes, some of them being cupped and others warped or twisted, I honestly don't know if I'll be able to salvage enough to cover the hall and lounge like we intended. Even if I can physically cover the area, Im not sure it'll be to a standard I'm happy with.

The problem I'm having is that being original to the house and about 110 years old, once they're gone, that part of the houses history is lost. It was a lot of effort to try and save them and it leaves me feeling kinda sad that despite that, it might've all been for nothing

So what are people's thoughts and feelings? Are floors even that big of a deal? Am I being impractically sentimental? 

I think I need a beer....

Here's some pictures, hopefully that'll help make sense of my ramblings

daeman said:

Im currently in the midst of reflooring our house project and I've hit a bit of a wall.

Having laid out the new boards for the 3 bedrooms, I'm looking at the original remaining boards we managed to salvage and beginning to have some serious doubts and second thoughts. 

......

The problem I'm having is that being original to the house and about 110 years old, once they're gone, that part of the houses history is lost. It was a lot of effort to try and save them and it leaves me feeling kinda sad that despite that, it might've all been for nothing

So what are people's thoughts and feelings? Are floors even that big of a deal? Am I being impractically sentimental? 

I think I need a beer....

Here's some pictures, hopefully that'll help make sense of my ramblings

Bolding mine. It sounds like you saved everything with full intention of being able to continue to use it. You've laid multiple rooms with the wood you've saved. At some point, it is the right thing to do to appreciate what you have been able to do with wood that's older than WW1, and figure out what you would do to highlight the awesome-factor of the wood you have saved as well as the house around it in the areas you may not be able to save more. 

Can you do a small accent wall with the remaining wood that might not be a high enough quality to put back down on the floor? Can you/someone you know make an "art piece" out of it?

Our house is a 1920 - it makes me sad to think of removing some of the things that make this home unique, but it does have to be livable. If this was a car, wouldn't you salvage what made sense, and upgrade the parts that were falling apart? You'd just try to do it in a way that best matches the character of the car around it. The flooring you've shown looks fantastic. Be proud of what you've been able to save.

Can you randomly alternate new and old wood to cover the remaining parts of the floor? 

Can you "antique" new to be old? Or how about just laying out the hallways with what you can salvage and be new in the rooms with a similar shape/color/look?

Condition doesn't really matter if you coat it with enough sealer, varnish, epoxy, or whatever.  

Dings, dents, rough ends, and nail holes don't practically matter if it's well sealed, and the only people who will notice those things will respect that you were saving the old materials. 

I think old houses with old flooring should have character left from years of living. New stuff looks out of place (to me). I'm in the process of redoing the red oak in my house that had carpet previously. Nail holes, splits etc are still there but properly sanded and finished. I'm happy with the outcome.

I would put the saved wood in the main living area, were I could show it off. Then see if there's a way to antique modern wood in such a way as to complement the originals. Then put that in the bedrooms or rooms not likely to be seen by guest and such. If I put that thought and effort into saving vintage wood (I totally would do that) I'd defiantly show it off.

In reply to classicJackets :

I'm not sure if I'm misreading your reply or of you missed part of my post? I did lose a more detailed original post and may not have been as clear on my second attempt

The 3 bedrooms have brand new floorboards. 2 of the bedrooms already had the original floorboards replaced with chipboard flooring prior to our purchase. We managed to get up the bulk of the boards from the remaining bedroom, hall and lounge.

The practically and functionality aspect is a big part of my dilemma, and the car analogy is a good one.

The idea of preserving some of the boards in another application is interesting and would definitely soften the blow of not being able to achieve what I originally intended.

In reply to Floating Doc :

This would be ideal, but unfortunately not. The closest I can get in new is 2mm narrower and about 1-2mm thinner.

I'm hunting for some reclaimed boards, but coming up empty so far.

In reply to Ranger50 :

This may be my best option,  the  hall is the smallest area to do and also the entry to the house. At least that way you're stepping onto the original floors as you enter the house.

The original plan was to refinish the old boards and age the new so they kind of meet in the middle. The bedrooms are the same type of timber and a very close size match.

In reply to oldopelguy :

I agree that dings and dents and even old nails and nail holes are part of the character and I don't want to loose that, I can even hide some of the daggy ends under the skirting boards. Cupped boards, split and broken tongues and grooves pose a bigger obstacle though.

My biggest concern is that while I can currently physically cover the area, that could change quickly when I start cutting boards down. Being non end matched, there's alot more waste because they have to meet on a joist. 

In reply to rustybugkiller :

Agreed, it's why I put the effort into saving them in the first place. But if I can't stretch what I've got to finish the job it leaves me in a bit of a pickle, which is what has me feeling pretty conflicted.

In reply to Appleseed :

I would most likely have enough to do the lounge room well, but it does mean the first thing people see and tread on when they come in the front door would be new boards. I wanted to try and keep original boards and trim for the hall and lounge, making the compromise of using new boards and reproduction trim in the bedrooms, it's just starting to look like that may not be feasible

Just to clear up and include a bit more information.

2 out of 3 bedrooms had the original floors removed and replaced with chipboard by a previous owner.

The remaining boards are Cypress pine, appear to be 5 3/8 inches (137mm) x  7/8 inches (22-23mm). Cypress tends to be very brittle, especially at this age.

New boards, also Cypress pine, 133mm x 20mm. The tongue and groove marries up enough that I can transition in a doorway or similar, but can't alternate boards between new and old. New boards are end matched meaning they don't have to join over a joist, minimizing waste.

House was flooded at least once in it's life, that may be part of how the first 2 rooms were lost and why there are quite a few of the remaining boards that are cupped. Flooding shouldn't be a future issue due to better Creek management practices and a levy being pushed up.

In reply to joemily1122 :

Wow, who knew I could use floorboards to make a canoe! And with that, my dilemma is solved..... Build a canoe with my old boards..... Thanks joemily

And just like that, things might fall into place. 

After ringing around numerous salvage and demolition yards I got a lead on a guy who primarily does asbestos abatement, but also does demolition and whilst he doesn't have a public Yard, has been known to part with things if they're not something he feels he'll definitely need.

Went out and saw him yesterday and after plenty of digging, found some extra boards. Some are rough, some are actually pretty good, but more importantly, they exist.

Also had a bit of a eureka moment yesterday. I had a feeling the boards used on two walls in the extension were floorboards.... After a bit of time with the heat gun and sander, yep, they're definitely leftover flooring. 

All of a sudden it's looking like I can scrounge up and repair enough flooring that I should be able to run with the original plan.

Now an important question, can I refinish floorboards without punching the old nail heads down deeper or removing them? Either option results in damage to the boards. 

Driving them deeper into the board cracks and splits them. Trying to remove them ends up breaking out material on the face of the board.

And while I'm spamming my own thread ...

I got some sanding sheets for my palm sander yesterday and gave a couple of the old pieces of board a bit of a sand.

As can bee seen, with a proper refinish the match from new to old should be pretty damn good

Here's the floorboard wallboard

And this is the original style of nail head, kinda shows why they can't be driven/pulled out.