| Author | Content |
Weezingreens
Seward, AK
(Zone 3b)
 January 10, 2006
2:42 PM Post #1966721
| I'd love a beautiful floor in our home, but we've got some real issues with the house settling. I don't want carpeting, and the paint we put on it 12 years ago is really wearing off. We've also got some issues with wear spots in the plywood where we sit at the table. Leveling the floor will require house jacks and trimming the center support beams in the basement, so it isn't going to happen anytime real soon.
Here is my question: What is a really good filler for the damaged spots and what sort of paint will wear the best. We used a porch and deck enamel last time... oil base, but it took so long to dry. Also, we're thinking of working some pattern into the paint job to make it look more like floor covering... any ideas? |
stownes
Mansfield, TX
(Zone 8a)
January 10, 2006
3:58 PM Post #1967239
| We are on cement slabs here, and it is fairly popular to "stain" them. I have seen articles in the past about painted floors - will try to remember where. One I remember had a painted border that was pretty.
Sharon |
Weezingreens
Seward, AK
(Zone 3b)
January 10, 2006
4:08 PM Post #1967269
| Ouch! A concrete floor would give me shin splints! Fat ladies need all the cushion they can get! It does, however, offer better options than I have at the moment. Your floor doesn't heave or sag, I'll bet. I've considered a pattern, such as tile squares, but an all over splatter would probably be easier and more practical. I've also considered painting in a floor rug or two. |
Terry
Murfreesboro, TN
(Zone 7a)
 January 10, 2006
4:09 PM Post #1967276
| If we can get Badseed's attention, she did a really cool painted floor design in one of her girls' rooms in their old house. Maybe she can share some pictures as well as some "do's and don'ts" she learned along the way. |
Badseed
Lynchburg, OH
(Zone 6a)
January 10, 2006
4:42 PM Post #1967343
| My ears were burning! LOL Okay, actually I was invited. ;)
I did a floor in a bedroom last year. It was a hardwood floor in a bedroom that had some dark old stains. The house was built in 1968 and had several owners over the years and the floor had lost most of it's stain/varnish by the time we took up the carpet. We put down different rugs and carpet over the years and finally gave up. I opted to sand and paint it. I used a good quality porch and floor paint for the base and the design then covered it with a few coats of non-yellowing urethane. There were a few spots that either splintered or chipped and I chiselled them out and filled them. To be honest, I can't think of what the filler was right off. I can check when I run back down though. I did make sure I used one that was sandable and paintable and also appropriate for floors. This is what I started it and how it ended. [HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]
You may want to get professional advice as far as putting a water based paint over and oil based paint. You also want to make sure you have no loose paint before you paint. Depending on the amount of space under the floor and the size of the sags, it is possible to shove some cinder blocks under the low spots. Got that info from a home inspector!
As far as design, you can google all kinds of combinations on painted floor, floor painting, etc. I found a design similar to what I did and remembered I had an ivy leaf paint roller. Voila! Had the idea and plunged ahead.
Good luck! |
Weezingreens
Seward, AK
(Zone 3b)
January 10, 2006
5:07 PM Post #1967405
| Wow, Badseed! That is really impressive. I think your pattern helps to give the floor a tiled look, rather than a painted floor look... but then, that was probably the intention! Yes, if you can find the info on the filler you used, I'd appreciate it. We've tried a couple things, but the filler always seems to pull away from the wood and fall out as time goes on. I think it is because the house is constantly shifting.
That brings me to an explanation of the high and low spots. Our house is built of 12" house logs atop several rows of 10" stacked timbers, and the timbers rest on a daylight basement foundation. In the basement, the floor is supported by the timbers, foundation, and three upright support beams down the center.
Being incredibly heavy, and so much wood (each log is 12"x12", and the roof is timber frame construction) the changes in the wood over the years and the settling from all the weight have caused the outer edges of the house to settle while the center support beams in the concrete basement have remained the same.
The floor crowns in the center on the main floor. To fix that, we will need to get a very couple very stout house jacks, remove the center beams one at a time, and trim them to the same height as the outer timbers... not an easy do... thus, once again painting the floor. Carpeting would probably mask the uneveness of the floor, but I could sweep up a grain scoop of dirt in this house everyday, so it isn't practical. |
soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
January 19, 2006
8:25 PM Post #1987698
| Okay Ladies... you will be the first to see my latest project. I've been thinking about trying this out for over a year and this is it.. I am making the plywood floor look like plank flooring. We sanded the plywood, filled it in with wood filler and now we just cut v grooves into the floor. We are going to paint it with an oil based paint and I had considered doing a design, but I think i'm just going to go with the single color. We will use floor paint if we can, but if they don't have the colors we want, I will use either Sherwin Williams or Porters new non yellowing white. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
January 19, 2006
8:33 PM Post #1987713
| Hubby against the wall :) 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
January 19, 2006
8:34 PM Post #1987714
| Cutting on down the line. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
January 19, 2006
8:34 PM Post #1987718
| Measure twice cut once!! 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
January 19, 2006
8:35 PM Post #1987719
| Another line in the hardwood :) !! 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
|
soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
January 19, 2006
8:39 PM Post #1987723
| When we get it all completed, I plan on having all the exact details written out and I want to put this on our home page and help others do the same thing. This is my youngest sons room and we are doing it in the upstairs office, my oldest sons room, a hallway, and it's a wait and see how great it looks before we do the master bed.. I love it so far and painted will look amazing.. Like the county cottage home with wood planks that I love :) This is my husbands childhood home and we are working so hard to get it looking nice.
So, to answer your question Weezin.. no I have not painted them YET!! :)
:)
Susan |
Weezingreens
Seward, AK
(Zone 3b)
January 21, 2006
2:57 AM Post #1990346
| Wow! Great idea, Susan! |
Georgiaredclay
lagrange, GA
(Zone 7a)
January 21, 2006
8:56 PM Post #1992094
| Wow no wonder I haven't heard from you. That is looking great. |
soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
January 22, 2006
9:45 AM Post #1992905
| Yes Jim, I'm really trying hard to get the inside to a good stopping place before I need to start working hard outside!! :) We are making progress though! :)
Susan |
Weezingreens
Seward, AK
(Zone 3b)
January 22, 2006
12:49 PM Post #1993264
| Every summer, when I'm too busy to work indoors, I kick myself for not working on the inside of the house during the winter months. I suppose this year will be no different. It's really hard to live in a house while you are working on it... especially painting floors! |
soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
January 22, 2006
2:08 PM Post #1993439
| I'm glad to hear someone else say that. When I had paint chipping off the windows, i still had people over. Not now... We do have drop-in's and I let them in and they see how we are in "transition". But I use to invite people over and that hasn't happened :) ya see how that room is empty? Well all that stuff has to go somewhere!! and we are doing my upstairs office at the same time which is all crammed into the TV/playroom. It's really a mess.. The only reason I don't get too stressed out about it is that I know that we are moving forward and making change, and it is supposed to be a temporary situation leading to a better one.
Well, I know this though.. I will not let seed starting season pass me by becasue I'm in this house trying to get it back together. it wll all just have to be put on hold till growing season is over!! :)
Susan |
Weezingreens
Seward, AK
(Zone 3b)
January 22, 2006
5:02 PM Post #1993787
| Good for you, Susan! It's only summer for a short time, so grow, grow, grow! I've decided we're not going to have a party at our house til we paint the floor. We haven't had a party here in about 6 years! LOL! |
Ivy1
Mystic, CT
(Zone 6b)
January 23, 2006
3:30 PM Post #1995457
| Weezingreens, are you near water up there? I ask because I've heard people here talk about marine stains and paints for household projects. They are really tough and durable, and much more water resistant. I imagine there are filler products, it might be worth a try. One floor guy I talked to had recommended this to us when we thought we could afford to redo our floor.
One thing I would not try is wood putty. The previous owners of our house used this stuff to fill the cracks where the tongue & groove was coming apart. The wood putty just dries up, crumbles, and pops out, we have been pulling it out for 8 years! Some of it comes out in long pieces, or sticks to somebody's sock and gets ripped out of the floor. I can't tell you enough- do not use it!
Here is a picture of the wood putty-------- Hey, Tippy, get out of the picture...
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Ivy1
Mystic, CT
(Zone 6b)
January 23, 2006
3:31 PM Post #1995458
| O K. Here is a picture without the dog: 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
|
Ivy1
Mystic, CT
(Zone 6b)
January 23, 2006
3:35 PM Post #1995462
| Tippy probably thought I was taking a picture of food that fell on the floor...
So the wood putty is the yellowish stuff that does not even match the color of the really beautiful but time-worn wood floor. I t also turned a little grayer in the spaces between the floor boards. |
Weezingreens
Seward, AK
(Zone 3b)
January 23, 2006
6:46 PM Post #1995837
| Yes, we've tried wood putty before, and it just pops out after awhile. I think there is too much movement for wood putty, and it doesn't really adhere to the wood.
Yes, we do live near the water. We're about 5 miles from Resurrection Bay, so there are lots of marine products available here. Unfortunately, many of them are very expensive, but I'll ask around. My DH, who used to be a merchant mariner, used some marine filler on a couple holes, but that wasn't any better to adhering to the wood. It is quite hard and durable, though. |
soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
January 23, 2006
8:29 PM Post #1996090
| oh dear... going to tell husband that wood filler pops out :(
Susan |
Weezingreens
Seward, AK
(Zone 3b)
January 26, 2006
4:44 PM Post #2002250
| Well, heck, maybe you'll have better luck than we did. We're not very kind to our floors here. |
Ivy1
Mystic, CT
(Zone 6b)
January 27, 2006
10:41 AM Post #2003839
| Susan our house is really old and settles a LOT! You may not have the same problem. Our floors are not in good condition, and they are about 160 years old. It's amazing to me that they we don't just fall right through them! |
soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
January 27, 2006
12:25 PM Post #2004040
| Oh well, this house is 35 years old it does sqeak here and there too. we have a door that wont close upstairs and my husband said its due to the house shifting.. so I guess we have some of that too. Everything is in a constant state of motion I guess! :)
Susan
|
Weezingreens
Seward, AK
(Zone 3b)
January 28, 2006
7:02 PM Post #2007182
| The older I get and the looser my skin gets, I can sympathize with an old house that is in a constant state of motion. Just a couple of sneezes could pop my spackle! |
Ivy1
Mystic, CT
(Zone 6b)
January 29, 2006
12:58 PM Post #2008474
| I had my geraniums sitting on the floor next to my sliding door. Although I had put some plates under the pots, they left a moldy ring on the wood floor. I bleached the floor board, then tried some mineral oil on the dry spot. That wood drank up the mineral oil like nobody's business. My floor is thirsty! I bet they haven't had any good treatment for a hundred years. I think I will give my floor a little mineral oil massage. I always thought there was a coating of polyurethane on top. I guess not. |
Weezingreens
Seward, AK
(Zone 3b)
January 29, 2006
6:39 PM Post #2009264
| Yes, Ivy, once you start massaging a plank or two, they'll all be crying for it! |
soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
January 29, 2006
8:02 PM Post #2009475
| Your funny Weezins! nobody told me that right after I had a baby I'd sneeze and lose control of my body!! Thank goodness i've got that back, but my mind has never been the same!! :) |
Weezingreens
Seward, AK
(Zone 3b)
January 30, 2006
1:23 AM Post #2010028
| Oh, I think we all drop a little wood filler once in a while. |
Ivy1
Mystic, CT
(Zone 6b)
January 30, 2006
8:43 AM Post #2010305
| Susan-
Speaking of losing control, when I was 8 months pregnant, my dad and husband took me out to dinner. They have a nice salad bar at the restaurant, and I was about to put this beautiful piece of mushroom in my mouth when Alice (my daughter) must have jumped on my sciatic nerve. The mushroom shot off my fork and sailed across the dining room, over the heads of two upper class ladies having their dinner. To my amazement, it didn't hit anyone. Even more to my amazement, not one person in the dining room saw it happen! I mean, that mushroom must have flown 12 feet! Even my DH and dad didn't see it. I was immediately overcome with giggles and couldn't tell them what happened for about 5 minutes.
And by the way, my brain never came back after my pregnancy. I thought I would get it back but it is on an extended leave of absence!
Weezingreens- did you ever decide what paint style to do on your floors? I have seen some nice things done with stencils, but I don't know if that is your style. Also there are really cool ways of using different stains in a pattern, but I think you said your floors are already painted. I like a simple pattern around the outside edge of a room, maybe about a foot in from the walls. They even have flooring that comes pre-patterned for DIY idiots like me!
What colors do you like for the paint job? |
Weezingreens
Seward, AK
(Zone 3b)
January 30, 2006
4:29 PM Post #2010941
| boy, the jury is still out on this floor. Since it was already painted, I'm sticking with paint rather than stain. However, this plywood is so warn that it has occurred to me to 'Antique' it! This floor is so uneven that I don't think it wise to run a linear pattern of any sort. It would look like rolling prairie! I'm thinking of just using a sponge to put some design in the paint, either starting with a dark color and using a light color in the sponge, or visa-versa. We track in too much garden dirt for a light colored floor and have too much dog hair for a dark one! |
Ivy1
Mystic, CT
(Zone 6b)
January 30, 2006
4:40 PM Post #2010949
| My neighbor has two siamese cats. She just got new furniture and guess what color she got? Light brown and dark brown tweed- siamese cat colored! You could paint a fake sisal (sp?) carpet onto your floor!
Can you roll a marble from your living room into your dining room? We can. We have to watch it when we are playing a game. My daughter at five is quite adept at catching things before they go rolling off into the other room. |
Weezingreens
Seward, AK
(Zone 3b)
January 30, 2006
5:07 PM Post #2011002
| Well, our floor isn't just slanted... it has hills and gullies! |
soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
January 31, 2006
8:43 PM Post #2014011
| yall are good for giggles!! :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEZINS!!!
:)
Susan |
Weezingreens
Seward, AK
(Zone 3b)
February 1, 2006
2:20 PM Post #2015559
| Thanks, Susan! |
SadiJ
Grass Valley, CA
July 30, 2006
1:37 PM Post #2566987
| HOW did you cut the plank lines into the plywood?? It looks great! What tool did you use? I want to do the same thing, but want to stain my floor to look very old. Those plank lines are the trick!!!!
I can't wait to get my floors started.
SadiJ |
claypa
West Pottsgrove, PA
(Zone 6b)
July 30, 2006
2:39 PM Post #2567216
| Sadij, I'll answer because the thread is kinda old. In the pictures, you can see he's using what's called a router. It spins very fast, and uses all different kinds of bits for different cuts. You wouldn't need a very powerful, expensive router to do this, but it is easier. Practice with some scrap, you have to go against the rotation of the router, so it doesn't pull you along.
I'm guessing a simple "V" groove would be nice. In the picture, you can see he's using a board as a straight edge. This is important. If you don't want to screw or nail a board to your floor, you could maybe use a piece of plywood weighted down with 5 gallon buckets full of something heavy, and move it along for each groove.
Hope this helps! |
soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
July 31, 2006
7:20 AM Post #2569875
| Yes, that is what we did.. we used a router. So far, I have three rooms done like this and my guests have been jaw dropped amazed at how great it looks. I will take pictures and post on a new thread.. Pictures and all the instructions.
:)
Susan |
RoxyReid
Surrey, BC
(Zone 8b)
August 20, 2006
11:34 PM Post #2643161
| I've just been reading about the plywood floors and how a v groove was cut into the floor to create a hardwood floor effect. I was wondering how long it took to do this and if there is a trick to doing it. I have a 14' X 20' room that we just pulled an awful carpet off only to find a plywood floor that has been badly stained. After washing it several times it is much better. I am going to rent a floor sander tomorrow and sand it down. I also would like to know about what kind of filler to use in the cracks. Do I put this in before I sand? Thanks for all the information!
|
claypa
West Pottsgrove, PA
(Zone 6b)
August 21, 2006
12:29 AM Post #2643285
| RoxyReid, I will offer a few possibilities and/or suggestions:
Consider using the joints in the plywood as part of the pattern of new grooves. For example, if you rout lines every 6 inches, the 8th line you rout would be at a joint in the plywood, and easier to conceal. For a room the size you mentioned, it shouldn't take more than an hour or two to rout the lines, if the room is empty, and you have a helper to mark chalk lines for your straitedge/guide for the router. That includes breaks to admire your handiwork ;)
If you use a sander, go over the floor carefully to make absolutely certain no screw or nail heads are sticking up, and, depending how much you sand, they may need to be driven down or 'sunk' so as not to ruin expensive sanding sheets, or the sander.
I don't know what filler the other posters used, but if you are going to use filler, I would use auto-body filler. It sands easily (relatively) and is flexible. But if the gaps in your plywood joints are large, you'll wind up with smooth stripes between wood. Depends how many coats of paint, and what appearance you're after, like faux wood graining, spatter, or other patterns that would hide your filled gaps.
Real wood floors have gaps in them, too. Maybe they don't need to be filled. Just another possibility... Good Luck, I'm sure it will look great! |
soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
August 21, 2006
7:54 AM Post #2643634
| Yes, there are lots of tricks to doing this and it is fun to see the results and it fools everyone who sees them. When I tell them what it really is, they drop their jaws and insist they will do the same... I've had lots of email requests for instructions. I may be able to write it out and post by the end of the week.
Wood filler that is used in excess on the floor will crack and chip eventually. It is not to be used like joint compound is on wall... I know from personal experience. If you are going to do this technique, you can leave some areas a little "rough" and it gives an indication of age and character. Also, it did take us more than 2 hours per room.. Maybe 4-6 jsut for cutting grooves...depending on room size.. Will post more shortly on new thread.
Susan |
Bettypauze
Victoria Harbour, ON
(Zone 5b)
September 15, 2006
9:30 AM Post #2725899
| Sugargardenlove...am very interested in the process you've described...I teach decorative painting and stained glass in a room that was built for that purpose..left the floor without a finish so that I would not worry about various mishaps but would like to give it some sort of finish and though THIS might be the solution...heard you say that you where starting a new thread...will search but if I cannot find it, could you advise me of where to look...
thank you! |
soulgardenlove
Marietta, GA
(Zone 7b)
March 8, 2007
11:46 PM Post #3263188
| Okay y'all... it has taken me a really long time, but i finally posted info on my floors. I have had more d-mail inquires about my faux floors I posted on this thread than any other topic.. So here's my new thread. :)
[HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]
Susan |
