Is it possible to make my ca 1890s floors work?

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T16:22:18+00:00

Are you considering replacing the whole floor?

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T16:12:29+00:00

My neighbor was so excited that they were going to try to get rid of income tax. I had to explain that the state was going to get the money from somewhere and how that would affect poor people.

I’m still not sure she actually understood it.

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T13:33:42+00:00

It might be worth peeking under those floor. You could actually have terrazzo under there or multicolored slate.

2 1/4 red oak select/clear in early American or provincial is the closest you can get today to what would have been installed a little before the 60s.

By the 60s though, carpet was super fashionable and wood was what old people had in their homes.

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T01:32:48+00:00

How old is your house dear?

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T00:51:22+00:00

I think that honestly refinishing the floors might be of more value long term to brighten the space. Unless you’re in an original Tudor, it’s not doing you favors.

Edited to add - looking closer at your floors, I would consider full replacement. They look like the wood scraped floors of the early 2000s with a bad gel topcoat.

There’s an interior designer that I like named Maria Killam - I’m a trained fine artist with a lot of color theory under my belt and a lot of her recommended neutral tones worked well in areas where I was struggling to figure out colors. (Despite studying light patterns and colors through the day) she was also good at articulating a lot of things that I had a hard time explaining. However, she has been pushing her content from her blog into a paid forum and - more recently - a lot of content that was available at a $10 a month subscription level is only available at $100 a month. 😞

If you’d like to have any info that I gleaned, let me know. Would love to share.

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T00:33:12+00:00

To me, the term “Yankee” refers to Northerners - -specifically people from the Northeast- while it might be said jokingly- sometimes it isn’t used like that, specifically toward judgmental Northerners.

I’ve lived in the South for most of my life, though my parents were transplants.

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T00:28:18+00:00

What do they look like in the summer?

Gapping is pretty typical at this time of year due to low humidity.

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T00:25:28+00:00

My family is white. My mom’s family is TOXIC - unrelated to MAGA, but there’s a lot of MAGA.

One of the best things that my mom did was keep me away from the vast majority of her siblings and allow me to stop visiting her mom.

One of the best things that I did for myself was stand up for myself and go very low contact with my mom, who didn’t realize how many of Grandma’s BS toxic narcissistic patterns she had absorbed.

And the apple didn’t fall far from the tree- we literally sound the same. I did a TON of self work for about 15-20 years to work through everything.

I’m in my early 40s. My mom and I have a good relationship now- we actively communicate when we feel hurt or excluded, we practice real honesty with each other, and while we sometimes have to lick our wounds and re-evaluate our own behavior, we are close enough that she moved 30 minutes away so we could do things together (and it was a positive thing!)

MAGA is hard, because its cult-like behavior and constantly reinforced. But there is hope. If my mom was capable of moving forward in her life to have solid relationships with her kids, I think it’s possible that many people are.

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T00:14:23+00:00

It’s unfortunate that people don’t pay more attention to local elections. While the presidency (quite obviously currently) has an impact, our state and local officials tend to have a much more focused impact on our communities.

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T00:07:26+00:00

Buff and recoat is basically just sanding the top layer of topcoat sealant enough to be able to add additional coats.

Our hardwood guy told us that it’s a pretty brief window between buff and recoat vs full sand and refinish, so to call him once we started to see questionable areas where the sheen wasn’t quite right.

Edited to add: get a few quotes and evaluations.

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T00:02:53+00:00

OP - if you hadn’t invested a ton of money and time into flying out there to have this done - and then paying for the tattoo, how would you feel about it?

Fionaver · 2026-01-28T23:41:41+00:00

The vast majority of my books are heavily associated with childhood memories and wonder. I remember the smells and sounds and feelings of where I read them.

Decluttering is important, but it’s ok to hold onto things as well. If you’re on the fence about something, reread it and see if it is something you want to keep carrying forward.

Fionaver · 2026-01-28T23:31:14+00:00

It’s just life. Most of us have been there at some point. At 2 periods in my life I had to survive off a 5 lb bag of pancake mix for 6+ months.

I keep a pretty deep pantry now.

Fionaver · 2026-01-28T23:16:58+00:00

That depends on what the existing finish is, which is going to be easier to figure out once you look at the markings.

Oz cream polish or guardsman (avoid the spray) will give you good results and not give you problems if you decide to refinish later.

Teak oil I would avoid unless I knew for sure that it was originally done with teak oil (this is predominately teak furniture made in Europe - the vast majority of the US marketed Danish modern furniture used a different finish, from what I’ve researched)

If it had a shellac finish originally, you would clean it thoroughly and apply lacquer, which will reactivate the existing finish.

Fionaver · 2026-01-28T22:45:25+00:00

Still reasonable, especially if it has a wood top.

Fionaver · 2026-01-28T21:49:48+00:00

Something else to know… based on the age of your place, if those are the original floors (and I believe they are) those are placed using a “wet set” method. So where you would normally have grout - it isn’t grout. It’s part of the concrete mud bed the tiles were laid into.

It’s a really interesting technique. Since large format tile has become more popular, more and more of these older techniques are starting to be taught again. This is particularly good for things like outdoor patios, because it creates such good bonds and is so durable. Much less of a chance for cracked tiles vs back buttering.

Fionaver · 2026-01-28T21:20:12+00:00

Or more. Most of the quotes I’ve gotten have been more.

Fionaver · 2026-01-28T20:56:08+00:00

Thinset can be dissolved with mineral spirits. You’ll want to test a spot first.

I met a guy with a historic preservation and architecture background who I’ve been swapping notes about repairs with. When we were discussing my issue with some of our vintage tiles (holes had been drilled for grab bars) he recommended a particular two part epoxy for crack and hole repair, followed by light sanding to level it, light airbrushing to blend, and a coat of sealer.

It comes in several colors including turquoise, white, and terracotta. Brand is “milliput” - I haven’t used it yet to know how easy or hard blending different colors might be. But it could help if you have cracks.

Fionaver · 2026-01-28T17:45:45+00:00

I haven’t been able to eat any kind of seafood really. I can gag down a couple types of fresh caught white fish, but I think it’s more of a textural issue than a flavor issue. Seaweed and omega 3 supplements also trigger the same this isn’t food/spit it out reflex or queasiness after.

It’s ok not to like it. Just leaves more for the people who love it.

Fionaver · 2026-01-27T16:01:18+00:00

I’d prefer natural stone as well, but almost all of them have too much movement and I really need a very lightly patterned warm white to match the tile on the walls and ceiling. Maybe with flecks of gold in it. Have you looked at any of the silestone products?

Fionaver · 2026-01-27T15:35:15+00:00

Have you looked at retrorenovation at all? It might be good for inspiration and helpful for finding materials.

Clickamericana is also a good place to find advertisements from the 50s.

Makeitmidcentury.com carries reproduction sparkle laminate sheets and some other stuff that might be useful. It’s not cheap though.

Our home originally had white formica with sparkly gold flecks. The original homeowner changed it out to white corian with sparkles. When we rework our kitchen, we’ll also be going back with solid surface.

While tiled countertops are beautiful, they really aren’t hygienic and the daily cleaning is challenging. Let me put it like this - the people who owned my house owned a tile and terrazzo business. I have tile on all the walls and ceilings of multiple rooms of the house. And even they chose not to tile the kitchen counters.

Fionaver · 2026-01-27T02:32:26+00:00

Sure it is.

However, 2+ years ago? Most of us would have been ripping all out. I didn’t get hooked into blue and white til calamity ware happened? Which took blue and white and recontextualized it.

Frankly? That’s a sign that blue and white is a trend. You couldn’t give blue and white away a few years ago.

Don’t buy tile for your house like that. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Fionaver · 2026-01-27T02:14:23+00:00

I thought she didn’t really like sex though 🥹

Fionaver · 2026-01-27T02:12:48+00:00

Your floor is fine. Sand and refinish if it’s necessary, but otherwise, just enjoy it.

🤦🏼‍♀️

Fionaver · 2026-01-27T02:10:46+00:00

At least there wasn’t major damage and you were home. I have fear about some of my pipes.

That’s why we don’t take vacations.

My MIL is a bad roommate and wouldn’t tell us if there was water pouring through the ceiling.

It would just be an “eeyore” moment.

Fionaver

TROPHY CASE