Refinish Rustic Pine Floor

There’s nothing quite like old growth pine. Old pine floors like this are often rough with knots, ragged edges and cracks. To some the imperfections are what makes them beautiful, yet to others it makes them ugly. Amazing how different people can be and how different their floors are! Old growth pine is generally harder, more dense wood with tighter growth rings when compared to pine from today’s lumberyards. Why it grew so dense was probably tighter tree spacing in the forest and “old growth” implies it is likely from the first time the stand was cut down for lumber so there is more to the history than just tight spacing, much more when you consider the boards’ human history.

Often such old boards have perviously made nail scars that have nothing to do with the floor so you can conclude the floor was not the first use for the boards or there may be some odd cuts that are not logical from a building standpoint. Just wondering why they are the way they are can inspire some interesting guesses and so it is with this floor. I have to wonder why no one dried them before they were made into a floor because had the builder made some effort to dry the wood there would not be such large spaces between the boards. More human history. Maybe was in a hurry or he was new to flooring and didn’t know he needed to consider moisture content.

Some of the missing knots required filling with epoxy as did some lifted grain spots. I sanded with an orbital sander which seemed  to be the right choice because the floor was so contoured and sloped. For a finish I used Vermont Natural Coatings. It was a pleasure to use (no gas mask required) and dried fast enough so I could get two coats on in a day.

Enjoy the photos of this old pine floor and let your mind wonder why too.