| Do you have fir floors in your home that need | | | | loose and have a lot of movement. It could be the |
| refinishing? | | | | case that the nail has slowly worked its way to the |
| Fir floors are one of the most beautiful floors found in | | | | surface over the years and just needs to be set again. |
| many homes throughout Canada and North America, | | | | So do not let someone tell you that they cannot be |
| particularly in the Vancouver and Seattle areas. It was | | | | restored unless they are absolutely certain that they |
| one of the most popular types of flooring installed here | | | | are unrecoverable. |
| for many years because of its easy availability. | | | | Another clue they may be too thin is to look at the top |
| But fir floors have many unique characteristics | | | | of the grooves. If they are splitting and breaking off , |
| compared to true hardwood floors like red and white | | | | there is a good chance there is not enough wood left |
| oak. This means the appearance and performance of | | | | to sand. You could also put a knife blade down |
| your floor will differ significantly from those of an oak | | | | between one of the boards (if there is a gap) and |
| floor. If you want to be completely happy with your | | | | measure how much wood is left. The measurement |
| floors, then understanding these differences is really | | | | will be the difference between the surface and the |
| important. To start with... | | | | distance to the tongue. If its 1/8 of an inch or more you |
| - Fir Is Very Soft - | | | | may be in luck. |
| Fir is about 100% more vulnerable to impact damage | | | | - Movement And Squeaks - |
| than red or white oak. The wood flooring industry has | | | | Old fir floors are also far more prone to movement |
| a guide to tell the density of different types of wood | | | | and squeaks than other types of hardwood floors. |
| called the Janka Hardness Scale. This test measures | | | | This is because of the way they were installed and |
| the force required to embed a .444 inch steel ball to | | | | the fasteners used. Back then, screws were not used |
| half its diameter in different types of wood. On this | | | | for holding down the sub-floor, or ship lap as it is called |
| scale, white oak rates at 1360, red oak 1290 and fir at | | | | under these type of floors. The ship lap was attached |
| the bottom with a lowly 660. Because they are so | | | | to the joists with nails. (If your house is old enough they |
| soft, fir floors are much more difficult to refinish. | | | | may even be square headed nails.) The tongue and |
| Great care has to be taken to ensure the absolute | | | | groove fir flooring was then blind nailed to the ship lap. |
| minimum amount of wood is removed during the | | | | Over the years, through many winters and summers, |
| sanding process. This takes a lot of skill and years of | | | | your house has settled and the floor has settled and |
| experience. This is one of the easiest floors to mess | | | | moved along with it. Especially in high traffic areas, the |
| up if you do not know what you are doing. We have | | | | fir and the ship lap will often work its way loose from |
| seen many fir floors here in Vancouver ruined by very | | | | the nails causing these areas to move and possibly |
| deep drum marks caused by inexperienced hardwood | | | | squeak. |
| floor refinishing companies. | | | | Movement and squeaks are normal for these beautiful |
| Once these drum marks (caused by leaving the drum | | | | vintage floors. If you have no squeaks consider |
| sander in one spot too long) are made, the only way | | | | yourself one of the very lucky few. Attempting to |
| to remove them is to sand the surrounding areas flat | | | | repair this kind of movement can be extremely pricey. |
| to the same depth. This takes decades off the life of | | | | It involves very carefully removing the existing flooring |
| a floor and in cases of already thin floors, it can mean | | | | to expose the ship lap which then needs to be |
| having to replace large sections with reclaimed wood. | | | | properly screwed down. Not any easy, quick or cheap |
| Fir is definitely not the kind of flooring to practice your | | | | process. You are much better off accepting this as |
| sanding skills on. | | | | part of the character of your floors and getting used |
| - Mottling or Bruising - | | | | to it. |
| Refinished fir floors often exhibit another characteristic | | | | - Large Gaps - |
| called mottling or bruising. The extent of this bruising | | | | Another characteristic of fir floors is they often have |
| can vary greatly from room to room and even from | | | | large gaps between the boards. This has a lot to do |
| area to area within a single room. In high traffic areas | | | | with the settling and movement as described above. |
| or near the perimeter of a room, the fir often shows | | | | As they contract and expand over the years, the |
| darker, blotchy areas. Most of this is caused by many | | | | boards can slowly spread apart and leave you with |
| years of foot traffic and wear. The structure of fibers | | | | space between the joints. Many refinishers trowel fill |
| and cells in soft fir is very different to hardwoods like | | | | putty over the entire floor to fill these gaps just like |
| oak. As traffic makes its way across the floor over | | | | they would for an oak floor. But this may not always |
| many years, fir becomes bruised and this shows up as | | | | be in your best interests with fir. |
| darker, blotchy areas in the floor. | | | | Because these floors can move so much, the dried |
| It is not uncommon to be able to tell exactly where | | | | filler will have a hard time staying in place. Also the |
| furniture had been placed for many years in a room. | | | | gaps between the boards will be full of dirt and residue |
| You will be able to see a light patch that is exactly the | | | | that has collected over the decades and this will |
| size of a bed or dresser surrounded by a darker area | | | | further interfere with the adhesion of the filler. Filler that |
| which shows the occupants walking path. Usually there | | | | becomes loose will get ground into the newly finished |
| will be a darker path to the closets and entrance of | | | | floor surface, scratching it up and shortening its life. |
| the room as well. Unfortunately there is nothing that | | | | Fir also varies greatly from board to board with |
| can be done to guarantee this natural occurrence of | | | | respect to color. Some boards will be very red, others |
| mottling, bruising or blotching will not occur. In fact the | | | | a lighter brown and still others will have significant light |
| only assurance that it will not show up is if you install a | | | | colored streaks in them. Because of this, no filler color |
| new floor. | | | | will match perfectly. Always take these points into |
| - Your Fir Floors May Be Very Thin - | | | | consideration before deciding whether your floors are |
| Over the years your floors may have been refinished | | | | a candidate for filling or not. |
| many times, especially if you have a heritage home | | | | Many of these older floors also need repairs due to |
| built before 1940. Because of numerous sandings, the | | | | previous careless renovations like walls being removed |
| thickness of the wood eventually decreases and the | | | | etc. Make sure that reclaimed vintage fir from the |
| heads of nails begin showing between the boards. If | | | | same era as your floors are sourced so they match |
| your fir floors are this thin, sometimes refinishing is not | | | | as close as possible. Unfortunately, new fir looks |
| an option, and installation of a new floor may be | | | | nothing like old growth fir from years ago. If you use |
| necessary. | | | | this new flooring to patch areas in your floor, they will |
| Sometimes though this can be a false assumption, | | | | stand out like a sore thumb. |
| especially if there is only a few nail heads showing and | | | | So there you have it, soft wood, bruising, movement, |
| they are irregularly scattered throughout the floor. The | | | | squeaks and gaps are all part of the charm, beauty |
| original installer may not have fully set the nail and it is | | | | and character of these gorgeous vintage floors. If you |
| now sitting higher in the floor than the rest. Also, these | | | | accept these characteristics for what they are, then |
| fir floors installed over a ship lap sub-floor can be very | | | | you will love these floors as much as we do. |