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happylady1957

Narrow wooden floors

happylady1957
9 years ago

Hello All,

Our Victorian farmhouse was built around 1890. All of the wooden trim in the house is chestnut. The floors are oak, and, much to our disappointment, are narrow oak strips - the kind you might see in a home built today. They are even like this in the closets, and in the full walk-up attic.

Is this unusual? The house was built by upper income folks, and doesn't lack aesthetic detail otherwise.

Any opinions would be appreciated! TY

Comments (16)

  • klem1
    9 years ago

    "much to our disappointment, are narrow oak strips - the kind you might see in a home built today."

    Why are you disappointed? As for an opinion,I would be happy somone hadn't glued other flooring on top of the origional.

  • PRO
    Joseph Corlett, LLC
    9 years ago

    It depends. Were your original floors torn out and replaced in the 50s? Picture please.

  • happylady1957
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank you, Trebruchet, for your input. I can't imagine the floors would have been redone, only because the width of the planks are the same in the attic, albeit stained much darker. I will see if my DH can help me upload a photo.

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    9 years ago

    Narrower flooring was more expensive therefore higher status material in those days. There's also the possibility that it's a slightly later replacement after the farm prospered and the original pine was tatty.
    Casey

  • chibimimi
    9 years ago

    We had a 1914 home with original oak floors that were 2-3" slats. It's appropriate for the era.

  • happylady1957
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I had no idea that these narrow boards might have been appropriate to the era. It wouldn't surprise me if they had the narrower ones due to "status" purposes, as the house has some unusual, expensive decorative details. Thank you all for your comments!

  • nickel_kg
    9 years ago

    Okay they're narrow, but how long are they, and how uniform are the lengths? Our (future) 1940 home has narrow boards that vary from 2 feet, to up to 12 feet long. Nicer than the more uniform-length boards in our (current) 1995 house.

  • happylady1957
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Nickel kg, you pose an interesting point! Most of the boards are 69.5", 72", with some being in the 26" range. They are all 2 1/4" wide, Closets are the same. We measured the attic, and the boards are 7", and the landing 3.5". Any and all guesses/info welcome!

  • lazy_gardens
    9 years ago

    The floors are oak, and, much to our disappointment, are narrow oak strips - the kind you might see in a home built today. They are even like this in the closets, and in the full walk-up attic.

    That was EXPENSIVE stuff because of the labor involved in milling the strips and installing them.

    What we think of today as "high class" and"expensive" - wide planks - was cheap and lower class compared to the luxury of having 2" boards all smooth and sleek.

  • klem1
    9 years ago

    There's more to it than "keeping up with the Jone's". For optimum stability, boards are sawn narrow.

  • happylady1957
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    lazygardens, that does make sense, never thought about it that way.

  • camlan
    9 years ago

    My house was built in 1900. Bits of it have been remodeled over time. From what I can tell, the original floors were wide pine boards, which are still in the bedrooms and under the vinyl in the kitchen and bath.

    The living and dining rooms were "upgraded" with narrow oak board floors and slightly fancier trim on the doors and windows and baseboards. My guess is that the owners at the time put their money into the public rooms and left the private bedrooms untouched.

    So I'm with the rest of the posters--the narrow boards were the "upgrade" at the time the house was built.

  • happylady1957
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks, Camlan. I'm thinking "upgrade" must be the correct answer, although I believe my second floor has the same width planks

  • camlan
    9 years ago

    Whoever built your house may have just decided to go with the more expensive flooring on both floors. In my area, in older homes the wide pine planks were considered to be inexpensive. They were used in factory housing and in working class houses.

    The lovely old Victorians that grace many of the streets in my town all have the narrow oak boards, along with bits of stained glass windows and massive baseboards and crown molding. It was just what the "upper classes," or those wanting to join the upper classes, had in their homes.

  • happylady1957
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Camlan, thank you for your comments. We do not have any stained glass or original crown moulding, but do have massive baseboards and both squared and round columns in the double parlor.

  • lazy_gardens
    9 years ago

    The classic 1880s-1940s floor was 2 1/4 red oak tongue and groove, for reasons of availability, price and durability. They must have made it by the square mile.

    I've seen variations in really expensive houses of the era, such as teak or walnut, but even those houses reverted to oak for the private areas.

    My 1890s upgrade flooring (laid over the 1880s original 6" pine tongue and groove floor) is 2 1/4 inch red oak tongue and groove.

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