Wood floor question

[PrincessKitty1]

The floors of our house (under the carpeting) are 3-inch-thick white cedar. We would love to get rid of our carpets and get hardwood or tile, but we are wondering if we could just have the white cedar sanded, stained, and polyurethaned?? We know it's a softwood, but people have pine floors, why not white cedar??

An aquaintance whose dad was a contractor says that, with modern polyurethane finishes, virtually any wood can be used for flooring. I have googled white cedar floors and they seem to be used in some cabins, but I can't find any specifics on how they wear.

Any thoughts or opinions?

 

[golfgal]

I don't see why not. I would make sure you got at least 3-4 coats of polyurethane on them though. Pine floors are supposed to look nicked up, etc. so I would think that would look ok for the cedar too.

 

[FroggyinArk]

they should work fine, especially that thick,, i agree several coats of poly and a knowledge that the floors will have the rustic, nicked and knotted look and you shuld be fine

 

[lindalinda]

Absolutely! You can do a test area and sand it down yourself and do some stain color tests and poly samples just to see how it will look. I had an older house will very old plank flooring in an attic that I had sanded and finished. It looked like very high end designer flooring when we were finished!

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Bumping to thank people for their responses and to request more!

 

[FreshTressa]

How is the cedar cut??

We have pine in most of the...all of the dog tracks show in it, but it is pretty even so it does not seem to show as much as on the oak floors in the kitchen.

 

[Twinprincesses]

We have Honey Oak and had them sanded and refinished and LOVE THEM!!

You do not use harsh cleaners on them though.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

How is the cedar cut??

We have pine in most of the...all of the dog tracks show in it, but it is pretty even so it does not seem to show as much as on the oak floors in the kitchen.

I'm not sure what you mean by, how it is cut?? It's tongue-and-groove cedar, if that helps.

We have a dog and a cat, and I know I'll need to Swiffer a wood floor regularly to pick up the fur, but I figure that's gotta be better than vacuuming constantly ans steam-cleaning 4 times a year! It gets old!

Lindalinda, when you sanded/stained a test patch, what id you use for a sander? Thanks.

 

[tekmom]

Go with the wood floor!!! We have old growth eastern white pine in our kitchen and dining room and we love it. It gets dinged and scratched but it only adds to the charm and casual look we were after. Good luck!

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Go with the wood floor!!! We have old growth eastern white pine in our kitchen and dining room and we love it. It gets dinged and scratched but it only adds to the charm and casual look we were after. Good luck!

Thanks, I was hoping to hear from another person with softwood floors!! Do your floors have a polyurethane finish?

We have a great 2nd-story veranda that also has a white cedar floor. The floor needs to be repainted and DH had our favorite house painter come look at the floor to give an extimate on repainting. The painter thinks we should contact a particular flooring guy and get an estimate for sanding, staining, and polyurethaning--he thinks it's a shame to repaint! (of course, he's a practical guy and he realizes our porch budget may not encompass a fine wood floor ).

I do think we'll be ready to take the plunge, pricewise, for sanding/staining/finishing the interior floors soon, though.

 

[tekmom]

Yes, they are poly'd. Originally I tung oiled them myself (what was I thinking) and even though it looked good and was great for preventing any water type damage, I felt with the dogs that a poly would be better. So back in October I had them stripped sanded and poly'd. We have 3 coats of an oil based poly on them and even with the dogs they look great. The planks are random width 5 to 10 inches and random long lengths of 5 to 12 feet. We didn't stain them, just clear coated them and the color is a mellow honey that will gradually turn to a pumpkin type color. I really love them. Best of luck with yours! Don't worry about it being soft wood, unless you are going for a more formal look. I love the dings in mine and the dogs have scratched them a little but the haven't been gouged or anything.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Thanks for the details, tekmom!

I'm getting really excited about this! Our house is whimsical and informal (most people describe it as a treehouse!) and I think the wood floors will look fantastic and will be right in theme with our wooded setting.

 

[tekmom]

Absolutely!!! Go for it! I think it will look great...enjoy