North Key House
Sunny with big white clouds
Breeze out of the south
Upper porch hammock
There are many parts to an old home. There are the parts that keep the rain off your head. Then, there are the parts that keep you from shivering or sweating. There are also countless parts, that when combined, provide us with some of the best things in life, modern plumbing, electricity, and a sense of security. These parts are often taken for granted till a hurricane gives us a wet and windy reminder of their necessity.
There are the useful parts that provide us a place to clean up, fuel up or just shut down. Over the long life of an old house many of these parts come and go. Styles change, technology advances, living arrangements evolve. This is the inspiration for renovation. People like to make a house their own, a place that works for their lifestyle, and expresses who they are.
There are also the parts that become the “audience” to all these changes. The walls, the moldings and trim, and the original wood floors. One of my favorite finds in an old house is an original wood floor. Many times they have been covered for decades. Carpets and padding can protect a wood floor for years. Unfortunately they can also seal in the calling cards of previous pets, leaving behind a stain in the grain, a veritable ding in your bling.
I’m fortunate because I have, as part of my team, a highly skilled craftsman, who has rescued more than his share of original wood floors. He once summed up his personal philosophy to me like this. “Toby, my personal reputation is so bad, I have to do good work.” It was, he does, and I’m always grateful for his help.
Wood floors see it all. They watch the lives of the homes current occupants unfold overhead. They have tasted the spilled cocktails and juice boxes, endured the impact of dropped everything’s, and listened to a wide variety of incantations spoken from above. The loves, the fears, the losses, and the celebrations. Old wood floors have proven to be a reliable sounding board and a supportive base for the lives above them to be lived out upon. Wood floors not only listen, they observe. They have laid back and watched all the various parts of baths and kitchens come and go. I wonder if kitchen and bath wood floors know that they will be the first target of an up and coming renovationist? After being covered over with tile or Linoleum, do they listen harder to keep up with the dramas being played out just a few new layers above them? Are they just grateful to not have been torn out altogether and tossed in the burn pile? Game over. Reset the avatar...
I got to wondering about this the other day when a friend told me her plan to cover her original wood floors. My personal thought was not suitable for print, but, its her house, so its her call. Her floors will just have to accept their fate.Then I got to thinking about my youngest sisters floors. (She’s gonna love that description) She has a beautiful historic home on the coast in Cali. Her old wood floors were toast. Floors are toast when you simply can’t refinish them anymore. Floor boards are joined together by a joint called tongue and groove.
When a floor is repeatedly sanded and refinished over the years it looses so much of the top wear layer that the machine will sand through the top groove exposing the tongue. Nobody wants their tongue stepped on and neither do wood floors. They have a way of letting you know when they are done.
My youngest sisters old wood floors got to witness a whole lot of life over the 30 plus years they were a part of her family. I hope her new wood floors realize they hit the wood floor lotto. They get to be a part of her incredibly blessed life as all these new grandchildren come rolling in.
My wood floors in North Key House are on their final chapter. These floors have experienced 105 years of people walking upon them. They have most definitely heard and seen their share of history. However, I don’t want to cover them, nor do I need to replace them. I simply get to enjoy them. The wine will spill and the boards will drink, the stories will unfold and the floors will listen and observe. They will spend their final years being walked upon by six toed cats, and feel the pleasant rumble of cat hair tumble weeds bounce over them. Thats the plan until they are done. When they give me one of those three foot long splinters in my toe, I’ll know they have had enough.
I hope you enjoy and appreciate your wood floors, if your fortunate enough to have some. Treat them to a good cleaning or refinishing. They may deserve it more than you realize.
Thanks for your time
Toby Turner