Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 8/10/2005

Question
Dear Richard,

My husband and I recently bought a house that we believe to be built in 1867. We believe it to be a folk style victorian. I am having a bunch of renovation work done as the upstairs had extensive water damage and was in dire need of some TLC. The work is almost complete and I decided to start stripping the old flooring upstairs. When I started, however, I quickly stopped because the final layer over the original flooring appears to be paint. It doesn't make much sense to me as I have never heard of such an old house having the floors painted. I can also see the wood grain through whatever the most recent layer is-stain and polyeurethane, or varnish. I know the floor is original to the house because I have several pieces that had to be removed during the renovation and they contain hand hammered square nails. I do not want to lose the original floors, and i do not want to cover them. My question is: is it possible that they were orignally painted and thus, I will have to have all the upstairs flooring stripped carefully to avoid lead? Or, is it possible that the the stuff I think might be paint is simply old varnish that I can remove using only normal precautions?
thanks so much for your time,

Kimberly Johnson

Answer
Hi Kimberly - thanks for your question!

It's entirely possible that the upstairs floors were originally painted.  Wood floors in 1867 weren't the "luxury" item that they are now - plywood hadn't been invented yet and the cheapest way to create a floor deck was with boards.

Most floorboards were then covered with rugs, especially on the first floor where plain wood floors wouldn't have been considered something to show off.  Some nicer homes had more expensive wood floors with inlays or exotic woods, but that's not likey in a folk home.

On the second floor, which was for the family only, there wasn't a need to "show" the flooring.  The least expensive way to create the floor would have been just as you've described - plain boards nailed, with a painted finish.  This is of course long before durable clear finishes were invented.  The painted floors in the bedrooms were likely covered with rugs for warmth - and that's it!

If the paint is original to 1867, it might contain lead white which is one of the oldest pigments.  You can buy a test kit to find out for sure.

It may also be milk paint; milk paint was used before commercial paints were available and where they were hard to get.  (more info at www.milkpaint.com/about_history.html)

If you strip the paint, be careful of the process you use - you don't want to expose yourself to lead, and you don't want to damage the wood.  You might try looking at www.thisoldhouse.com for info about stripping paint properly.

Hope this helps!

Richard Taylor, AIA
Richard Taylor Architects, LLC
www.rtastudio.com
www.betterhomedesign.blogspot.com