No LVT. I want a floor that is wood, not a photograph of wood. And preferably the original wood. The houses in my ‘hood are expensive and most are a century old, and people get very into restored and original. I’ve never been in a house with a LVT/LVP kitchen in this neighborhood - basements, sure, but never kitchens. It would stick out and probably devalue the house.
I’m about 98% done with the cut-back removal and stripping. It took about ten hours. There are some corners the PaintShaver can’t reach, so I think those will be heat gun and hand scraper or maybe the scraper attachment of the multitool.
This process has turned out to be very similar to stripping my house siding to bare wood last summer. I repaired and saved all the old siding, even the parts that people said had to be replaced. It was all clear grain cedar, old growth I assume, single boards over 20’ long. Similarly, I’m going to repair and save this old growth fir floor.
So, I’ve started taking stock of what needs to be done.
There’s the floor trench. I’m now thinking of getting some fir - maybe even old stuff, we have a mandatory “deconstruction” rule for old houses here, so perhaps I can find some - and blending the floor trench in with the rest of the floor. I can rip it down and cut tongues and grooves.
There are about four areas, each a few inches long, where the surface of boards are splintered or damaged. I figure on using a router with plunge bit to mill out the damaged area to say 1/4”, then inserting new or old wood, sort of an inlay idea.
There are visible rows of screws in a couple places, where the boards must have squeaked. I figure on removing the screws, countersinking, replacing the scews, and covering them with wood plugs.
There are two places, narrow strips, where the wood is missing and someone (floor guys I’d guess) filled those with something like plaster. One of those is visible in the pics below. There are a couple of round holes, where a pipe presumably used to come up through the floor, also plugged with plaster. I will get that plaster out and patch with wood. Fortunately none of those areas are too visible.
(I figured out why there was a thin layer of plaster in various parts of the floor. Those were places where there was no vinyl tile or the vinyl tile was so degraded it had to be removed. The floor guys applied a thin layer of plaster to build those areas up to be level with the vinyl tiles, before putting on the plywood.)
There is an area under the former dishwasher location where the wood is darkened, from moisture I imagine. I suspect it’ll look that way under the sink cabinet when I pull that. I am looking for some way to lighten those areas. They will be under the new cabinets, technically visible (since the new cabinets have legs) but not really noticeable. So I might just not worry about it. I’m going to have a sheet metal place make a drip tray with drain hose fitting, for the new D/W location and maybe the new sink cabs.
There is a rectangular opening in the floor by the range wall, that has a piece of plywood in it. I imagine this used to be a floor vent or something? Anyway, I’ll keep it - eventually I need to bring makeup air into the kitchen and that might be a handy spot.
Here are some pics. The color variation doesn’t stand out when viewed in person; the camera picks it out.
My back hurts. Turns out, yes the Paintshaver will strip the floor quickly, but you’re standing with feet apart, leaning way forward, almost touching the floor with both hands, pulling the tool back and forth, the whole time. As I’m not a giraffe or a yoga girl, it only takes a short time for that to start aching.
Glad that’s done.