Pine floor refinish - please help (vinyl, hardwood floor, paint, ceramic tiles)

[davidv53]

Hello,

We need help for our entryway floor refinish project. We've ripped up carpeting and sanded down the pine underneath. The rest of the house is previously refinished maple hardwood floor - we kept it natural color without staining. I've included pictures of the area rug we plan to use in the room (can be changed if needed), the sanded pine floor, a close up of the pine floor, along with the refinished maple floors.

We are wondering if we should stain the pine or just leave it as is and poly with the natural color. It has many imperfections and is very rustic and certainly would look different than the maple floor. I am thinking staining would help with the imperfections, but would it look really odd to have dark stain next to the unstained maple floors??? What type and color of stain might look good? We are just unsure what to do at this point and would love some tips and help.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by davidv53

We need help for our entryway floor refinish project.
We've ripped up carpeting and sanded down the pine underneath.
The rest of the house is maple hardwood floor

Think about that for a few minutes and why it may have been done that way originally.

Was any other material ever on top of the entryway wood?
Do your neighbors have such?

[davidv53]

We went through a layer of indoor/outdoor carpet and a layer of linoleum before getting to the floor. It was originally an outdoor porch that has since been enclosed. This appears to be the original outdoor porch floor.

We could consider covering it up with some other material which would be expensive, or we could paint it... but I was hoping a stain and some poly could end up making it look nice in the end...

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by davidv53

We went through a layer of indoor/outdoor carpet and a layer of linoleum...

genuine linoleum is a wonderful flooring choice for older homes
some sort of impervious material like that (vinyl? tile?) is appropriate...
and will last a lot longer than any finished pine will.

[Streamer1212]

What you are looking at may be simply the pine planking of the porch. Those boards can be finished with a polyurethane coating, BUT.....

Make sure that boards are thick enough to be stable. They should be a minimum of 3/4" thick and protected from moisture from the crawl space. I also would hope that these are tongue and groove boards, which would increase torsional stability substantially.

I wouldn't stain them. The beauty of the pine is its own character and color.

EDIT: The flooring you show us is grayish in color. That may be due to the old cutback type of adhesive used to glue down the old linoleum/vinyl . If that's the case, you may never get the rich golden tones for which pine flooring is known, and in fact may turn out kinda blotchy. It also looks to be a genuine plank for porches (as you've mentioned) that is NOT tongue and groove. You may need to install a 1/4" birch veneer plywood or cement backer board over the pine, and install a ceramic/pocelain tile or an LVT product over it. Test a small area with a water-based poly coating and see what happens over a week's time. If it colors evenly, fine. If not, you can go over it as described above with the floor of your choosing.

Regards,
Streamer1212

[Rowen]

You received very good advice from the previous posters. The pine floor is much too rustic against your beautiful maple floors. It is laid out in the opposite direction from the rest of your floors, it looks to be very old and weathered. I don't think any stain is going to give you the lighter tones that would look good against the maple. As you know from the many dents you found, pine is a very soft wood and not the best choice for a foyer.

You would be much better off replacing it with linoleum or ceramic tiles that can withstand the traffic from your front door in all weather conditions plus you will have more insulation when you cover this up. Quite frankly,the pine does not look good at all and I highly doubt staining it even with a poly finish will make it look better.

[JanND]

Originally Posted by MrRational

Think about that for a few minutes and why it may have been done that way originally.

Was any other material ever on top of the entryway wood?
Do your neighbors have such?

In the early days the pine was used in the less formal areas cheaper. They probably always had rugs there as an entrance. I think leaving it unstained, but poly coated would be fine, especially since you'll have entrance rugs. I like the wall color, what is that?
After a second look I agree with the previous folks. use a pretty linoleum, from the era is possible, or invest in a nice tile. i find going to open houses in older neighborhoods gives me some nice ideas. I would take my time, if possible until i found the perfect flooring...that small of an area you could go really rich looking...it is the first impression, and it will really make your maple look sweet. Also, if you have any artistic friends, painted pine floors can look awesome, especially matching the period of the home...You could put a really nice waterproof sealer...That would buy you time til you found what you love for the entrance...or you might decide you like it. What a nice house, I see some really good bones, including that little peek of the fireplace...Craftsman?? The floors look great..Good job. Can't wait for updates.

[chet everett]

That pine is NOT indoor finish flooring. It is STRUCTURE of the old porch!

I would strongly recommend laying a TRUE finish floor over that! If you shop for value priced cork, bamboo, true linseed oil based linoleum or any other appropriate material it will wear MUCH better than the pine.