Ready for the Holidays..

[oblongmelon]

I have spent the last 3 days paste waxing and hand buffing all the hardwood floors on the first floor of my house. It's a big job, but now that the heat is on, the floors seem to need a big drink o' wax ...plus they are nice and shiny for the holidays. Today I'm AM going to rent an industrial sized 14 inch buffer so I can go over all the floors and give them a good boost. If you place a cotton t-shirt under the buffer pad and let it rip, it picks up any dull spots or residue that hand buffing the paste wax leaves..what a job. My bones hurt. But it's tradition!

[zippyjuan]

Yeah, I think I may be ready for Halloween by now. What do you mean it is over? Christmas? That is coming now too? And Thanksgiving? Call me when next year get here.

That's a lot of work to do those floors by hand!

[oblongmelon]

Yeah, I think I may be ready for Halloween by now. What do you mean it is over? Christmas? That is coming now too? And Thanksgiving? Call me when next year get here.

That's a lot of work to do those floors by hand!

You're RIGHT. It is alot of work. But it's the only way to really get paste wax worked in right on hardwoods.Totally worth it in the end.
You gotta remember, I have a Victorian house, and the floors are original to the house, and back in the day, tons of heavy duty varnish didn't exist like it does now for floors. It was wash, wax, and hope that you had a ton of kids or some really accommodating household help that didn't mind being on their knees rubbing that wax in.Back in the day, beeswax was actually warmed and then poured onto floors in small areas,and rubbed in until the whole floor was done, then it was buffed smooth. Not easy breezy paste wax that is available now.

Remember, in the winter, the woodfires burners,coal furnaces, and fireplaces that were lit to keep the house warm also sucked the moisture out of the air which sucked the moisture out of the floors and woodwwork as well. Heavy orientals were kept on the "cold" floors because of the lack of circulation of the heat.

Whatever moisture from the floors that was available was wicked into the rugs (the small bit that it was)so it was necessary to get a heavy coat of wax on the floors to prevent excessive drying and splintering. The only way at the time to do this was to hand wax and polish and it was usually two to four coats to do the trick. While crown mouldings, stair rails, spindles, and baseboards WERE varnished, it wasn't a heavy coat, but lasted well because obviously, they weren't traffic areas like a floor was. And yes, they got polished too with wax,usually a heavy coat once a year in the spring buffed to a brilliant shine to let the sun reflect off the splendor of the wood. (I was taught all of this by best friends' husband who is an antique dealer)

I figure if something has been around over a hundred years and is still in good condition, it's for a reason..so there is no reason to not keep it up.

[chrissy]

I would so love to see your house Obby! It sounds so beautiful! I cannot wait to buy a house one day. I would love to buy an older house and restore it. The wood work in those houses are breathtaking!

[kimchicowboy]

i'm ready for the radios to start playing christmas music.

[Maarchk]

I would so love to see your house Obby! It sounds so beautiful! I cannot wait to buy a house one day. I would love to buy an older house and restore it. The wood work in those houses are breathtaking!

are you crazy? that stuff is a lifetime of work...

My friends bought an antique house in redlands and have painfully restored it to its natural state of like 1910... its amazing, but helping out, and watching and hearing the work that went into that just seems too painful to be a good time.

[uncledaddy]

are you crazy? that stuff is a lifetime of work...

My friends bought an antique house in redlands and have painfully restored it to its natural state of like 1910... its amazing, but helping out, and watching and hearing the work that went into that just seems too painful to be a good time.

I agree. If I were retired and had nothing but free time that would be for me. But it is a lot of work. Not just the restoration but the maintenance as well.

[chrissy]

are you crazy? that stuff is a lifetime of work...

My friends bought an antique house in redlands and have painfully restored it to its natural state of like 1910... its amazing, but helping out, and watching and hearing the work that went into that just seems too painful to be a good time.

Some people think I am (as I sit here and nurse my ankle...)
But yes, I would love to do the work! Living in Base housing that isn't fit to be lived in for the past 13 years has sucked. When we buy our house, I want it to have character and if I have to help it regain it's former character and beauty, I will.

There is a house or two I would love to get my mitts on in Marissa, but I wouldn't buy anything there because the town is dead. One is a Sears house. The other would be gorgeous if the owners would take the tar paper siding off and repair/replace the wood that is rotting off of it. I have been inside that house before - all hardwood floors, huge rooms, sliding doors between the rooms (can't remember what they are called) but the outside is awful. The walls would probably need to be gutted guessing by the looks from the outside. I'm up to it :)

[Markel]

My previous house was built somewhere around 1917 - a small 2 bedroom (with an additional 2 bedrooms and a bath built into the attic/dormers). After living there 10+ years, we were thinking of painting the woodwork in a hallway. I had noticed some interesting woodgrain where the paint was chipped, so I got a scraper and took a look: beautiful oak. I spent the next year or so stripping about 14 door frames surfaces (only one side of some frames), three windows/frames, and wide molded baseboards in the hall and kitchen. The wood was absolutely gorgeous. I had to use my dremel with a small wire wheel to clean the paint out of some of the grain, but the results were awesome. (My next door neighbor had a very similar house and when he saw my woodwork he set out stripping his, but he only had pine.)

Then I sold the house :( and moved to where there was a decent public high school.