Old wood floors have character. Some good. Some bad. Some ugly. A million footsteps, wood stoves, children, dogs, all will leave their individual mark. Preserving this character while giving a room a pleasing appearance and feel against bare feet is a challenge.

Old wood floors were often meant to serve only as a subfloor. It can be incredibly difficult, expensive, and/or time consuming to bring these floors to an acceptable finish. My advice is this: if you can’t accept some imperfections, do NOT attempt to refinish a historic floor. You will ultimately destroy the historic integrity of a key component of the interior.