How do I determine what kind of wood floor do I have?
Answers:
In my area (Northwest US), the most common floors in simple turn-of-the-last-century houses are fir. Usually the boards are 4" wide, and the color is dark red-brown to yellow. Historically, these were usually painted (tho' sometimes only around the edges, with the part in the center where a rug would be left unpainted). Next common is red oak, usually 2 1/4" wide, stained or finished clear. Finally, maple, also usually 2 1/4" wide, light colored (like a gym floor). In the midwest, I've seen old floors that were beech, birch, and poplar, as well as oak and maple. Try to get a good flooring book or woodworking book from your library--there's usually colored pictures of different finished wood species that will help you identify your floors.
BTW, I think paint can look really good on old, worn floors--it was a common farmhouse thing to do a hundred years ago. It's much quiker than sanding and refinishing, and if you don't like it, you can always sand and refinish later.
Other answers:
Most wood floors are made of Red Oak or White Oak especially if was already installed when you moved in. To determine what it actually is have a flooring professional come in and look at it.
Most wood floors are made of Red Oak or White Oak especially if was already installed when you moved in. To determine what it actually is have a flooring professional come in and look at it.
Ask a beaver! Better yet paint it, because after all as long as it holds you up, what does it really matter?
Most is oak. You can go on a website for wood floors and look at the grains in the wood and get a good idea of what the wood is...when wood is cut into boards, it will show the patterns of the rings and you can see the differnt looks depending on the type of tree used. Most likely it is oak. I wouldn't paint a wood floor like meantioned above...the look of wood floors with some stain looks classic...paint would make it look like crap and cover the beauty of the wood, in my opinion.