NOTE: This is not an article about the benefits nor the drawbacks of historic designations. This is just information about what they are. I have included many links in case you would like to know more.
First, let’s look at a common misconception about historical societies. Historical societies traditionally are 501 (c)(3)’s, non-profit, charitable organizations, dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting, & promoting the history of a city or sometimes a neighborhood, in photographs, documents, artifacts & recordings. They focus on research, education & creating awareness of the cultural & architectural history of the area. They generally host educational events, lectures, workshops, tours & exhibitions which display their archived materials & teach the community about the culture of bygone years. They offer these materials to academics & the public for research. Many societies own & run museums.
They have nothing to do with establishing historic districts, other than providing materials for research & sometimes, provide advice as to the process. They do not make rules or statutes. They do not participate in enforcing rules or statutes. This is done by governing bodies.
For example, The Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society was very helpful in my research to have the Hare House designated. They had archived material about the house, the family & the neighborhood that was very useful.
CRITERIA FOR HISTORIC DESIGNATION
To be designated at any level, a structure or area, must be associated with events that have greatly contributed to the history of a city, state or to our nation.
Have some association with a person who is significant in the history of a city, state or our nation.
Display the characteristics of a particular type, period, or method of construction. A great example of this is bungalows! The structure might be the work of a master, or it might possess highly artistic values.
If you were to study this structure or group of structures, it would show you information important in prehistory or history.
A building or group of buildings, would need to possess one or more of these attributes in order to be considered for inclusion.
The basis of historic preservation in the United States is The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, (Each explained in the PRESERVATION GLOSSARY here.) which provides guidance to historic building owners & building managers, preservation consultants, architects, contractors, & project reviewers prior to beginning work. It explains how to repair & maintain historic materials & provides the basis for many design guidelines in many cities. The basic philosophy of The Standards is best expressed in the definition of rehabilitation – “the process of returning a property to a state of utility through repair or alteration which makes possible an efficient contemporary use while preserving those portions & features of the property which are significant to its historic, architectural & cultural values.” It encourages & provides technical data for respecting the original character of each historic structure, while allowing for updating for functionality & safety.
It is this original character, (See character-defining features in the glossary.) either from the period or sensitively repaired or reconstructed, of a single structure, site object or of an area, which forms the criteria for designation.
A SINGLE STRUCTURE DESIGNATION
A house, a church, a public building, a site or an object such as a fountain or a bridge, can be designated as historic based on its significance in history, its relationship to an important figure in history, or its architecture. The Hare House was awarded Los Angeles & California landmark statuses because the Hare’s contributed greatly to the local community & were active in other areas of the state & because the style of the house contributed to the bungalow character of the neighborhood.
HISTORIC DISTRICTS
There are several types of historic districts. One thing that it is not is a historic neighborhood. A historic neighborhood is area in which there are many older houses. To be considered a historic district, the neighborhood must be designated as such by a governing body at some level.
A historic district is an area which has a significant concentration of sites, buildings, structures, or objects, urban or rural, that are united by period (or periods) or style (or styles) or important events. Based on these factors, it has been designated as such by a city, state or federal body (or all of them!) as historic.
One of the most well-known areas so designated is Bungalow Heaven in Pasadena, California. It is a charming area filled with bungalows of every style, shape & size that draws visitors from all over the United States to its annual home tour.
LEVELS OF HISTORIC DESIGNATION
LOCAL (City)
This level, through the means of a preservation ordinance, provides properties with a degree of protection from unnecessary demolition or alterations (generally only exterior) that damage or destroy the character of the building. A guideline for a particular area is written specifically for the history & individual architectural styles of that area, based on the Secretary’s Standards.
Many cities have individual guidelines for each neighborhood that are tailored to the design features of that area. These guidelines are very educational, generally covering building anatomy, basic construction & clear descriptions & photos of the different styles found in the neighborhood.
Historic preservation staff or boards, made of citizens, conduct reviews of proposed changes to locally designated properties.
STATE
Though differing from state-to-state, listing here triggers limited regulatory protection from state government actions. Many states offer state funding, tax benefits, or other incentives. The owners of the Hare house, on the California register, enjoy a sizeable break on their state property taxes. Additionally, if any repairs are made, in most states, the local building inspector must grant code alternatives provided under the State Historic Building Code. I am not even going to try to explain what that is because it varies from state to state. Follow this link to see what the National Park Service says about building & safety codes.
NATIONAL DESIGNATION
These structures, sites, objects or areas which must be a minimum of 50 years old, have a strong association with a significant event or events in the history of our country, not just a section of the country; have an association with & tell the story of a person or group of persons who strongly affected that history; are an outstanding example of a type of structure or group of structures; & hold lessons about our nation’s history that can be learned through the study of the structures or districts.
Something that heartbroken neighborhoods have realized only after they have lost properties to development, is that neither NHL nor NR designations affect what private owners can do with their property. Both do offer protections in the event that federal government work threatens a place, for example, the destruction of whole neighborhoods to make way for the building of a federal highway. They also offer preservation funds & federal historic tax credits that can help offset the costs of rehabilitation. You would need to contact them to see if you might qualify.
Please let me know if there is anything more you want to know about historic districts!
READ MORE ABOUT NEIGHBORHOOD PRESERVATION COMMITTEES!
Leading a preservation committee presents the same challenges as leading any activity. To be successful at it, you need to take a look at what might motivate someone to work a 40+ hours a week job, to care for a home & a family & then to go “work” in a volunteer position in their rare & precious free moments. While their friends are enjoying the festivities!
The prime motivator for anyone to perform any activity is purpose, the impact we want to have on the world. For example, my own purpose is twofold. I love local history & culture. In my free time, I visit museums, old house museums, research & write my blog. My first strong purpose is to better understand & preserve our built environment. My second, stronger now that I am approaching my 80’s, is to encourage & guide others in effectively participating in these activities.
The next most powerful reason to go traipsing off to a meeting when others are nestled comfortably in front of their TV’s, is to find fellowship with those who share our passions & purposes. I consider preservationists to be my peeps. When I moved from L.A. to Tampa, the head of my neighborhood preservation committee became my instant best friend. We did not need time to get acquainted, we just knew each other.
The key to leading a preservation committee is to fulfill these wants. Provide direction toward achieving purpose & the fellowship will follow.
MY EXPERIENCES
I was fortunate to have served under some inspiring leaders. Here’s what I learned from them.
1. Have a clear statement of purpose or purposes that inspires action.
My first venture in neighborhood preservation was participating in a home tour committee. The purpose of this committee was to display our beautiful, historic residential areas, hidden behind our blighted commercial corridors. We wanted to eradicate the blight. We wanted the world to love our beautiful neighborhood as much as we did.
I’m going to use this home tour committee as an example because there were several well-defined tasks & positions.
BREAKING IT DOWN
We knew what we wanted the committee to accomplish & we formulated a plan of how to do this- host a lovely tour like neighboring Bungalow Heaven in Pasadena. They were famous!
We broke down the tour purpose into its parts. We wanted:
1. Beautiful houses to show who we really were.
2. The houses to look their best.
3. Attendees to have a delightful & educational experience.
4. Attendance is huge!!!!!!!!!!
5. A nice brochure that described each house & its history & an accurate map.
6. Marketing materials that presented our neighborhood in its best light.
WHO’S WHO IN THE ZOO
We knew what we wanted to accomplish. The next was to delineate the tasks & then assign single people or subcommittees for each task, ensuring that they knew the purpose of the subcommittee & how it contributed to the allover purpose.
From knowing our purposes & copying Bungalow Heaven’s wonderful tour, we were able to see what the pieces of the home tour were that formed the whole picture & what actions were required to be done to create each piece. This guided the setting up of the structure of our committee.
Here’s are the some of positions that we had, based on what we wanted to achieve:
Chair– Oversees the committee & ensures tasks are being completed. Runs the meetings according to the agenda.
Secretary– Creates the weekly agenda. (More on that later.) Takes minutes during meetings & sends to each member.
Organizer– Creates the timeline, the training materials for each position, ensures that everyone knows what they are doing & is having a good time.
Volunteer coordinator– Builds the committee. With Chair, assigns tasks.
Treasurer– Handles income & outgoing as directed by the Chair, in coordination with the board Treasurer.
PR. & marketing– Makes to tour committee well known, attracting active members. Creates huge interest in the event through the use of compelling marketing materials.
I’m going to stop here. We had other positions, but this should give you an idea.
RUNNING THE ZOO
A well-run zoo requires each person knowing where they fit. When we first started, we were a small group & many people held many positions. What made our tour a success was that each task/position was well-defined as to purpose. The steps of how to achieve that purpose were clearly described, in sequence. Each team member knew where their tasks fit into the allover timeline.
People volunteered for things with which they were familiar & had some expertise. Our Chair had worked in the Bungalow Heaven tour for several years & had an allover idea of how a tour should go. Our Treasurer was a bookkeeper by vocation. Our P.R. was a trained, pro P.R. Our Volunteer Coordinator had headed many successful non-profits. Our Organizer, me, had run a construction business for years, creating business plans, writing training materials, etc. Our Secretary was new to the task so I created a template for her by which she could easily track the meeting.
Everyone knew what they were supposed to do & had guidelines for how to do it. If someone needed help, such as more information or more hands, they asked for it. Otherwise, we stayed in our own lanes & met every other week to co-ordinate.
PRIDE OF OWNERSHIP
This is the key to good leadership- giving someone a well-defined task & letting them run with it. In a volunteer organization, nobody is there for the paycheck. They are there because they believe strongly in the purpose of the activity. Occasionally leadership will have to step in, but I have seen this occur only once in any group I’ve been involved with, where the help was not requested. (We had a rogue member who surprised us a couple times with some wild shenanigans.)
Giving someone a task & not letting them complete it, leads to heartbreak. It is tempting to want everything done exactly, as you would do it, & decide to leap in. Be warned that it will weaken your team & loose you willing team members if you do not allow them to contribute. Delineate the task & hand it over.
If a volunteer on your team is doing a bad job, have a chat with them & see what the problem is. Otherwise, occasionally inquire if anyone might like some help or assistance, & if not, allow them to proceed.
A related subject to this is showing appreciation for work well done. I made sure that my team’s contributions were acknowledged whenever possible- in event programs, in association newsletters, on the website, at every committee meeting, at neighborhood association meetings. I was impressed by & grateful for the wisdom & assistance that I received from everyone & made sure that they & the world knew it at every opportunity.
APPLYING THIS TO A PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
Begin by deciding what the purpose of your committee is. Take a look at my lists of activities & choose which ones might help you accomplish that purpose. Work out the steps you need to take to do that activity. My almost complete manual on producing a historic homes workshop might give you guidance also. You could even just follow the bouncing ball & go ahead & produce a workshop! Contact me & I’ll send you a pdf of the manual. If you don’t want to start off such a huge endeavor, hosting a film night might be a good first event. Try it! If you need any help, let me know.
READ THESE ARTICLES TO LEARN HOW TO START & RUN A SUCCESSFUL PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
Wood flooring is a major, character-defining feature in a bungalow & I vigorously encourage their restoration. However sometimes, they are so worn or damaged that it requires installing new wood flooring in your old house to provide a surface that provides sufficient safety & functionality. Fortunately, more often, they require only patching. This article is about the types of materials available which you would choose for patching or replacement.
One of my followers is preparing to replace her floors so I have been answering many questions for her, which is what prompted this article, putting together all the pieces.
Here are the basics, in more detail than I have provided in the glossary. I will link to the wood flooring glossary when using terms that are covered there. It’s a really long article, so stay with me!
I write for you (& for my younger self, desperate to learn all these things to do right by my house) so any questions that you might have, I want them! If I have been unclear or omitted needed information, please let me know!
THE BASICS OF INSTALLING NEW WOOD FLOORING IN YOUR OLD HOUSE
Wood flooring products are referred to as tongue & groove, or T&G because protruding tongue is cut in one side of the board & a groove is cut in the other at the mill, allowing the pieces to be fit together closely when installed. This was done so nails could be hammered into the tongue & hidden from view by the groove. Before the advent of T & G flooring, boards were nailed from the top and these nails were visible.
In unfinished wood, the area above the groove, the top or wear layer, is ¼” thick. If you purchase salvaged wood, you need to ensure that the top layer is at least 3/16″ thick.
HARD & SOFT WOODS
Woods are categorized as hard or soft woods. The hardness of a wood is determined by its ability to resist indentation. Hardwood comes from broad leaved trees such as oak, ash, cherry, maple & poplar. Softwoods come from conifers, such as pine, fir, or spruce. To learn more about the hardness of woods, read this article by the National Wood Flooring Association here. You’ll see that there is great variation amongst the resistance of each category.
In many bungalows more than one species is used, either in patterns or in different rooms. Often the public areas were a more expensive hardwood & the private were a locally sourced softwood.
The wood found in most bungalows is called strip flooring. Hardwoods are mostly 2 ¼” wide by ¾” thick. Softwoods can be wider, usually 3 1/4″.
LENGTHS OF FLOORING
Wood can be purchased in different lengths, with each gradation being more costly. Often, the boards used in public areas were longer than those used in private areas. However, in homes which have hardwood flooring such as oak in the public areas, with pine or fir (softwoods) floors in the private areas, the softwood floors were always longer in length than those of hardwood floors.
ORIGINAL
Hardwoods: 2′-8′, with an average of 4′.
Softwoods: 6′- room length, with the max at 16.’ It was common that many pieces would be 10′-15′ long.
TODAY
Hardwood solid, unfinished- (standard) 9″-7′ with an average of 2 1/2′ to 2 3/4″ wide. You can get specially milled flooring that is longer for more $$$.
Hardwood engineered, unfinished- better brands offer 1′ to 7′. 2 1/4″ width may not be available unless you have it custom milled at a much higher price.
Hardwood prefinished, solid today- varies between 9″-7′ for better products.
Hardwood prefinished, engineered today- no data. Varies greatly by manufacturer.
HOW WOOD IS CUT FROM THE LOG DETERMINES ITS APPEARANCE & STABILITY
PLAIN SAWN
This cut utilizes the whole log, with the smallest amount of waste, making it the least costly of all the grain patterns. It results in a large, course, looping grain pattern. Plain sawn wood is less dimensionally stable (The degree with which wood shrinks & swells with changing moisture content) than quarter sawn or rift sawn so will tend to expand & contract more across the width of the boards than quarter sawn lumber.
Should you need to replace flooring in your house, I often recommend that oak be used because it is both reasonably hard and traditionally used. I suggest that this cut be chosen for the private areas because though it lacks the excitement of quarter sawn, it is still a workhorse.
Should you not be able to access quarter sawn or reclaimed, this is a fine type of oak to use in your public areas with all the beautiful rugs of the Arts & Crafts era. Unless you are a museum, your honoring the natural materials of the Movement counts with me.
QUARTER SAWN
This is the wood of the Arts & Crafts Movement. When you gasp at the beauty of a Stickley piece, much of your awe & admiration are your reactions to the beautiful flecked graining, the Tiger Oak wood.
To produce the intense flame pattern, each log is sawed at a radial angle into four quarters. Then each quarter is cut along the center angles, near the center of the tree. (To better understand tree anatomy, read this article.) The wood from this cut twists & cups less than plainsawn, making for a more stable floor. It also wears more evenly under traffic.
Quarter sawn is more costly than plain sawn because it wastes more wood & is also more difficult to cut. I recommend its use in public areas where you want to impress your guests!
RIFT SAWN
Rift sawing is similar to quarter sawing, with many of the same advantages. The way that it is cut accentuates the vertical grain but minimizes the tiger stripe effect found in quarter sawn oak.
Also a pricey option, it mixes beautifully with quarter sawn in a public area. I think that a floor of all quarter sawn looks whiskery! Rift sawn flooring was not used in older homes by itself, but was usually mixed with quarter sawn in a cut sold as “rift & quarter sawn” flooring. Today, standard milled oak flooring is sold as rift & quarter sawn as a mixed grade. You get more rift, usually 70% of the bundle, than quartered boards. This is much more economical than purchasing, from a specialty mill, all quartered or all rift cut oak. Place the boards strategically so that it is varied throughout the floor.
GRADES OF LUMBER USED IN WOOD FLOORING
There are more grades, but none that are appropriate for use in a bungalow. Some of the omitted grades are lacking in character (considered imperfections) & lose the look of real wood & some have too much character & appear too rustic.
Here’s straight from the big guys, the National Wood Flooring Association:
SELECT OAK
Contains all the variations in coloration produced by the contrasting differences of heartwood & sapwood. Also included are minimal character marks, such as small knots, worm holes, & mineral streaks, as well as slightly open characters.
The combination creates a floor where the light sapwood & dark heartwood are combined with small characters & other small color interruptions.
Should you be unable to access reclaimed wood or quarter sawn, in newly harvested wood, this grade, in plain sawn, is a good choice for your public areas. Arts & Crafts patterned rugs are perfect accents for bungalows & this grade of flooring will look beautiful with them in your home. Honest. View some beautiful ones I have collected for you on my Pinterest board, here.
#1 COMMON OAK
A flooring product characterized by greater color variation than Select, that also contains prominent characters (with size limits) such as knots, open checks, worm holes, along with machining & drying variations.
#1 Common is a tasteful floor where prominent variation is expected. I think it looks fine in private areas, but you need to make sure that the colors are well placed, so that the floor doesn’t look like a study in color-blocking! You can use the shorter, knottier pieces, or ones with more blemishes in your closets.
#2 COMMON OAK
#2 Common may contain sound natural variations of the forest product & is suitable for homes, general utility use, or where character marks & contrasting appearance is desired.
I like this choice in finished attics because I like them to look like what they are! In unfinished products, this is a material that you can paint without feeling bad about it. And don’t try to hide the character marks. It’s an attic!
THE BEST CHOICE IN AN OLD HOUSE- RECLAIMED OR SALVAGED WOOD
This is your first choice. Reclaimed, old-growth wood is milled from lumber harvested from ancient forests that is either rescued as logs from the bottoms of rivers & milled into lumber for various uses, or is removed from old buildings & re-milled for other purposes. Sometimes old flooring is salvaged & employed again as flooring which often does not require milling. You can see some cool videos about it here.
Recycled wood is available in solid unfinished, solid prefinished & also in engineered, unfinished or prefinished.
Should your site finished (as opposed to factory finished) floor require patching, this is the type of wood that you will need to use, especially if your floors are old heart of pine. You can read about its properties & its value here.
TYPES OF WOOD PRODUCTS
UNFINISHED WOOD FLOORING
This is the type of wood that was installed in our old houses when they were built. It requires sanding & finishing on site after installation is completed. Today it is milled from newly harvested trees, generally grown on tree farms. It can also be milled from reclaimed material, or, salvaged as flooring from old buildings.
Unfinished wood flooring, either newly milled or reclaimed, is available in solid or engineered.
After unfinished wood is completely installed, it is sanded, sometimes stained, & then coated with a protective finish. This article explains many of the finish options available.
Unfinished flooring allows you to create a completely custom floor so that you can match or complement the other floors in your home.
PREFINISHED WOOD FLOORING
A prefinished floor is one on which the stain & finish (a clear, protective coating) are applied at the factory. There are many tough finishes available from oil penetrating finishes which provide a matte finish, natural look, to polyurethanes which coat the wood & are available in matte to high gloss. Most of the finishes you can use on a site finished floor are avail in prefinished. You can read about them here. You are going to want to choose one with a medium gloss which mimics wax or shellac. As far as choosing a sheen level, a matte floor shows dust, dirt & fur & a shiny one obscures the grain & shows scratches & dust, dirt & fur.
The factory/manufacturer applied finishes, especially products at the higher end, are very tough, & are more durable than those applied on the job to unfinished wood. Many prefinished products can be sanded at least once. If you do not have to match existing flooring, it can be a good option, with a few caveats.
Here’s where prefinished floors can have a drawback. In your old floor, after the raw, unfinished wood was laid, several passes were made over it with a sanding machine to fully level all sides of the boards where they join the next rows. This sanding is not done on a prefinished floor. The boards are sanded at the factory before the finish is applied. Consequently, there may be some differences in leveling from board to board. There are several ways in which manufacturers cut the wood at the factory (mill) to make the final floor appear flat.
BEVELED EDGE
These products have a very distinctive groove in them.
EASED EDGE
This is the most common. Each board is just slightly beveled. Some manufacturers add an eased edge to both the length of the planks as well as the end joints. Even this small groove helps hide uneven plank heights. Eased edge is also called a micro-beveled edge.
SQUARE EDGE
The edges of all boards meet squarely creating a uniform, smooth surface that blends the floor together from board to board, giving it the same appearance as an old floor. High-end mills offer this option at a higher cost because each board must be cut with great precision. This floor will still not be as flat as a floor that has been sanded on site.
CONSTRUCTION CHOICES IN WOOD FLOORING
SOLID FLOORING
Your traditional floor, which you would find as the original flooring in your historic bungalow. This flooring is cut from one piece of wood. When you look at a piece of it from the side, you see no striations/layers.
ENGINEERED FLOORING
This type is created in layers that are glued together. The veneer on the top is called the wear layer & can be of varying thicknesses.
The wear layer of engineered floors can be from 1/32″ to 1/4″ (1 mm to 6 mm) thick, again, affecting the price point.
This method of construction increases the stability of the boards. Especially in high moisture areas or situations, I think it can be a good choice. The majority of the time, these products are prefinished & have the 3 above edging characteristics. Square edged prefinished engineered floors are uncommon & at a much higher price point than are beveled ones.
Engineered wood can also be sold as square edged unfinished, but is more expensive than most prefinished flooring. Usually the wear layer is at least 3 mm on these products. I like this product in humid climates.
WHAT IS VENEER?
Engineered hardwood flooring is built up using layers of plywood or a high density fiber board then on the top a layer of wood veneer, to create the look of real hardwood. Veneer is a thin layer of wood or other material for facing or inlaying wood. Veneer is made of a particular material that is applied to a different material in order to create a more desirable surface appearance than that of the basic material of the object.
SAWN FACE VENEER
The dry-sawn face method creates a thicker layer (4 mm) of veneer than the other methods. This method creates a veneer with an appearance that is identical to solid hardwood in color, grain, & character. (See cut & grain examples above.) This method produces the least amount of usable veneer so it is more costly than the other two methods below.
SLICED VENEER
Slice-cut is the second most common way to create a wood veneer. The finished wood presents a lovely face, like the sawn face above, but is in thinner layers (2mm or less) & is generally less pricey.
ROTARY PEELED VENEER
In this method, the log is put on a spit & peeled in a long, thin layer. The wood is then flattened which is damaging to its integrity & wearability. This cutting & flattening process produces an unnatural, repeating, unattractive grain pattern. It does create the maximum amount of product from the wood, so it is sold at the lowest price point.
That’s why there’s so much of it out there. I hate it! Be aware that, because of its low price, it is often chosen by flippers. If you see a floor that almost looks like wood, & is touted as being wood, this is likely what it is.
Engineered flooring has gotten a bit of a hit because the inferior products produced by this method. Engineered wood is a good, durable product & is quite suitable in a historic house- if- you choose the first method. I do not recommend the sliced veneer & do NOT choose rotary veneer flooring.
PORCH FLOORS IN BUNGALOWS
We replaced a covered porch deck on a 1907 Folk Victorian that we restored & used pressure treated, 3/4″ by 3 & 1/8″ wide, yellow, T & G pine which at least in Florida, is available in a pressure treated product.
Pressure treated wood must dry 30 days before it can be primed & painted. We painted the bottom of the boards before installation & the top after. You might be able to get pressure treated decking which has been kiln dried after it is treated, so the 30 days can be omitted. Sanding is required to give you a smooth level surface, just like with any wood floor.
Porch boards are subject to much wear & water. It is really important to make sure that they are slightly angled so that the water runs off. It’s also a good idea to have a large squeegee on a long handle so that you can dry them after a rain.
MY TOP CHOICES WHEN INSTALLING NEW WOOD FLOORING IN YOUR OLD HOUSE
In answer to the Good, Better, Best question of my follower:
BEST: 2 ¼” wide, reclaimed wood or salvaged old growth wood flooring, (with a 3/16” or thicker wear layer for 3/4″ T&G flooring, whether it be solid or engineered) of whatever species & grade was in your house originally. In any single house, there could have been more than one species, generally a pricier hardwood in the public areas & a less costly softwood (usually 3 1/4″ wide by 3/4″ thick) in the private. (This is the wood that you need for patching.)
Hire a qualified pro to sand & finish it. Reclaimed wood is $$$$$ & you don’t want to waste it.
BETTER: Select 2 ¼” wide, newly milled, farmed quarter sawn oak, either unfinished or prefinished (squared edged, please see above) solid or engineered with a thick veneer, for public areas. For private areas, 2 1/4” wide, in Select or #1 common oak. You do not want to use farmed softwoods.They are ridiculously soft.
If you want to finish it yourself, I recommend that you ensure that the equipment that you use is the latest & greatest & dust free, well maintained & calibrated. Then study these videos.
GOOD: A Select plainsawn wood floor that is either prefinished or unfinished, solid or engineered. Just no heavy bevels & no rotary veneer. (All are covered above.) Same instructions for sanding & finishing.
CAVEAT
Installing it too, or farming it out to a carpenter or handy friend, make sure that they & that they wear the correct PPE & if you are living in the house, or even visiting, please understand the materials that are being used wear it too. Read this!
This is not a DIY site. There are plenty of such sites & I applaud them!
Personally, I am not handy. But, I do like a project done correctly & have hired & supervised many tradespeople. Should you be of a similar mind, the more knowledge that you have of construction, the better you can judge competency & oversee your flooring project. These videos focus on the subject of wood flooring for your bungalow.
From books, I have taught folks whom I hired to work on my homes, about the care & feeding of the materials in old houses. I wish that I would have had these videos at the time!
And for those of you who are doing it yourself, my cloche is off to you. I hope these wood flooring videos are helpful & that your floors are smooth & beautiful!
And because I think I’m everybody’s mother: Installing & finishing wood floors is not rocket science, but they have their own precision technology. To become truly proficient takes years. I watched my husband work at mastering the skill over a period of 45 years & at retirement, he still did not feel he knew everything is to know.
WATCH & LEARN ABOUT WOOD FLOORING FOR YOUR BUNGALOW!
How to Acclimate Hardwood Flooring (6:57)
RW Supply+Design
And don’t forget to acclimate your kitchen flooring in the kitchen! Yes, it will be a major pain, but cupping is more so!
How To Install Tongue and Groove Flooring (10:06)
Ask This Old House
An informative video that includes a written list of the tools & materials required.
Because I’m a fan of some (not all!) engineered wood.
How to Repair a Tongue-and-Groove Wood Floor (4:53)
This Old House
Because a 100 year old floor always has some boo-boos!
How To Sand and Finish Wood Floors (28:03)
American Sanders
An overview only! Watch the rest of the one below.
Bona® Sand & Finish Training – Chapter 1: Preparation (17:29)
Bona Professional
A more detailed look at sand & finish. There are 4 chapters, each one automatically following the next. Watch them all!
How-to Restore Wood Floors (25:34)
About Your House with Bob Yapp
Another option from a master.
Visit Bob to see all the educational opportunities he offers here.
Should you have questions regarding wood flooring for your bungalow, visit my page of articles here. With 45 years in the trade, specializing in old houses, I have a lot to say!
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The Arts & Crafts Movement highly revered the dignity of labor & valued good design. These attributes were evident in their use of the humbler metals- the hand-hammered copper, molded bronze & forged iron- of our bungalow hardware. The abundance of natural materials, employed “honestly,” that is to say, not molded, painted or otherwise contrived to resemble that which it was not, is one of the hallmarks of the Movement & one of the most charming features of our homes.
Bungalows come to us with hardware in various conditions. In the Hare House, I was stunned to discover that the majority of the hardware that adorned my built-in sideboard was intact & I was even happier to discover that I could easily resource the missing pieces.
My Tampa house was not so fortunate. I had to replace almost every one of my doors & find hardware for them also. It took several months of combing salvage outlets & eBay but at long last everything was in place. I used reproduction hardware for the sideboard & colonnades that I created- a far easier task!
I am going to caution you once again to choose the hardware that is appropriate for your house. It is tempting to want to use the largest, most ornate accents in the attempt to embellish your home. However, making choices more in line with the charm it already possesses, be it modest or or mega, will be more more enhancing.
An extensive offering of period-style lighting, interior, pocket & exterior door, window, cabinet & bath hardware. They have a page dedicated to Arts & Crafts for easy bungalow shopping.
Antique Hardware Supply provides consultations with experienced designers who are experts in period style hardware.
Antique plumbing fixtures, obsolete plumbing parts & faucet restoration. Many of their products are made or designed right in their own shop by plumbing experts.
They offer a huge choice of manufacturers & products.
An eclectic building salvage store specializing in hardware, lighting, architecture & plumbing.
They also provide lighting and lamp repair with a fully UL certified lighting repair shop that can customize length, finishes, plating, & configuration. Their plumbing department will coordinate refinishing with local companies. The hardware department is able to customize with darkening, refinishing, cleaning & rebuilding.
Antique & new hardware & parts for doors & furniture, plumbing fixtures & hardware, lighting fixtures & parts, heat registers & grills & most everything else that you might need to restore your bungalow.
Their blog is very interesting & has some great images.
Locksets & door sets, push & kick plates, window & cabinet hardware, lighting & electrical & more. They give you the opportunity to select Arts & Crafts in each category, making for easy shopping.
They are very knowledgeable & will give you great advice.
A huge array of hardware for furniture, much of which you could use for cabinets. Some door hardware.
I’m just going to recommend that you visit the site & poke around their lo-o-o-o-ng list of products. They offer free shipping to anywhere in the U.S. for orders over $100.
An enormous selection of products so this is the link to their Arts & Crafts section. They have a full menu on the left side of each page to you can get anywhere you want to shop easily.
Visit my Pinterest page to see some very cool hardware from many of these folks!
In addition to these vendors, Facebook Marketplace place can be a treasure for the old house owner as can eBay & Etsy. And don’t forget to check out salvage stores!
I implore you to send me any bungalow hardware resources that you might have that are not included my list. Hardware can be completely missing from an abused old house & it can be a major challenge to replace it.
MORE BUNGALOW RESOURCES!
LIGHTING
A series of article on lighting which includes sources for antique lighting as well as work by the modern masters & also reproduction fixtures.
WINDOW TREATMENTS
How to choose window coverings that will give you privacy & enhance the beauty & character of your home.
STAY IN THE BUNGALOW KNOW!!!
Sign up for our newsletter & receive our FREE E-book, 7 VITAL Things to Do Before You Hire a Contractor.
First, let’s look at a common misconception about historical societies. Historical societies traditionally are 501 (c)(3)’s, non-profit, charitable organizations, dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting, & promoting the history of a city or sometimes a neighborhood, in photographs, documents, artifacts & recordings. They focus on research, education & creating awareness of the cultural & architectural history of the area. They generally host educational events, lectures, workshops, tours & exhibitions which display their archived materials & teach the community about the culture of bygone years. They offer these materials to academics & the public for research. Many societies own & run museums.
The basis of historic preservation in the United States is The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, (Each explained in the PRESERVATION GLOSSARY here.) which provides guidance to historic building owners & building managers, preservation consultants, architects, contractors, & project reviewers prior to beginning work. It explains how to repair & maintain historic materials & provides the basis for many design guidelines in many cities. The basic philosophy of The Standards is best expressed in the definition of rehabilitation – “the process of returning a property to a state of utility through repair or alteration which makes possible an efficient contemporary use while preserving those portions & features of the property which are significant to its historic, architectural & cultural values.” It encourages & provides technical data for respecting the original character of each historic structure, while allowing for updating for functionality & safety.
There are several types of historic districts. One thing that it is not is a historic neighborhood. A historic neighborhood is area in which there are many older houses. To be considered a historic district, the neighborhood must be designated as such by a governing body at some level.
These structures, sites, objects or areas which must be a minimum of 50 years old, have a strong association with a significant event or events in the history of our country, not just a section of the country; have an association with & tell the story of a person or group of persons who strongly affected that history; are an outstanding example of a type of structure or group of structures; & hold lessons about our nation’s history that can be learned through the study of the structures or districts.
Leading a preservation committee presents the same challenges as leading any activity. To be successful at it, you need to take a look at what might motivate someone to work a 40+ hours a week job, to care for a home & a family & then to go “work” in a volunteer position in their rare & precious free moments. While their friends are enjoying the festivities!
I was fortunate to have served under some inspiring leaders. Here’s what I learned from them.
We knew what we wanted to accomplish. The next was to delineate the tasks & then assign single people or subcommittees for each task, ensuring that they knew the purpose of the subcommittee & how it contributed to the allover purpose.
Wood flooring is a major, character-defining feature in a bungalow & I vigorously encourage their restoration. However sometimes, they are so worn or damaged that it requires installing new wood flooring in your old house to provide a surface that provides sufficient safety & functionality. Fortunately, more often, they require only patching. This article is about the types of materials available which you would choose for patching or replacement.
The wood found in most bungalows is called strip flooring. Hardwoods are mostly 2 ¼” wide by ¾” thick. Softwoods can be wider, usually 3 1/4″.
PLAIN SAWN
QUARTER SAWN
RIFT SAWN
SELECT OAK
#2 COMMON OAK
This is the type of wood that was installed in our old houses when they were built. It requires sanding & finishing on site after installation is completed. Today it is milled from newly harvested trees, generally grown on tree farms. It can also be milled from reclaimed material, or, salvaged as flooring from old buildings.
BEVELED EDGE
SOLID FLOORING
ROTARY PEELED VENEER
PORCH FLOORS IN BUNGALOWS
This is not a DIY site. There are plenty of such sites & I applaud them!
The Arts & Crafts Movement highly revered the dignity of labor & valued good design. These attributes were evident in their use of the humbler metals- the hand-hammered copper, molded bronze & forged iron- of our bungalow hardware. The abundance of natural materials, employed “honestly,” that is to say, not molded, painted or otherwise contrived to resemble that which it was not, is one of the hallmarks of the Movement & one of the most charming features of our homes.
Antique Hardware Supply
Bathroom Machineries
Hippo Hardware 
Historic Houseparts
House of Antique Hardware
Kennedy Hardware
Wm. A. Kilian
Liz’s Antique Hardware
Nostalgic Warehouse
Van Dyke’s Restorers
Vintage Hardware & Lighting
LIGHTING