Hi everyone, I'm new so please be gentle with me 
We have a 2-up, 2-down Victorian cottage.
In the lounge there are bare floorboards which are in pretty good condition, but they are painted black which is too overbearing in a small room, so we would like to strip them back and re-stain them a different, lighter colour (not sure what colour yet).
There is a step up from the lounge into the dining room. The dining room has slate effect tiles laid over a concrete floor. These are too dark and un-cosy and we have grown to hate them!
We are going to decorate the lounge and dining room in the same colour scheme to create a sense of flow from one room to the other.
I would like this to extend to having matching floors as well. Ideally, we would like to dig out the concrete floor (which sounds hollow in some places, so prob not in the best condition), put in some (polystyrene?) insulation and a damp-proof membrane, then lay wooden floorboards over the top which could be stripped and stained to match the lounge floorboards.
Hubbie is concerned that this would involve a lot of digging down, and could be expensive. But we would like to do it properly and invest in a decent quality job.
What do you reckon, are we bonkers? How deep down should we dig out?
Can you successfully stain 2 different sets of floorboards to match each other? Would it be easy to lay reclaimed floorboards onto a concrete floor?
If so, what are the practicalities in terms of removing the old stuff and who would be best to get in to do this work (e.g. builder? flooring specialist?).
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Amy
We have a 2-up, 2-down Victorian cottage.
In the lounge there are bare floorboards which are in pretty good condition, but they are painted black which is too overbearing in a small room, so we would like to strip them back and re-stain them a different, lighter colour (not sure what colour yet).
There is a step up from the lounge into the dining room. The dining room has slate effect tiles laid over a concrete floor. These are too dark and un-cosy and we have grown to hate them!
We are going to decorate the lounge and dining room in the same colour scheme to create a sense of flow from one room to the other.
I would like this to extend to having matching floors as well. Ideally, we would like to dig out the concrete floor (which sounds hollow in some places, so prob not in the best condition), put in some (polystyrene?) insulation and a damp-proof membrane, then lay wooden floorboards over the top which could be stripped and stained to match the lounge floorboards.
Hubbie is concerned that this would involve a lot of digging down, and could be expensive. But we would like to do it properly and invest in a decent quality job.
What do you reckon, are we bonkers? How deep down should we dig out?
Can you successfully stain 2 different sets of floorboards to match each other? Would it be easy to lay reclaimed floorboards onto a concrete floor?
If so, what are the practicalities in terms of removing the old stuff and who would be best to get in to do this work (e.g. builder? flooring specialist?).
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Amy
