Refinishing Hardwood Floors

Hello--I've started the job from hell. I have a Victorian house built in 1884 that has a beautiful railing and banister. Somebody along the way painted it white. Somebody along the way started stripping it and stopped because the job was too hard. I bought the house and have most of it stripped. I want to stain it a darker color. But then I'm really going to have to stain the floors the same color as the banister. The floors need to be sanded. Lots of scars and splinters. The floor boards are tongue and groove. A few boards have seperated and there's about a 1/8" gap between the boards.

Is there anything I can do to fix this? Smash wood puddy in the groves and sand over it??

ohh god sounds like my house. at least you dont have part of the house that has setlled from a flood many many years ago.

try to sand that out.

I say good luck to you. I have 4 rooms including the dining room that have painted floors. As well as the 1/8 inch gaps you speak of.

im no expert but i would say go ahead and try to fill the cracks with putty and then sand it down flush. it should look pretty good once you sand and stain and clear coat again. but i would think over time the putty would crack from expanding and contracting of the hardwood floors. but it will look good for the time being.

Take some before and after pictures for us. Id love to see them

The problem with putty is that if the floors have any vertical 'spring' to them, the putty will not stay put - it will crack and come out - often looking worse than just having the gap.

Then there is the problem that the putty color (against stain), usually never quite matches that of the wood.

Some folks (I am one of them), like to just leave the gaps and say "it is an old house and that is what old floors should look like.

If at all possible, leave the wood it's natural color. It will
darken again over time. Leave the cracks. During the summer
they will swell shut and open again next winter. It's an old
house. It's character comes form the beating it's taken over
the years.

Tom