Nail holes in hardwood floors?

Ok... I started on one of the floors with the coffee stirrers. I read
somewhere that you should put two tiny indents at the end of each
board, so that the stain would darken them, and simulate nail holes.

However, I looked at my real hardwood floor, and it doesn't have them.
And the sheets of scale hardwood floor for dollhouses don't have them
either. I did see one product from england (veneer strips) that did
have it. But most don't seem to.

Does anyone know what the norm was during victorian times? Nail holes
or no nail holes?

Cathy Weeks

Joists were laid approximately 3' apart & 6' floorboards nailed at each end
to the joists and midway. I use an awl to smulate the nailholes. I'm sure
that early floorboards were pegged because iron nails were expensive.
Construction techniques & materials have radically changed within the past
50 years, but the 70+ year old house we lived in in the late '70s had nails
in the ends of the floorboards, and it was a Sears "kit" house.
"Cathy Weeks" wrote
I read
somewhere that you should put two tiny indents at the end of each
board, so that the stain would darken them, and simulate nail holes.

However, I looked at my real hardwood floor, and it doesn't have them.
And the sheets of scale hardwood floor for dollhouses don't have them
either. I did see one product from england (veneer strips) that did
have it. But most don't seem to.

Does anyone know what the norm was during victorian times? Nail holes
or no nail holes?

Cathy Weeks

On 21 Mar 2004 14:15:20 -0800, (Cathy Weeks)
wrote:

Ok... I started on one of the floors with the coffee stirrers. I read
somewhere that you should put two tiny indents at the end of each
board, so that the stain would darken them, and simulate nail holes.

However, I looked at my real hardwood floor, and it doesn't have them.
And the sheets of scale hardwood floor for dollhouses don't have them
either. I did see one product from england (veneer strips) that did
have it. But most don't seem to.

Does anyone know what the norm was during victorian times? Nail holes
or no nail holes?

Cathy Weeks
I did a pegged floor once where I laid the floor normally, then
drilled holes and inserted dyed, glue coated, round toothpicks, cut
them off and sanded smooth, then finished the floor with shellac and
paste wax.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

"havana bill & holly" wrote in message ...
Joists were laid approximately 3' apart & 6' floorboards nailed at each end
to the joists and midway. I use an awl to smulate the nailholes. I'm sure
that early floorboards were pegged because iron nails were expensive.
Construction techniques & materials have radically changed within the past
50 years, but the 70+ year old house we lived in in the late '70s had nails
in the ends of the floorboards, and it was a Sears "kit" house.

Hmmm...I've been staggering my "boards" so they wouldn't line up. I'm
guessing that's a more modern style.

Do you mean that there would be nails/pegs in regular rows? Ever 3
feet or so, basically along where the joists would be underneath?

Cathy Weeks

The "seams" of the board ends would alternate from row to row (not all line
up) but the nails would, to attach all the boards to all the joists. Really
well-to-do folks might have a floor of oak or maple laid over a subfloor of
pine boards, nowadays I think subfloors are more like plywood sheets. HTH

Hi, if anyone is modelling an English house you will find that the joists
are in the region of 16" to 18" apart.
Dave Wade


havana bill & holly wrote in message
...
Joists were laid approximately 3' apart & 6' floorboards nailed at each
end
to the joists and midway. I use an awl to smulate the nailholes. I'm
sure
that early floorboards were pegged because iron nails were expensive.
Construction techniques & materials have radically changed within the past
50 years, but the 70+ year old house we lived in in the late '70s had
nails
in the ends of the floorboards, and it was a Sears "kit" house.
"Cathy Weeks" wrote
I read
somewhere that you should put two tiny indents at the end of each
board, so that the stain would darken them, and simulate nail holes.

However, I looked at my real hardwood floor, and it doesn't have them.
And the sheets of scale hardwood floor for dollhouses don't have them
either. I did see one product from england (veneer strips) that did
have it. But most don't seem to.

Does anyone know what the norm was during victorian times? Nail holes
or no nail holes?

Cathy Weeks




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