Replies

1. 
   MBerger | Sep 20, 2006 07:18pm | #1

   Hi FolkArtMan,

   It took me some time to get to the bottom of your question. Here's what I found out:

   To acheive an authentic farmhouse floor, you are going to want to use standard kiln-dried pine, apply a pickel finish which makes it white and allows the grain to show through, and then lay on a top coat of varnish. That is going to give you all the things that make it look original: the exposed grain, the pale white wash, and a hardy finish.

   That said, I just spoke with an editor at our sister publication Fine Homebuilding who did all of the flooring in his vacation house in MDF, and it has held up well for the past 15 years. Part of the house has square MDF tiles that are screwed to the floor and varnished. Another part has a mosaic of MDF tiles that are dyed, and then attached to the ground with self-leveling urethane calking applied like grout. Over that is a varnish.

   That doesn't answer your question but it should help you make the final decision. What ever you do, make test sample to see if it's really the look you're after.

   Matt Berger
   Fine Woodworking

    

1. 
   folkartman61 | Sep 20, 2006 07:39pm | #2

   Matt,
   I like the ideas. Thanks!