Fir floor restoration contractor for unique project?
My 116 year old house has the original (likely old growth) fir flooring, but it's painted, has another top-nail oak floor over the top (also painted) and I've been living with the top layer of wide-plank wood laminate flooring since purchasing 4 years ago. Based on old real-estate photos there was carpet over the oak long before the wood laminate was installed around 2011.
I would absolutely love to remove all flooring layers and attempt restoring the original layer for historical reasons. From all of the research completed, it "could" be worth it to use Citristrip Gel to remove the paint (likely some lead, can't test until the first two flooring layers are removed) and then if the wood looks okay, do all the "plastic wall" lead-prevention sheeting, sand and refinish.
Unfortunately, I have had more contractors just trying to sell me new wood rather than take on this job. I also have kids and a dog, so while we'd be gone during all of this, it would be much preferred to be gel-stripped and then sanded versus sanding the dry paint. If anyone has a recommendation for a hardwood person to take on the gel-stripping before refinishing, please let me know! Reclaiming your own doug fir is a real task it seems.
Posted May 8, 2026, 3:44 PM UTC