Hello all,
I'm about to rent an early 20's storefront with pretty damn good restoration potential, and pulling back the carpet I reveal what appears to be possibly 3.25" tongue & groove fir or pine?? I'm actually shocked because I really thought it'd be Maple, especially on a main street in Chicago.

At any rate, it's not the sub-floor, that's evident under the tongue and groove via a cross section where the duct work was put in.

So, seeing as I was prepared to pull up the carpet and refinish, (I successfully did my Oak & Maple in my old bungalow about 3 years ago, much thanks to the great advice on this forum how should I approach this softer wood differently than my experience with hardwoods?
I will probably rent the Clark 8" drum again and corresponding edgers.

Also, it appears that the gaps are really not tight at all, I don't mind if poly drips in between, and I will concede for a more rustic look I guess, but is fir really ok for a main flooring? Why would they use this wood on a storefront in a prominent shopping district in the 20s? Won't the first stilleto-heel wreak havoc on this?

Thanks for your attention, and I would be happy to post plenty of closeup detail pix but I can't find an attachments button on this window....
Let's see if the 2 links I insert work...

That appears to be vertical grain heart pine. Frankly, that stuff sells for big bucks (reclaimed) these days .It's an incredibly stable wood and although not as hard o dense as oak, can take a pretty good pounding.

Sanding it isn't hard but the pine tends to clog sand paper so generally, you have to pay attention to not making big jumps in sanding grit or you'll be left with sanding lines and swirls.

At the end of sanding , the floor needs a lot of buffing and all your lines will clean up.

As a side note, water based finish looks really nice on heart pine.Gives it a much lighter color than oil based finish.

Wow! I guess that's great news, I'd have preferred Maple LOL! But if it'll hold up better than Douglas Fir anything but that would be good.

It would be my photo studio, light stands have plastic tips on their feet, gaffer's tape (non-residue specialty tape) would keep paper and muslin backdrops in place, my Border Collie would probably accompany me at times so doggy claws may be an issue...
I'd thought about using an oil of sorts instead of a water or oil poly...any suggestions? Something I could buff on occasion and apply another coat every year perhaps?

My house oak was pretty cupped with scratches when I redid it, I think they gave me something obscene to start with like 16 grit? It worked and they leveled nicely but there was an occasional gouge line from that thickness...kind of like pebbles on paper that grit was. I'd imagine to start with something much finer, guess I'll know once the entire carpet and subfloor portions are removed..
thanks much!

On a really nasty floor, I might start with 24 grit but nothing rougher than that . If it isn't nasty , then i would opt for 36 grit and then change to 50 and then change to 80 or 100 for a final cut.I would probably finish the edges off at 80 assuming that the 80 paper doesn't clog with sap. Then buff the heck out of it with 100 grit screens.

As for finish, water will be much lighter than oil .Oil however is much less expensive than the better quality waterborne finishes.

Thanks so much Paul! We're bringing the forgotten past back to glory.

I just found out Frank Thomas is going to be buying a huge vintage bank building 3 blocks away and making it his flagship brewery. Looks like I'm striking while the iron's hot!

Couple things:
1) if what I pulled back is any indicator the floors could be pretty damn nice to begin with.
2) Is there an alternative to Oil or Water poly, like a rub in oil? Too expensive?
3) is it crazy to think of staining or is it already a nice color and tonality?

thanks again...matt