Advice for Wooden House
09-07-2025, 06:03 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 413
Advice for Wooden House
Hi,
My son has built me a wooden house. I have never lived in a wooden house, and am seriously afraid of damaging the wood unintentionally.
What are the things I have to look out for and/or be careful about? Especially in the kitchen and bathroom where there are water to be used?
What about floor care?
How do you hang pictures without leaving holes in the wood?
I don’t even know what questions to ask😳🫣
Please add whatever you think might be helpful, even if you think it is insignificant. All advice appreciated.
Thank you🌷🌷🌷🌷
My son has built me a wooden house. I have never lived in a wooden house, and am seriously afraid of damaging the wood unintentionally.
What are the things I have to look out for and/or be careful about? Especially in the kitchen and bathroom where there are water to be used?
What about floor care?
How do you hang pictures without leaving holes in the wood?
I don’t even know what questions to ask😳🫣
Please add whatever you think might be helpful, even if you think it is insignificant. All advice appreciated.
Thank you🌷🌷🌷🌷
09-07-2025, 07:45 AM
#2
Power Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Southern USA
Posts: 17,813
What other type of house could he have built? I guess I don't understand your question. Are the walls sheetrock or wood paneling? Floors hardwood? Little nail holes never hurt anything, it's a wall. There are many good wood floor cleaning products available now. Relax and enjoy your new house.
09-07-2025, 02:24 PM
#3
Power Poster
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posts: 11,213
We've had wood flooring every where in our house except for the bathroom for about 25 years. They still look good. I only use water to mop them. I have never put any floor wax or cleaner on them. I do have a couple of small rugs in the kitchen, at the sink and at the stove. There is a lot of pivoting there and I don’t want to wear out those areas.
09-07-2025, 03:02 PM
#4
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 2,640
Things to think about.....
Wood is organic and slowly changes over time. This means that if you hang things on the wall, the space behind whatever you hang will stay the original colour while the rest of the wall slowly changes with exposure to sun and environment. My walls are cedar strip and I don't worry about nail holes. They are easy to fill if you have a hold that bothers you. The good thing about nails in the walls is that you don't have to look for a stud because the wood is strong enough to hold up what you hang - unless you're hanging very heavy items. Wood walls don't need much care. Buy yourself a brush on a long stick for knocking off cobwebs as they will show up against the wood.
Wood floors are equally easy to look after. A wood floor will have been treated when installed so there is good finish on the wood. Water won't damage it. I sweep my floor often and damp mop it when it needs mopping. Wipe up spills and spot wipe spots if you see them. If I'm feeling like a deep clean, I'll do a hands & knees scrub but honestly, I don't notice much difference so have only done that a few times. Maybe I'm a lazy housekeeper but it looks clean.
My kitchen countertops are also wood and they need protecting from cuts, so always use a cutting board. Other than that, they are treated just like any other material.
Living in wood is easy because wood is just easy to look after. If it starts to look worn, simply have it refinished, which means the wood is sanded down and covered again with a protective sealer. Our wood floors are 30 years old and I'm ready to have them refinished now that we will not be adopting any more dogs with nails that are hard on floors. The kitchen counters are just as old and pretty much look like when they were built.
Enjoy the lovely patina of living with wood.
Wood is organic and slowly changes over time. This means that if you hang things on the wall, the space behind whatever you hang will stay the original colour while the rest of the wall slowly changes with exposure to sun and environment. My walls are cedar strip and I don't worry about nail holes. They are easy to fill if you have a hold that bothers you. The good thing about nails in the walls is that you don't have to look for a stud because the wood is strong enough to hold up what you hang - unless you're hanging very heavy items. Wood walls don't need much care. Buy yourself a brush on a long stick for knocking off cobwebs as they will show up against the wood.
Wood floors are equally easy to look after. A wood floor will have been treated when installed so there is good finish on the wood. Water won't damage it. I sweep my floor often and damp mop it when it needs mopping. Wipe up spills and spot wipe spots if you see them. If I'm feeling like a deep clean, I'll do a hands & knees scrub but honestly, I don't notice much difference so have only done that a few times. Maybe I'm a lazy housekeeper but it looks clean.
My kitchen countertops are also wood and they need protecting from cuts, so always use a cutting board. Other than that, they are treated just like any other material.
Living in wood is easy because wood is just easy to look after. If it starts to look worn, simply have it refinished, which means the wood is sanded down and covered again with a protective sealer. Our wood floors are 30 years old and I'm ready to have them refinished now that we will not be adopting any more dogs with nails that are hard on floors. The kitchen counters are just as old and pretty much look like when they were built.
Enjoy the lovely patina of living with wood.
09-09-2025, 05:32 AM
#5
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Carroll, Iowa
Posts: 3,980
As for hanging pictures, use the comman strips. I just had my basement bathroom remodeled and we put up wood walls and I also didn't want to add holes if I could help it so I used command strips but without the plastic section, just the sticky strips. Also I've heard of a double sided tape called "Alien" but have no clue where to find it but my friend that uses it says all you have to do to remove the item is twist it and it comes right off without any damage. I think I might need to look for that stuff.
09-09-2025, 05:36 AM
#6
Power Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 10,670
I've used Command strips to hang pics on wood also. We have older wood panelling in our living room and my husband was convinced that it might split if we hammered nails into it so we used the Command strips. They work well, just make sure you use enough of them it you are hanging anything large or heavy. I have not tried to remove them from the wall. I'm hoping when the time comes that goes well.
09-09-2025, 05:41 AM
#7
Power Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Southern USA
Posts: 17,813
I had command hooks on sheetrock in my house. When we sold it and I was removing the strips the sheetrock first layer came off with the strip. Maybe one out of five didn't tear the wall up. I won't use command hooks on sheetrock. A small sheetrock nail hole would have been easy to repair.
