Homeowner Gives Hardwood Floors Brand New Look With Fire: 'That's One Way To Do It'

When my husband came to the back door with a propane torch in his hand and said, "I have a great idea," I thought, "Nothing good can come from this." But oh, how wrong I was. You see, my husband was rebuilding our fence and gate, and because he is extremely creative, he ended up going down a rabbit hole about the Japanese tradition of shou-sugi-ban and decided to try it out on our new fence build. It turned out absolutely stunning. So, when I saw TikToker @chasindreamshomestead doing the same thing to his 90-year-old wood floor, I didn't bat an eye. But many in his comments section had something to say, and to say it was a cross-section of emotions is an understatement.

The Japanese tradition of shou-sugi-ban is a process of burning wood to create shingles for your home that are extremely durable. The burning of the top layers of the wood creates a surface that is resistant to insects, rot, and weather damage. That is basically what the original poster did by taking a weed torch to his hardwood floors. According to his post, the floor was damaged by the previous owner's pets, and instead of making the same wood flooring mistake many other homeowners make of tearing them out, he instead opted for a creative way to restore them. 

While I don't recommend using what is ultimately a blow torch in your home on your wood floors without the utmost precautions, I agree with the many commenters that it looks beautiful. I also agree with one commenter who said, "My toxic trait is thinking I can do this and burning down the house in the process."

There are many things you should do before any wood floor restoration project — most importantly, knowing what type of wood you're dealing with. You should also know if your wood floor is worth saving. I think many of us would agree that hardwood floors will always be the best choice for a home.

@chasindreamshomestead

First off my wife really shouldn't leave me unattended with my thoughts because I'll do some crazy redneck ish. My buddy called me when I was sanding these floors and said brother I hate to break it to ya you won't sand out those dark gray spots where they had carpet over the hardwood and let moisture sit and stain the wood. I was considering burning the floors because heck why not I've always wanted to try it, but Chad saying do it was all of the push I needed! Wait til the end ya'll 🥰 #diy #shousugiban #HardwoodFlooring #torch #frugal

♬ Reflections on 52nd – AGM3

I remember how excited I was when I discovered wood floors under our 70s shag carpet. But, like this homeowner, my floors had damage that I will need to repair before they can shine again. Many of the commenters on @chasindreamshomestead's post did not agree that shou-sugi-ban should be used to hide the water stains on his floors. One commenter pointed out, "Now it looks like moisture stains and like someone rubbed coal all over."

Often, as owners of vintage homes, we have to come up with creative solutions when renovating our homes. Sometimes these solutions work great and sometimes they can cause more problems than we started with. Ultimately, it's your home, and as adults, we get to do what we want to express ourselves with our homes. Many people in the comment section pointed out that the original poster didn't protect the baseboards while working on the floor, which made the whole thing look messy. But the vast majority said it looked wonderful. Everyone is going to have opinions, especially if you post what you're doing on the internet. But honestly, if the creator and his family love it, then that's all that matters!