Firstly...are you sure they are jarrah and not som other more exotic timber? If you are fortunate enough to have a genuine 1932 built cottage I say "Don't Do it!" Just look at the beautiful timber in that floor! It would be sinful to paint it. I have a 1924 cottage with beautiful hoop pine floorboards all from the day it was built. My suggestion is to have the boards sanded and polished. I would not even dare go near them with polyurethane. I have turned back the clock and used the methods of the period of the house...a mix of pale boiled linseed oil and kero. Put it on with a mop or a deck mop or a wool mop leave it soak in. Re-do and leave it soak in,,,( you won't get patches...the floors will just soak it up.) Third coat, add a bit of turps to the mix as a white ant deterrent. Then, when the floors look like they've soaked up enough, get a big old fashioned string mop...if you can find one...or use a deck scrubber and old towels...or even a wad of new ones...100% cotton...its worth it, and rub off as much of the surplus as possible...wear sox so you will notice when the sox do not get oil stained anymore. First go is a long process but you will be really pleased when the floors have had several "drinks". After that you could get just an ordinary floor varnish or oil or just a sealant. Some of the modern wood treatments are really good. Then, every so often do the boards over with your "Oil Mop". You will never find timber like that again and, in my experience, it adds to the value of the house big time. Do what you like to any gyprock and plastered walls but PLEASE love your floorboards and any natural timber...especially from that era. I've been in this old cottage for 32 years. Everyone wants to know where I sourced the "new" floorboards", and who did I get to make my silky oak windows! Hope that helps.

For the last ten years it's been a latte brown/grey, okay greige, 3 seater. I'm loathed to get rid of it as it still is so comfy, though somewhat worn and faded. Desperately trying to the find a drill, cotton or linen in a bright teal/ kingfisher/ peacock blue to re-cover. Something like this...

Hi Sally, not sure where/how to message you other than here. LOVE your house! It is going to be beautiful! - Looks very much like you are going to have to do the same sorts of things that we have too. ( BTDT with the lifted floorboards and view to the ground!) Is your house on sandstone piers too? In our case we did not have to do anything with the internal piers but we did need to lift one side of the house by about 20 cm. We haven't had to remove all our wall cladding as you have done. And we were lucky - the only remnant of lathe and plaster was a small part of the hall. And we are lucky with the ceilings too We haven't had to take them our as you have. And as they are so high we can plaster over where we need to repair - even in the hall where the fist sized crack in the ceiling has closed as we hoped it would. Your boards look magnificent - will you be able to relay them once the restumping is done? I would imagine that they would be hard to replace. Your place is the total opposite of ours though for all that they areboth old country homes. Ours is a cool climate house - located in the Huon Valley (Tasmania) - and big - 24 squares (with an additional 6 squares in deck). Not sure off-hand how big our block is, - but certainly not 1.25 acres! Large block by today's standards though. Tucked into the back of the block since it was originally part of the larger church grounds. So, as is unusual for a house of it's type, the front yard is much larger than the back. There are other similarities between us it seems. (It is just us at home too ...though in our case the pet is a rather senile feline! ...and as to how we came to be restoring the largest house that either of us have ever lived in at a time in our lives when most are downsizing, - well that is another story!) Our latest project is the repair of the bay window in the lounge...(when I say 'we are doing this' - I actually mean that HE is doing it, and I am providing help in the form of lots of encouragement! Must get my act together and post some of our pics. Will you keep putting yours up? I would love to see what you do with your house.

Yay! Go Tony!!