Renovating an oak floor
Discussion
Hi All,
I've been to my elderly father's property and I've decided that I'd like to improve the look of his Oak floor.
The attached image shows the floor at the moment; what I'd like, is for all of it to look the same as the 'decent' part (inside white box on image) - which has been covered/protected with a large oriental rug for 20+ years.
Is there any (relatively) easy way of improving the look of the floor, that doesn't involve sanding it down ?
Going forward, I'm not sure what maintenance an oak floor should have ? I think it's had nothing more than a damp mop, but in future, is there something more suitable ? - a wax, polish . . . or something else ?
Any opinions gratefully received - 'thank you'.
I've been to my elderly father's property and I've decided that I'd like to improve the look of his Oak floor.
The attached image shows the floor at the moment; what I'd like, is for all of it to look the same as the 'decent' part (inside white box on image) - which has been covered/protected with a large oriental rug for 20+ years.
Is there any (relatively) easy way of improving the look of the floor, that doesn't involve sanding it down ?
Going forward, I'm not sure what maintenance an oak floor should have ? I think it's had nothing more than a damp mop, but in future, is there something more suitable ? - a wax, polish . . . or something else ?
Any opinions gratefully received - 'thank you'.
Oxalic acid is the traditional 'remedy' for the blackening of wood.
There are other chemical treatments available.
Rather than sanding, try scraping. I have a Harris scraper that takes half a carbide planer blade.
I would try scraping and see if the result was any good. Some of the 'black' may be superficial dirt, some may be deep staining.
You could end up removing a lot of wood.
Personally I favour varnish as a finish, other opinions are available.
There are other chemical treatments available.
Rather than sanding, try scraping. I have a Harris scraper that takes half a carbide planer blade.
I would try scraping and see if the result was any good. Some of the 'black' may be superficial dirt, some may be deep staining.
You could end up removing a lot of wood.
Personally I favour varnish as a finish, other opinions are available.
OutInTheShed said:
Rather than sanding, try scraping. I have a Harris scraper that takes half a carbide planer blade.
I would try scraping and see if the result was any good. Some of the 'black' may be superficial dirt, some may be deep staining.
Thank you for this suggestion. I have to admit, I've never previously heard of scraping, but there are a few informative videos that explain it on YouTube.I would try scraping and see if the result was any good. Some of the 'black' may be superficial dirt, some may be deep staining.
OutInTheShed said:
You could end up removing a lot of wood.
Fortunately, it's a solid oak floor, so I presume there's scope to remove quite a bit of wood, as it has never been sanded/scraped before.If you go down the route of removing a lot of wood, I expect you'll be sanding with a 'floor sander'.
I think with old floors and moderate sanding there is often a trap of melting grubby old wax/oil/??? further into the wood.
Depending on the age of the house and all that, you may be happy with a result that isn't 'new oak floor' if you see what I mean?
I think with old floors and moderate sanding there is often a trap of melting grubby old wax/oil/??? further into the wood.
Depending on the age of the house and all that, you may be happy with a result that isn't 'new oak floor' if you see what I mean?
OutInTheShed said:
Oxalic acid is the traditional 'remedy' for the blackening of wood.
There are other chemical treatments available.
Rather than sanding, try scraping. I have a Harris scraper that takes half a carbide planer blade.
I would try scraping and see if the result was any good. Some of the 'black' may be superficial dirt, some may be deep staining.
You could end up removing a lot of wood.
Personally I favour varnish as a finish, other opinions are available.
Acid scraping then a linseed oil/varnish mix would be my choice.There are other chemical treatments available.
Rather than sanding, try scraping. I have a Harris scraper that takes half a carbide planer blade.
I would try scraping and see if the result was any good. Some of the 'black' may be superficial dirt, some may be deep staining.
You could end up removing a lot of wood.
Personally I favour varnish as a finish, other opinions are available.
Scraping is accurate and leaves an excellent finish but is hard work. As per other posts on this thread, I would only remove a minimal amount of wood because removing more would be a lot of work for a minimal to no gain - it's not a new floor, you simply want it to look good and cared for. (I have seen sanding so much that it's ruined the floor with "I didn't realise that it would take/I did that much sanding.) The linseed oil will help with the stability of the oak and lifespan but again it's hard work applying it.
Ours looks pretty much the same. We did a couple of test patches, one of which we sanded down completely, need to use a stain to match the yellowed surrounding varnish and then a clear floor varnish from B&Q. The other patch we just gave it a very light sand and a coat of varnish directly.
I think the light sand probably looks better to my eye, I don't mind the worn look though. My friend has a brand new oak floor, it looks kind of sterile and fake weirdly. Some people are 'distressing' their new floors to get the used look!
I would think about what you're actually trying to achieve with this.
I think the light sand probably looks better to my eye, I don't mind the worn look though. My friend has a brand new oak floor, it looks kind of sterile and fake weirdly. Some people are 'distressing' their new floors to get the used look!
I would think about what you're actually trying to achieve with this.
Edited by lizardbrain on Tuesday 14th October 09:20
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