Do you need to sand/varnish new pine floorboards?

breeny

Hi,

We've had renovation work in the kitchen of our old Victorian house, which has included laying brand new untreated pine floorboards.

The rest of the lower floor has the original line floorboards that we plan to get sanded, sealed and varnished by a flooring dude.

My question is, the new kitchen floorboards just look so.......new. As its a going to be the primary flooring in the kitchen (no tiles), what should we do to get it into shape before it starts getting used?

Ruski

Stain to 'age' it and either wax or varnish or oil to protect it. Or age it with coloured wax, varnish or oil.

Oh - and ban stilettos - they WILL dent pine floorboards )

HTH

Russ

breeny

Cheers Russ,

Do you need to sand it (either lightly or heavily) prior to sanding/varnishing?

A flooring guy said it would, but we didn't think we were getting a totally independent view from someone pitching for work.....

Ruski

Very much depends on the state of the new boards - at the very minimum check for splinters.
A light sanding will do no harm at all just to smooth off the surface - certainly doesn't need a big floor sander if that's what you mean.

Then brush and vacuum the surface and get staining/polishing/oiling!

HTH

Russ

leveller2911

I wouldn't recommend waxing floorboards for 2 reasons.Firstly waxing them will make them slippery to walk on and secondly if you splash any water on the floor and don't wipe it up immediately you will end up with permanant staining same as putting a wet coffee cup down on a waxed table you get a ring mark.


You can oil them but it can take a few coats to get a consistant finish due to the grain .You could use Dulux diamond glaze(its water based so you need to use fine sandpaper in between coats) or Blackfriars Traditional wood stain which is clear and either a Matt or Satin finish and is oil based so no need to sand between coats.

As for sanding the floor first it depends on whether or not you want a flat floor.The new pine boards will be "cupped" and not flat.Sanding them first will flatten the floor and be much nicer under foot to walk on and will look better.

Be aware that the floorboards will more than likely shrink back and gaps appear between boards when they acclimatize to their surroundings.

Hintza

breeny wrote: »

flooring dude.

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SailorSam

I'd always sand things no matter how smooth they feel. The more 'prep' you put into any job the better finish you'll get.

bobthedambuilder

Ruski wrote: »

Stain to 'age' it and either wax or varnish or oil to protect it. Or age it with coloured wax, varnish or oil.

Oh - and ban stilettos - they WILL dent [STRIKE]pine[/STRIKE] any floorboards )

HTH

Russ

I've found Polyx wax oil to be fairly easy to apply and also pretty durable (5 years and counting). It comes in clear or "coloured" so if your new floor is too new, you can apply some ageing colour. I'd go along with the pre-sanding, and a couple of coats to bring out the wood's natural beauty.