best thing for victorian pine floor and doors

clippy_girl

Hi all

I live in a victorian terrace and currently have the original boards downstairs. they have been sanded and varnished years ago but they are now very scratched and worn.

Was going to hire a belt sander and sand them down. i would prefer not to varnish as seems like a lot of hassle and im not too keen on the shiny look.

was thinking of getting a wax, possibly something like fiddes supreme wax.

just wondered if anyone had any experience of this and if you found it hardwearing enough?

Also i have got stripped pine doors. one appears untreated and looks a bit grubby. the others are varnished but are a bit marked and scratched. just wondered if the wax would be nice on these too?

thanks in advance

cattie

The trouble with wax is that you have to redo it every so often to keep it looking good. Modern living now we all have central heating really dries out the wax & the wood

In my previous house, which was built in the early 1900's, I had all of the floorboards downstairs professionally sanded & treated with 3 coats of a clear lacquer, they really came up beautifully. I chose a satin finish as I dislike gloss, but it's possible to get matt if you don't want any sheen at all on the wood.

Wax will have a sheen on it, so bear that in mind.

My doors I had dipped & stripped & then used a clear satin varnish on them as I just didn't want the hassle required with using wax. I'd had waxed doors in my previous property & whilst they looked good, they required a bit more effort from me to continue to look good than I really wanted.

JellyBox

We oiled ours with Rustins Danish oil and so far (4 months in) it's wearing really well, it will need redoing, but it means that the scratches caused by overexcited kittens running around aren't the end of the world. I was surprised as well at how well it has repelled liquid, a couple of drinks and a few kitty accidents later and there are still no watermarks or stains. Plus, putting it down was easy and fast, so when it comes to redoing it, it won't be a big deal as we will be able to do the room half at a time

I appreciate this is not wax btw, but it is another option on lovely victorian pine!

DRP

We used osmo polyx hard wax oil - great stuff that resists moisture and damage. Very easy to apply and a lovely natural finish.

lostinrates

We have a satin varnish on a floor I wanted to look less shiny but not matt. There are also matt varnishes as Cattie says above. The satin nosh worked with boards our lovely builder had sanded down for us, and gives a patina not too different from that on the old beautiful boards they were laid next too. They are not original boards to our house though, I'd think maybe Victorian.

Wax is a beautiful finish ( I have a table top with a waxed finish) but it needs redoing....I really have enough to do without worrying about re waxing floors tbh. Its far more hassle than varnishing.

gmgmgm

DRP wrote: »

We used osmo polyx hard wax oil - great stuff that resists moisture and damage. Very easy to apply and a lovely natural finish.

Agreed. Gives a great finish and well worth the cost.

DRP

gmgmgm wrote: »

Agreed. Gives a great finish and well worth the cost.

:money: It definitely seems expensive when you buy a tin, but for us the tin seemed to last forever.

I think when you are applying it, less is more - use v sparingly and apply 2 coats.

It is great stuff.