Floor sanding - do I replace floorboards?

Bendy_House

Davewils82 said:

Just to update this post. It ended up looking really good. However the floor finish isn't quite as I expected. 

I've used ronseal 'diamond hard' dark oak and it looks great but when I've visited other homes in the past, it seems like their wood floors have had some sort of 'coating' on them, whereas mine just look like stained boards.

Not sure if there is another product I should be putting over the top?

Wow! Stunning! You must be chuffed :-)

That's dark oak varnish? How on earth did you manage to get such an even finish, when I presume it's only one coat, perhaps two? Anyhoo, that looks truly amazing - nice job.

Yes, the 'Diamond Hard' is good stuff, but since 'all' you have on there is the staining coat(s), any scratches will quickly show up the bare wood underneath. And it will scratch and it will wear...

The simple answer is to add a couple of coats of 'clear' Diamond Hard on top - either matt (could look a bit 'dead') or satin, which is presumably what you have used already?

If that is only one coat of DH-DO, then I'd be looking at getting three coats of clear on top, tobesure tobesure tobesure.

(Um, you didn't bother insulating, did you? Er, did you even seal the T&G gaps, and around the perimeter? Tsk, you're gonna freeze yer tips off...)

Davewils82

I'll be buying some draughtex to put between the boards shortly. But yes, no insulation underneath. I enquired about it and basically all the extra work and cost scared me off. If I was going to spend that much I'd just put engineered wood on top instead!

twopenny

Wow that looks good! And I'm not a fan of black or dark wood but thats beautiful. 

Bendy_House

Davewils82 said:

I'll be buying some draughtex to put between the boards shortly. But yes, no insulation underneath. I enquired about it and basically all the extra work and cost scared me off. If I was going to spend that much I'd just put engineered wood on top instead!

Cool. The draughts are the biggie - that's what makes the most noticeable difference. T&G boards themselves are actually quite well insulated in themselves, so fully understand not wanting to go 'there'.

Really nice job.

Davewils82

Thanks for the advise on the clear coat! 

That previous photo was after 2 coats of Dark Oak Ronseal Diamond-hard (satin). This photo is with an additional coat of clear (and fireplace work 90% done).  The additional coat of clear (satin) really beings the wood to life without adding too much gloss. 

I do one more coat of clear tonight and that will be it. 

Bendy_House

It won't get any shinier if using 'satin', but could well become more 'plasticky', ie hiding the physical grain texture a bit.

Two protective coats seem optimum, then, since you've given it two 'stain' (which are also protective) coats already.

I have to say - that floor is as nice as any I've seen, and a lot better than any I've done... .

Arfa__

In the past, I've just used a brown silicone sealant to fill in the gaps. Apply liberally, then go over with a wet sponge to smooth it into the gaps and remove excess on the top of the boards.

maisie_cat

We sanded flooring like that in 2006, using a hired floor sander, but it was freezing in the winter and where the boards had been cut over time for plumbing it looked awful.
Eventually we took it all up, insulated between the joists, used foam for a good draught seal, and replaced with solid engineered oak.
The old boards were used to repair other parts of the house but now old de nailed tidy boards are worth a fortune for refurb jobs.