*
b help needed to renovate pine floor
My home is a typical Swedish wooden house from the 1920’s: Horizontal ex3″ plank external walls lined internally with rough scantlings on the diagonal and plaster, and externally with breathing paper, and rough sawn vertical siding spaced from the planking to get a vertical line. The original ytember facade has been faced (in 40’s or even 50’s)with the horizontal reed matting and a render. The structural floors are pretty hefty joists topped with pine/fir floorboards. Since it has been the custom in Sweden not to have carpetting but just a few rugs on the floor the boards naturally get a bit of a beating over the years. Mine have been sanded down at least once, maybe twice and now its time to do something again.
Last time they were sanded they were finished with a two component (maybe epoxy) varnish. My problem is now: i How do I refinish the floor again?
I’m not sure if the boards are thick enough to take another resanding – we might all end up in the basement pretty quick! I’m also hesitent to put a new thin laminate wood on top of the old boards. The old boards have a charm, although some of them are cracked. Of course the old boards had shrunk a lot so a previous owner had actually routed out all the joints to insert a 10mm strip between each board. If they had been black it would almost look like a ships deck!
What advice can any reader give for refinishing. I know its going to be a heck of a job to strip off the old varnish. Any hints for the best cleaner/remover? Then I have the cracks in the old boards to deal with. And lastly what to refinish the floor boards with. I want a matt finish. I was tricked into putting the varnish on by a sharp salesman who assured me that it would sink into the wood like a stain a leave a matt surface. But of course it didn’t! Many floors in Scandinavia are treated with nothing at all or with a very thin white stain, rather like fumed oak, or natural beeswax, and then washed regularly with a mild carbolic or just mild soap and water. That looks really beatiful.
Replies
*
b help needed to renovate pine floor
My home is a typical Swedish wooden house from the 1920's: Horizontal ex3" plank external walls lined internally with rough scantlings on the diagonal and plaster, and externally with breathing paper, and rough sawn vertical siding spaced from the planking to get a vertical line. The original ytember facade has been faced (in 40's or even 50's)with the horizontal reed matting and a render. The structural floors are pretty hefty joists topped with pine/fir floorboards. Since it has been the custom in Sweden not to have carpetting but just a few rugs on the floor the boards naturally get a bit of a beating over the years. Mine have been sanded down at least once, maybe twice and now its time to do something again.
Last time they were sanded they were finished with a two component (maybe epoxy) varnish. My problem is now: i How do I refinish the floor again?
I'm not sure if the boards are thick enough to take another resanding - we might all end up in the basement pretty quick! I'm also hesitent to put a new thin laminate wood on top of the old boards. The old boards have a charm, although some of them are cracked. Of course the old boards had shrunk a lot so a previous owner had actually routed out all the joints to insert a 10mm strip between each board. If they had been black it would almost look like a ships deck!
What advice can any reader give for refinishing. I know its going to be a heck of a job to strip off the old varnish. Any hints for the best cleaner/remover? Then I have the cracks in the old boards to deal with. And lastly what to refinish the floor boards with. I want a matt finish. I was tricked into putting the varnish on by a sharp salesman who assured me that it would sink into the wood like a stain a leave a matt surface. But of course it didn't! Many floors in Scandinavia are treated with nothing at all or with a very thin white stain, rather like fumed oak, or natural beeswax, and then washed regularly with a mild carbolic or just mild soap and water. That looks really beatiful.
*
Sand again, just don't go berserk. Stop as soon as you get to wood.
Finish with tung or boiled linseed oil, topped with wax if you desire.