I’m in the process of restoring another house in NH, and am sanding and refinishing the pine/fir/spruce? floors. Attached pictures show the issues I have for one of the floors. There are rust stains from the staples where the carpet padding was stapled down. The water damage has also created gaps between the T&G boards. The floor had been shellaced, which I have since removed with alcohol. The floors have been sanded to 100 mesh, but I still need to remove the remaining shellac from the edges. Any suggestions as to how to remove the rust stains, “shrink” the gaps between the boards, and remove the shellac in the divots created by a bad previous drum sanding job? OH, and what type quarter sawn flooring wood is it?
Thanks for any and all help.
I had previously posted questions on putting down a wide plank beech floor, and it came out beautifully. Yes, it did shrink over the winter, but is still a knock-out floor. Pictures also attached, showing the floor going in, and all done and finished. This is in a rental that I’ve restored (build ~1850).
Replies
Looks like Verticle Grain Doug Fir to me; buts thats 3,000 miles away over a fairly unclear picture.
I don't think you will ever remove the gaps.
I don't think you will ever remove the rust stains either.
You are correct. Alcohol removes shellac very easily. Use more alcohol.
Half Inch Quartersawn White Oak flooring is $2.50 a square foot here.
I might tear this stuff out. Doug Fir doesn't wear very well.
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
Looks like heart pine. Oxalic acid for the rust stains. Ammonia and a wire brush for the edges, but you won't get it all out. Ammonia is often a better solvent for shellac than alcohol. Clear ammonia, not the kind that has suds if you shake it. Wear a rated full-face respirator. Rinse twice. You'll have to re-sand. Gaps, learn to love them. Filling or fitting splints is a lot of work and more ugly than the gaps. Its an antique floor and its going to look like one.
Thanks all for the input. I figured there wasn't anything we could do with the gaps. Tried to find more quarter sawn wood for the other floors we're putting down on the first floor, but none around. Got red oak 2 1/4 unfinished flooring for $3.18 sq ft. Will be putting that down this upcoming week.
Will try the Oxalic acid on the rust.
Thanks again.
~S
3-1/4" wide, T&G CVG is pretty common in Oregon. IIRC, it is about twice as expensive as red oak, and definitely not as tight grained as wood harvested 80-100 years ago. I decided not to repair some of the boards in my floor because the thickness of the new wood was proably 1/16" or more greater than the existing wood, and I hadn't bought a planer yet. That is something to consider when doing a repair on a very old floor that had had a number of resurfacings.
First, an older floor is never going to look like a newly installed floor. That being said, some defects in an older house are more tolerable and are "in-character" with the place. I redid a floor where I swear the previous person had literally bounced a drum sander across it. I used a 5" orbital sander to do the edges that the large multi-pad orbital sander couldn't reach. The 5" will also get down into the divots where stain is still present. Circle the defect with the 5" while always having one edge in the defect area. Do this before the final pass with 180. Also consider a pass with 180 after applying the sanding sealer to bump the raised grain back down. Those divots with residual stain will be even less apparent when a new finish is applied. Wet the area to get a preview of how it will look when refinished. I'd also pull off the 1/4 round molding so as to get better access to the edge of the flooring. Get new molding and refinish with the same surface treatment that ws used on the floor.
Another quick question. What's the opinion of using rosin paper vs builders felt under a new oak T&G floor? Have gotten "either one will work" opinion. Either one "quieter"? Last floor I used rosin paper. Thought I might use the felt this time and see if I notice a difference.
~S
oh, found the answer. Did an advanced search here at the forum, and found a wealth of information. Am sticking with the rosin paper.... :)
~S
Was it the moisture retention?
Moisture retention aspect of tar paper? Yes, that partly, but also the fact that it was stated that it can "off gas" some of the tar smell, possibly bleed through the tar into the finished wood and leave staining, and I think other reasons as well, that I can't remember at this time.
Floor's going in on Saturday. Got the steam heating guy in to pull the radiator fittings, since the floor will be 3/4" higher now. Talked to him about what to do about the radiators compressing the wood floor and sinking into it- he says he sees it all the time. Was thinking about putting small round steel plates under each of the feet to keep the radiator from sinking into the floor.
~S