Sanding floorboards..or replace?

BJC

Hi all, recently did up one of the bedrooms in the house and I want to get rid of an old carpet. I would like to use the original floorboards there but they are about 20 years old and have many marks and paint spills on them.

Does anyone know if it would be very difficult to renovate these old boards and how exactly to go about it? I assume I have to sand them down, use a sealer and then varnish but it's just common sense telling me this.

Otherwise, if a lost cause should I have new ones put in? The room is about 3x4 metres so how pricey could it be..?

tampopo

Well,

20 years, pah! I did a bedroom in our house, floorboards 63 years old. What you said is true. Sand, seal and varnish. would you not do it yourself?

I got a loan of a sander, bought 2m of sanding paper and went at it. It was the biz if I say so myself.

An easy and lazy way out of replacing the WHOLE room of floorboards, is to say Stains add Character!

Don't replace, renew. and diyerself

BJC

Oh, ill be doing it myself alright, Did it take long to get all the boards sanded down?

tampopo

No,it didn't, and I'll always remember the day I did it too, it was the day the space shuttle burnt up on re-entry to the atmosphere not long ago!

I had a mask, but I don't think I needed it.It was very hot to breath with it on. Depends if you are bothered by it.

The longest thing was waiting for the layers of varnish and whatnot to dry between coats.

We've no children so it was no bother (apart from scowls from she who must be obeyed!)

I had 2 layers of carpet and two layers of lino too.

BJC

Right then, thats my saturday booked up. Cheers for the tips.

Fries-With-That

BJC wrote: »

Right then, thats my saturday booked up. Cheers for the tips.

Do it Yourself,

I used to do this for a living, its a fairly simple job.

The cheapest option and you get a much better finish is if you hire a sander.

Look for a square buff orbital sander not a circular belt machine, the latter can ruin a floor if you're not used to using one.

If there are old paint stains on the floor don't waste time and effort trying to sand them off, get a small tin of nitromors paint remover ( the gel type) and dab this onto the paint, cover each patch with newspaper and leave to soften the paint. Gather up the paper before you sand the floor.

Punch all nails below the surface don't bother to fill them as unless you're prepared to make a filler mix from the sanding dust you'll never match the colour of the old floorboards, and they add character.

When you hire the sander ask for medium grade paper. When you use it, it wears down and you can then use it as a finish paper.( saves you money buying two different grades.



For doing the corners use a small orbital sander, you can now get them with a triangular shaped head to make the job easier.

When you have the floor as clean and as smooth as you like it use a vaccum cleaner to suck up all the dust.

Pay particular attention around the skirting board area and in the gaps in the boards.

Use one of the good quality floor varnishs.

Paint around the edges of the room with a good quality brush.

Then use a new clean roller and tray to roll out the varnish, you can apply it fairly thickly as you won't get runs on a flat surface like a floor.

After your first coat has dried ( here comes the trade secret) use wire wool medium grade wrapped around the head of a sweeping brush to polish the varnish( as if you were sweeping the floor).
This removes all high points and leaves a super smooth finish on the first coat.
Vaccum the floor again paying attention to skirting area and gaps.
Varnish again with the brush and the roller appling a nice thick coat...you should have a glass smooth floor when you're finished.

You can repeat as often as you like but usually 2 coats does the trick.


Anymore questions pm me.

TequilaMockingBird

Fries-With-That wrote: »

Do it Yourself,

I used to do this for a living, its a fairly simple job.

The cheapest option and you get a much better finish is if you hire a sander.

Look for a square buff orbital sander not a circular belt machine, the latter can ruin a floor if you're not used to using one.

If there are old paint stains on the floor don't waste time and effort trying to sand them off, get a small tin of nitromors paint remover ( the gel type) and dab this onto the paint, cover each patch with newspaper and leave to soften the paint. Gather up the paper before you sand the floor.

Punch all nails below the surface don't bother to fill them as unless you're prepared to make a filler mix from the sanding dust you'll never match the colour of the old floorboards, and they add character.

When you hire the sander ask for medium grade paper. When you use it, it wears down and you can then use it as a finish paper.( saves you money buying two different grades.



For doing the corners use a small orbital sander, you can now get them with a triangular shaped head to make the job easier.

When you have the floor as clean and as smooth as you like it use a vaccum cleaner to suck up all the dust.

Pay particular attention around the skirting board area and in the gaps in the boards.

Use one of the good quality floor varnishs.

Paint around the edges of the room with a good quality brush.

Then use a new clean roller and tray to roll out the varnish, you can apply it fairly thickly as you won't get runs on a flat surface like a floor.

After your first coat has dried ( here comes the trade secret) use wire wool medium grade wrapped around the head of a sweeping brush to polish the varnish( as if you were sweeping the floor).
This removes all high points and leaves a super smooth finish on the first coat.
Vaccum the floor again paying attention to skirting area and gaps.
Varnish again with the brush and the roller appling a nice thick coat...you should have a glass smooth floor when you're finished.

You can repeat as often as you like but usually 2 coats does the trick.


Anymore questions pm me.

Why, oh why are men like you not around when you need them..

oxygen_old

can anyone advise, is replacing floorboards tricky.
I recently sanded and varnished floorboards, but I used a stained varnish, that dried a gloopy kind of redish color. I dont think it would be practical to try remove the varnish with the amount of varnish remover that would be required.

Also Im getting sparks in to do the wiring on my house, so Im fairly sure once they've finished a good few floor boards will be broken, so it'll be new floorboards in the middle of old floorboards

Hotblack Desiato

I considered doing up the floorboards in our 40 year old house, but tbh it's not worth the effort unless they are in really good condition (apart from stains/marks obviously.) If they are straight edge boards, or T+G but have been lifted for pipes/wiring and the tongues broken off, you will get draughts. Much easier to just stick down a laminate or carpet over it, and warmer.

Oxygen, this is the big problem with exposed floorboards, sooner or later they will need to come up and it will be very hard to get them looking right afterwards.