Finishing pine floorboards

[archpa]

Hi

A few years back I sanded down the pine floorboards in the kitchen and varnished with Ronseal Diamond Hard varnish which contained a stain. (3 coats)
2 Years on and it looks mess. Due to foot traffic, there are patches where the varnish has worn though, revealing the lighter wood below.

Am I correct in assuming that the only way to get it good again is to re-sand the floorboards down and refinish in a more appropriate manner?

How does one prevent the varnish wearing through?
What type of finishes would you recommend ?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

 

[gavin e]

To get the best finish I'm afraid that yes, you do need to re-sand the floor. If you want to darken the floor again I'd suggest staining the floor seperately rather than using a stained varnish, and please don't use varnish on the floor again if you want something that will last a bit longer.

There are hundreds of specialist floor finishes around, and I'd suggest choosing a floor lacquer rather than oil or wax, as the latter need to be refreshed every year or so and regardless of how keen you may feel at the moment, when it comes to it most people never bother!

The lacquers come in a variety of sheen levels. 20% sheen gives a soft finish that doesn't show up any dents or imperfections in the floor as much as a higher sheen, so tends to look better for longer.

gavin e

 

[archpa]

Hi Gavin

Thanks very much for the reply. Sounds like a floor laquer is the way to go. You're right annual maintenance is not something many people actually get round to!

 

[inventor]

Hello Gavin E, you seem to be well informed, which is more than can be said at my end of the interweb. I'm going to be finishing a new pine floor next week. It's to be stained with some product that's been used on the other floors in the house, then I've proposed finishing it with Dulux Trade Diamond Glaze, clear satin.
http://www.icipaints.co.uk/products/inf ... _glaze.jsp
Any opinion on how well that will look? Is that the sort of product you're recommending?

Thanks!

 

[gavin e]

Inventor

It's not really possible for me to tell you which finishing product to use since you need to make sure that you apply one that is going to be compatible with the stain you are using. If you don't, you may find that the lacquer rejects, goes like crazy paving, or turns into a load of fish eyes on the floor!

Also bear in mind that the lacquer will alter the colour of the stain, and different lacquers affect different stains in different ways.... Oh, and the colour will also vary on pine boards bought from different suppliers.

The only way to do it unless you have a fair bit of experience is to do a complete test sample on a spare board before applying anything to the floor. It's a bit of a pain but at least it will let you see just what you will end up with. As a general rule, water based lacquers tend to alter the colour less than the others.

There are loads of floor lacquers you can use, a lot of which state that you can apply just two coats for light/normal use. I always apply at least three coats because two can sometimes look a bit patchy with some wood grains. Don't worry about the extra material cost - the floor will look better for longer and save you money in the long run. Do lightly sand between coats of lacquer with a 320+ grit paper - you'll get a better finish - but make sure you don't go too heavy handed on the first sanding and cut through to the stain.

have fun

gavin e

 

[inventor]

Thanks very much! I'll try out a test piece. And yes, I'll try to have fun!

 

[inventor]

I just finished the pine floor I was working on. I put on:
a coat of Colron Wood Dye - specified to match other floors
a coat of dulux trade diamond glaze clear gloss (speciifed to seal the wood)
two coats dulux trade diamond glaze clear satin
with sanding at 320 grit between coats.

Everyone tells me that it looks very fine.

The dulux glaze product worked very well indeed for me - very easy to use and make look good.