Problem with softwood dance floor

[acewoodturner]

As my wife was away today, I had to pick my daughter up from ballet. The studio has only been open a week in its new location and a softwood T&G floor has been laid. The joiners who did all the work in the studio have done a pretty good job and the floor was well laid. The dance teacher was quoted £2300 to sand and varnish the floor but as she is running out of money she got one of the dads who is a joiner to do it. A belt sander and elephants foot have been hired at a cost of £10 a day and she has bought 5 tins of sadolin silk varnish at £50 a tin. Bearing in mind I didnt see the floor before it was sanded and varnished, I was asked for my professional opinion on it (I run my own furniture making business). I was pretty shocked by the state of it. The joiner has used 40 grit abrasives on the drum sander and has taken gouges out the floor and then used 20l of varnish which has totally soaked in. The floor is not slippy at all to allow the ballet dancers to "glide" across it and to be accurate can be more easily described as a f*cking mess. Now whilst I can understand someone wishing to volunteer their services to help out, sometimes a little knowledge is dangerous and in this case very costly.
I have been asked to help rectify the situation as the dance teacher is at her wits end and the joiner "has gone off sick" and nowhere to be seen. Perhaps this is a good thing!
I havent laid a floor before and dont work in softwoods so wish to solicit some advice from the more knowledgable members here.
Am I right in thinking that there was no need to start in 40g abrasive paper. I would have thought 150gor thereabouts would have been ok. There were only slight ridgers between the planks and the finish on them would have been pretty good of a planer moulder.
To what level is it necessary to sand the floor up to, 180 or 240g.
Can anyone recommend a varnish or even an oil for the floor, bearing in mind that it has beginner tap dancers on it as well as ballet dancers.
I am doing this on a voluntary basis so wont be getting paid as my two daughters have been dancers here for at least 10 years and have really gotten a lot out of it. The dance school used to be in a council hall with all these kind of problems taken care of, different ball game when you need to see to them yourself. Just a pity a well meaning but costly joiner got invloved.

Mike

 

[dynax]

Hi Mike, not quite the same, but i have some plywood staging that i hire out and use myself for model photography, these are marine ply, but when i first made them i used 400 grit to get the finish i wanted and used 4 coats of yacht varnish, then every 2 years i redo with another 2 coats of varnish after a rub down with 800 grit,
HTH,
Mike.

 

[wallace]

I would have used 40 grit for removal of an old finish not for preparing new flooring. I would have started at 120 and gone up to 400. I think the choice of timber is not the best especially for a dance floor. Its not going to wear very nice and I'd be concerned about splinters.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yew. Yew is the only softwood suitable for a dance floor. What a nightmare. It's never going to be right, though I wonder who thought softwood would be OK in the beginning? I did two dance floors for twenty years with Rustins Plastic Coating and didn't have any problems except for the smell for a few weeks.

 

[acewoodturner]

I agree with you about it not being the best choice for a dance floor. I am worried about it cupping in the winter when its damp and cold. Unfortunately its down and we all have to live with that. Just now got to try and make the best of a botched job with some poor decision making. I wonder if its possible to lay some prefinished laminate flooring directly on top and just put the slipperene powder on top of that. I have only laid one laminate floor and that was in my sons room and he got it from homebase. Fairly easy to put down and is wearing well.

 

[acewoodturner]

All the dancefloors I have seen have been a hardwood such as beech or maple. They would certainly stand up to a lot of abuse. The premises are in a rented factory unit and not owned by the dance teacher so putting a nice hardwood down is only an investment for the landlord.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes, I'd be tempted to cover it with something - she could spend according to how long she's thinking to stay.

 

[Jacob]

We did our new redwood floors with 100 and 120 grit I seem to recall. Then Osmo oil - which looks good, seems hard wearing and is slippy enough for a dance floor. But hardwood would be better.

 

[acewoodturner]

Think I might start of with 120 grit and work quickly to 240g and then give it a coat of osmo oil.

 

[Jacob]

Think I might start of with 120 grit and work quickly to 240g and then give it a coat of osmo oil.

If the last sanding was with 40 grit you need to go to 80 and up in 20s. It's a waste of time to skip a grit - you can't easily get 40 scratches out with 120.
You need a ROS with dust extraction. Looks a bit small for floor sanding but is very effective and works into the dips and hollows which a belt sander might not reach.

 

[Alexfn]

What jacob said! You are going to be there all day with 120 if hes made a mess with 40.


Also why osmo? Terrible idea if you ask me. Maybe on a hardwood but given its a pine floor to be used as a dance floor you should be looking to use a gloss finish by bona, preferably a 2 part one

 

[Jacob]

What jacob said! You are going to be there all day with 120 if hes made a mess with 40.


Also why osmo? Terrible idea if you ask me. Maybe on a hardwood but given its a pine floor to be used as a dance floor you should be looking to use a gloss finish by bona, preferably a 2 part one

You could be right but all I know is Osmo - and it is shiny and hard wearing.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Osmo might be a perfectly sensible idea in that it's far from perfect but easily recoatable and repairable without major disruption, and the property is only rented - we don't don't know how long for. Of course in an ideal world the floor would have been hardwood and treated with two part poly or acid cat. laquer from day one. Realistically I can't see any finish lasting anything like well on a softwood floor in any kind of commercial premises - in a home where it's cared for, maybe.

 

[acewoodturner]

The ballet teacher is rapidly running out of money as it costing her far more than planned for. I have been roped in as part of a damage limitation exercise as she trusts my judgement. It will probably be a compromise between costs and looks/effectiveness. The oil finish will probably be best as it will be easier to renew. I dont plan in being involved any more than I have to be. She could also do the oiling herself if I show her what to do after the sanding.

 

[Alexfn]

from my experience of owning and running a specialist wood flooring company for the last 5 years you are not going to save any money using osmo and it is not the finish for this job, you want to be using a 2 part lacquer.

anyone running a business especially a dance company doesnt want the down time and hassle involved in having to keep applying oil to a floor,

 

[Doug71]

I used a 2 part Bona on my oak floors and stairs at home on the recommendation of a mate who does floors for a living. Very hard wearing and very pleased with it. Don't think oil will do what you need, especially on softwood.

Doug

 

[acewoodturner]

Been on Bona website and looked at the Sportive lacquer. Its a 2 pack designed for sports halls, so it should be pretty tough. I also have a distributor about half a mile away which is good. Does anyone have opinions on it or has anyone used it before. The offices are shut today but I will phone them tomorrow for advice.

Mike