Beeswax and terpentine.

[pieman]

In our new extension I am going to put in a wooden floor and am going to use pine boards, to try and make them look less "new" I have heard about a beeswax and terpentine treatment for the floor. Is this something that can be bourght commerially or prepared by myself. OR is there something else that would be recommended to treat the floor to give the impression of age, eg oils. I am not keen on stains as they tend to look false and like that cheap nasty fence paint.

Thanks all.

 

[biffvernon]

Looks lovely and can be fun if you like a very slippery floor.

 

[ian]

I have used a commercial beeswax and turps mix about 10 years ago on some beams. Don't remember the make though. The finish was quite dark but is still in good nick. Only problem is the long lingering pong of turps. These days I prefer the more delicate fragrence of linseed and beeswax mix from Holkum.

 

[Toby Newell]

Hi

Do a search on my name or put Floorsanding in your browser, apparently I come up top of the list, don't ask me how I managed that. Anyway...

I would recommend (and pray) that you have considered or are going to consider reclaimed pine boards. I wont go into it (see my site for examples) but I have a little experience in aging floor boards... like 1000 times.

Pine is the hardest, you really would need to be a damn good polisher to colour down a room of new pine. Any stain you put on will go patchy so you will need to sand v v smooth, finishing with P180 or finer and coat with tinted shellac (shellac with added colouriser pigments and spirit dyes) build up in layers, 3 or 4 and then add some streaks to individual boards. Personally I tape off random boards, make up say four colours and colour various boards diff colours to give more nat variation, then go over with evening up colour, then apply a coloured wax to dirty it all up. If you could achieve that without 20 years experience you should join magic circle.

Please just pay a little more for some nice old reclaimed boards, then you won't need to make them look old! They will have patiently done all the work for you. Beeswax, turps, linseed will just make a new pine floor look like a new pine floor except a teeny bit darker and then after a while flourescent orange in the case of linseed. See my pieces in the finding out section for help with finishing.

Unless you and your friends are easily decieved I wouldn't attempt to age new pine, even if someone offered me loads of money I would rather replace the floor than bother. Seriously to age new pine to old takes hours for an expert for a few boards.

Feel free to shellac and wax your smoothly sanded reclaimed floor and have hours of childish skating fun...

Toby Newell

 

[Nemesis]

In true SPAB spirit, we used new pine boards, and stained them so they didn't look too raw.

Nope, not a bit of patchiness. Worked fine.

 

[Toby Newell]

Wow nemesis, you stained a pine floor with a transparent dye based stain and you didn't get not even "a bit of patchiness" wow again.

I would call Norris McWherter, you have just discovered a new species of pine, one that has perfectly flat grain, I must tell my colleagues. :shock:

 

[Nemesis]

No patchiness at all - just a slight darkening and that's on more than one floor.

But then maybe it was my art background.

 

[Penners]

Careful, Nemesis. It might sound as though you're touting for business.

 

[Nemesis]

:lol:

( I think that's my week's ration used up...)

 

[Ian Bond]

I may well be asking for your advice when I get around to finishing my patched floor!

At the moment I am using the time honoured method of doing nothing. Apart from treading dirt into the boards, which seems to be imparting a sort of patina.

Eventually I'd like to wax 'em, perhaps add some colour to the wax to help blend the new boards in a little?

 

[Penners]

At the moment I am using the time honoured method of doing nothing.

If you want any advice on that, I have impressive internationally-recognised qualifications in it.

 

[Ian Bond]

Ha! Very good Penners - that's probably one of the most important principles of conservation, doing nothing.

Just watched a repeat of one of those property progs where a couple gut a 150 year old cottage, burnt all the floorboards and remove all the plaster from the laths....

then spend a fortune putting lime plaster back on, and replacing the stuff they ripped out!

Burning the floorboards certainly got rid of any gaps, well it just left one big gap :-(

 

[Toby Newell]

My Nemesis....

(Quite poetic dont you think...)

I paint, my uncle paints, my Grandfather painted and sculpted, my great Grandfather painted, my Mum was a good artist, but I wouldn't call myself an artist, a little pretentious I think. I do use pigments, colours and squirrel and sable artists brushes most weeks of my life but I wouldn't call myself an artist...

Perhaps I have an artistic background? Who knows... :?

 

[Penners]

My Nemesis....

'Allo, 'allo... has Nemesis pulled? Lucky girl.

 

[Nemesis]

Think, dear P, I'm past the age of being called a girl.

 

[Penners]

The perceived age of the addressee is often governed by the age of the addressor.

 

[Nemesis]

The perceived age of the addressee is often governed by the age of the addressor.

I'll tell ya wot Penners - when we can travel all over dead cheap with our Senior Citizens' railcards and our bus passes, how about doin' some hell raisin'?

 

[Penners]

At my age, I've got more important things to try raisin' than hell.

 

[Nemesis]

That's easily cured, according to the many e-mails I receive daily.