How should I treat my floorboards?

[lou]

Finally, we have got to the stage where the floorboards need to be sorted out and despite several searches on the forum I can't find what I'm looking for. In two bedrooms there are nice wide boards which are, I think, either oak or elm. They are very, very dirty at the moment so my question is: what should I use to clean them and then should I just use something like tung oil or boiled linseed on them? Are they likely to need waxing too?

Any help gratefully received.

Also, as I know lots of you like to look at renovation porn, I have now got a Flikr account which has loads of public pics of the house from 2009 when we bought it to now. I think a search on Lou 1307 should find it.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Lou - if it is just general dirt, then be aware that many people consider this to be "patina" consistent with ageing and desirable.
Cleaning down to look like new boards could be seriously retrograde.

However, some cleaning can really help bring out the patina. In which case elbow grease, soapy water and a soft non-abrasive sponge thingy is a good start. Joce has done lots of this on floors I think and will no doubt be along when she's finished cooking the chickens' breakfast and taking up the hems on their little skirts....

Anything you plug in to a power supply is a no-no! :shock:

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Also, as I know lots of you like to look at renovation porn, I have now got a Flikr account which has loads of public pics of the house from 2009 when we bought it to now. I think a search on Lou 1307 should find it.

Oh no it doesn't!

 

[lou]

Oh gawd! My usual technical incompetence. Perhaps if you try lou1307 without the gap? I'll take a look and see if I can identify where I went wrong.

Thanks for the advice, by the way, and the dirt is at a level that even a teenager would find impossible to live with!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Hi Lou, there are as many ways to do floorboards as a Sunday roast. Probably more. A very good post from FW there, the last thing you want is the boards to look new, especially in a venerable building like yours. For cleaning, I dislike sandpaper on antique boards although I know it's what the professionals use. Every stain and mark looks so good once waxed, you don't want to sand them off. I also dislike modern finishes which don't provide the deep rich gleam of old fashioned waxing. Very painstakingly I gently use the tip of a scraper to take off any paint flecks, scrub and scrub with Liberon wood floor cleaner and hot water, rinse, allow to dry, seal with Liberon wood floor sealer, which is basically linseed oil mixed with turps, and then wax with Liberon floor wax, and repeat the waxing every 6 months. There are other products available but that's a lovely range and widely available at antique centres or online.

You see how it transforms the floor. Before:

After:

Off to look at some pics of your lovely house! (And yes, the chickens' outfits all fine today :lol: )

 

[JoceAndChris]

That dining room floor was sanded in 1984. Here's another, not sanded

You'd think that was stained but it's just the linseed in the Liberon bringing out the colour.


Couldn't find pics either.

 

[lou]

Joce - thanks for the perfect answer!

(and the photos of your rooms and floorboards are making me feel positively inadequate).

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh bless you, I have the luxury of waaaay too much time on my hands, and considering that, am not very skilled compared to others on this forum. But your house is very special and will look glorious, and floorboards are easy-peasy, they just need elbow grease, good products and, if possible and you have a lot like me, a buffing machine. I've got this and it really takes the ache out of the 6 monthly waxing process, as the liquid wax goes on very quickly with a big brush. This is great on the flagstones too.

http://www.hoover.co.uk/products/1/vacuum-cleaners/14/polisher/71/polisher/?gclid=CILwgYSY164CFUcTfAodwSB5dQ

 

[lou]

Joce - that buffer looks great but a bit of a luxury that I can't afford at the moment. It'll be woolly socks and skating for me!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Shame you aren't nearer, you could borrow the buffer and have the bench when it comes out.

Socks and skating works well though, I did that for two years until Chris got me the machine.

 

[Feltwell]

Just be grateful that your floors aren't like my dining room one - sanded (very badly) to death by a previous owner. There are these cross marks in patches all over the floor where they went too far with their belt sander, some of the patches are really bad - the only way to get them out will be to sand the whole floor to within an inch of it's life. Still, who needs patina anyway