wooden floor

[angrybird]

The wooden floor in my first floor lounge isn't the best but I would really like to keep it as its original to the house.I have sanded the floor as best as I can. I'm thinking of staining it and varnishing it,am I wasting my time ?
:roll:
Thanks
Jacqueline x

 

[88v8]

If it's softwood, then it was never meant to be seen of course, or perhaps just a border around the carpet. But, you can stain it if you wish. After all, you can always cover it up again...
What's left of the old stain looks quite dark, and if there's old varnish/stain on there then the new stain won't sink in, on the other hand it doesn't need to sink in as the old stain is still there.... but you might end up with a slightly patchy effect, depends what you want.
Try to match the old shade as far as poss. If you want a lighter shade there are pre-stained varnishes, but in my experience they don't cover darker colours too well. Test on a very small patch and let it dry - once you've stained there's no going back.

Ivor

 

[Moo]

You could always use something like Nitromors to get rid of the remaining dark stain.

 

[LadyArowana]

I wonder if it's something closer to a paint than a stain. We have a very similar finish on the boards of our first floor. It is covered with fitted carpet at the moment! Those boards look in quite good condition and if the black could be removed and then they were given a nice polish they could be quite lovely. A chemical stripper as has been mentioned might be the way to go.

 

[AMc]

That looks like the evil black stuff I've found in two old houses and several rooms in my adventures in floor sanding - I'd always assumed it was a bitumen like Victorian coating where the rug doesn't meet the walls.
My experience was that it was impervious to chemicals which turned it from being dry black stuff to gooey black stuff still more or less welded to the boards.
It was also impervious to heat and had the capacity to turn a £5 sanding belt into a smooth performance tyre in the space of a couple of minutes.
I removed as much as I could in this house then used a dark stain to disguise the uneven finish. Mine were done with Osmo Dark Oak Colour Foundation which looks good but is showing some wear 3 years on then protected with matt Osmo Polyx.
There are some pictures of it around here somewhere...

I would caution against using acrylic based varnishes as when they start to wear and flake it can be a real pain to strip them and renovate. Some of our floors were partially covered and this stuff was almost as awkward to abrade off as the aforementioned blackstuff. It had survived for about 10 years so wasn't easily destroyed but in their wisdom the previous owners had only refinished the edges of the rooms and left the centre bare which meant I had to to the whole lot ot get an even finish.

There is a floor restoration expert on here who hopefully will give you more advice.

 

[Moo]

My word, that brings back memories!
We solved the problem by nitromorsing, scraping off the black goo, and then sanding. Unpleasant, but it seemed to do the trick and at least it was one of those 'one-off' jobs.

But you've just reminded me that we'll be moving into a house with (chipped) varnished floorboards. Ugh!!!

 

[jocelyn plummer]

But you've just reminded me that we'll be moving into a house with (chipped) varnished floorboards. Ugh!!!

They won't be like that for long, knowing Moo.!! Amazed the computer is still unpacked, the big day looming ever faster!!

 

[Moo]

Day two of The Move, and things are still being packed. The lorry's filling up, and they haven't even begun to load any furniture.
But they're lovely chaps, and are leaving our little telly and the computer right to the end.

 

[LadyArowana]

Day two of The Move, and things are still being packed. The lorry's filling up, and they haven't even begun to load any furniture.
But they're lovely chaps, and are leaving our little telly and the computer right to the end.

Good luck with the big move

 

[angrybird]

Thank you everyone for your replys.On closer inspection it does seem like paint and not stain /varnish, i'll try some nitromors on it to see if that does the trick.If it all goes wrong i'll go with plan A as I was going to replace the old floor with some Oak flooring and changed my mind so I suppose I have nothing to loose :?

good luck with the move moo x