Not that happy with oiled floor

[trevorbayliss]

I have sanded down our bedroom floor this last week and this weekend i oiled it twice.

It looks nice, but i was hoping it might be a richer colour. I wonder if i have sanded too much. I did 25 grit twice, 40 grit, and then 80 grit. I also went over it with my oscillating sander with 100 grit.

In one of the photos you can see what the original colour looked like (black) in the cupboard which i didn't sand. The 2 boards next to this black are a deeper, richer tone which i like and i think they are this colour because i didn't sand them as much. The boards are 100 yrs old.

I used Osmo polyx-oil high solid, clear and matt.

Any ideas on where i went wrong? Could i use a different oil to bring back a deeper colour, if so what ?

Thanks.

 

[StephenStephen]

I've recently sanded, and used Osmo high solid, clear and matt, on a floor. My experience has been that the colour change comes from removing the top layer of wood (ie; sanding), which had darkened over time.
The good news is that my experience in the month or two since being treated, is that both the new and original boards are 'warming up' their colour and I'd expect that to continue over time

 

[trevorbayliss]

Fingers crossed then !

 

[pilsbury]

I used treatex hard wax oil on my floor. Very similar to Osmo. But I used the colour tone dye first on the bare wood to colour it up. I went fairly dark. I then used the clear oil on top to seal

You are a bit stuffed having hard wax oiled. That has now closed the pores of the wood. Not much you can do now. If you are totally mortified with the colour, you'll have to sand it back again to clean wood then add a dye before oiling again.

 

[trevorbayliss]

I used treated clear on our oak floor downstairs and that is much more rich in colour, but prob because it is a different wood, oak v pine.

I am not sanding it back again. Will see how it ages and will apply another coat in a few years time.

 

[pilsbury]

Different wood takes the clear oil differently. Sanded pine is very bright until it has aged. Not sure how yours will as it is now sealed. Either way fingers crossed it warms for you.

 

[JohnD]

I also correct the colour of timber before oiling or varnishing. It will tend to darken with age, but I use a wood dye (formerly Colron, but the spirit-based is hard to find and the water-based doesn't work so I recently bought some Rustins).

I prefer a warmish tone, rather than a yellow or brown. I have seen white maple in US but I imagine it needs a lot of attention.

Oiled outdoor wood is very prone to marks and stain, so I dye it quite dark. Indoor floors will eventually get marks and scuffs, so again a darker tone will look better than a bright one. I tend to alternate very similar colours on adjacent boards, in at least three tones looking random, to give a more interesting appearance. You can use a darker one to make patches or joins less noticeable.

 

[trevorbayliss]

If i have oiled though, does it mean i can't use a darker stain in the future as pillsbury says.

 

[foxhole]

You can add wood dye ( not water based) to oil to add colour.