Old paint deep in pine boards

[ChrisKingston]

Sanding up old pine floorboards, maybe up to 100 years old. Rough sand of most of them went ok, but round the edges there is a thick, sticky black paint that I'm really struggling to shift (see pics below). It seems to go pretty deep into the wood. If I can shift the paint, thinking of dyeing the wood either white or a light oak.

Think the options are:
1) Just keep sanding til the black paint is gone.
2) Try a chemical stripper - any recommendations? and do you sand a bit first then strip, or strip then sand?
3) Get up all the painted boards and replace with ones from downstairs which are going to be covered?
4) Give up and put something over the boards.

What do you think? Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

When you say rough sand, how rough? I'd maybe start with a 4in belt sander and P36 or P40 belts, then work up through P60, P80 and P120. Go opposite diagonals on the coarsest (P36 or P40) grit - it'll pull off more paint that way

BTW it is possible to clean belts using a crepe belt cleaner

An alternative is to use a power planer with fresh blades set to 0.1 to 0.2mm and take a pass or maybe two with that before sanding. Make sure you punch and nail heads under with a hammer and nail set before planing!

 

[ChrisKingston]

I've been using an old 850W 4" belt sander with 40 grit belts. I've got a plane I could try although the paint is all round the edge of room so getting the bigger tools in is tricky. Unless I could go at 90 degrees to grain for initial pass?

I'll try the belt cleaner too cos this paint is gumming up belts in no time, almost like it's bitumen or something. Probably just old sticky floor paint though.

 

[Odds]

It could be glue residue. Was a piece of lino or vinyl flooring stuck down around the edge of the room?
You could keep sanding but end up with an uneven surface if you have to go too far into the grain.
Perhaps using a stripper, like Nitromors, on a small area to test and see if it comes off.

 

[ChrisKingston]

It was all carpeted when we moved in but my dad reckons way back it was common to have carpets in middle of room with edges painted or in lino, so could be glue residue or paint.

 

[Odds]

It was all carpeted when we moved in but my dad reckons way back it was common to have carpets in middle of room with edges painted or in lino, so could be glue residue or paint.

It was. And by now, i'd imagine paint would be quite dry, no?
It'd be very unusual to find bitumastic paint indoors so i suspect some kind of glue has been used.
Test a corner and you'll soon find out. How much time have you got?

 

[ChrisKingston]

Yes the paint/glue is certainly dry non the boards but gets sticky again when you sand it.

Could really do with having the floor sanded by end of this week!

I'll try some nitromors. Might be combination of chemical and abrasion is the thing.

 

[Odds]

Yes the paint/glue is certainly dry non the boards but gets sticky again when you sand it.

Could really do with having the floor sanded by end of this week!

I'll try some nitromors. Might be combination of chemical and abrasion is the thing.

It'll definitely make your day longer if you have to do the whole room by the weekend.
In those circumstances you describe i'd use a scraper. If the stuff gets sticky when you crack into it, combined with nitromors, will gunk up your sander in no time.
Oh, and you'll need a large tin of elbow grease.

 

[Odds]

If it is glue you could try soaking it in acetone for a minute or two, then scrape it off. If the glue still proves too stubborn, try heating it up with a hair dryer. If that doesn't work well, have a look for glue remover for extra power.

 

[ChrisKingston]

Still not sure what it was but just about got rid of it with a mixture of planing and big bag of sanding belts. Acetone didn't do anything unfortunately.

Thanks for all the help

 

[Odds]

Still not sure what it was but just about got rid of it with a mixture of planing and big bag of sanding belts. Acetone didn't do anything unfortunately.

Thanks for all the help

There's no substitute for hard graft, eh?
After all that you get the fun of bringing up the colour of the wood. Enjoy.