orginal oak floor

[jillkh]

we have uncovered orginal oak floors in a Georgian house, would hard wax oil be suitable on this floor after it is sanded, we want to protect the wood whilst bringing out the grain and colour, any advice gratefully recieved on how to apply,the best menas tools to do this and maintainence, thank you

 

[geeonegee]

Is the floor in a busy area eg hallway or lounge ? if you apply hardwax oil it will be allot more maintainence than lacquer, re-applying at least once a year, and as its an old original floor it will look virtually the same whichever seal you apply, imho a good quality lacquer (Bona Mega or Traffic or Blanchon Intensiv) correctly applied will far outlast hardwax oil in the wear and tear stakes and look identical, and if you are after the oiled look use a Matt finish lacquer, you will be hard pushed to tell the difference asthetically.There are lots of aftercare products out there as well, if you use lacquer the Bona Care products are very good and really easy to use/apply.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Is the floor in a busy area eg hallway or lounge ? if you apply hardwax oil it will be allot more maintainence than lacquer, re-applying at least once a year,

Re-applying HardWaxOil once a year?? I hope you mean applying a suitable maintenance product every 5 -6 months, as with any type of finish - even varnished and lacquered floors need this. You hardly ever have to re-apply the HardWaxOil itself.
Besides, hardwaxoiled floors are more easily repaired locally than varnished floors. See also our guide on this matter

jillhk, we've also replied to your question on our FAQ & News site

 

[Symptoms]

jill - why do you need to sand maybe 200 year old floors. This is a subject very close to my heart, and with over 30 years of experience of restoring/repairing Listed Buildings a question that always needs to be asked. The whole point about an old floor is that it should look old, in your case 200 years - cracks, creaks, gouges, scratches, repairs, etc., etc. There's a good chance that by sanding your floor you'll loose all that character and probably have to drastically reduce the floor thickness if you want to achieve that 'perfect' look. Consider cleaning the floor of muck/dust/grime and use something like hardwaxoil to freshen it up.

Original floors in a Georgian house might also be of interest to your local Conservation Officer (a Council guy) depending on whether your place is Listed (and type of Listing). Give the person a ring to check and ask for her/his advice ... they do know what they're talking about regardless of what some on the Forum think about local Councils.

 

[jillkh]

Thank you for the advice and information, i think we will go for the Hard wax oil, and the idea of not sanding, was not one I had thought of but actually makes sense because it is a beutitiful floor. One last question, is it true that once I have applied the hard wax oil I can not walk on the floor for two weeks.
Jill

 

[WoodYouLike]

Jill, if that was true we would be out of work - no one would want their floors treated with HardWaxOil.
No, you can walk on it as soon as the second coat is dry (6 - 8 hours) and start moving furniture back carefully. However: rugs should not be put down earlier than 10 days after finishing - the HWO is dry but fully cures over 10 days and placing rugs down too early would prevent this.