Problems Oiling a new pine floor

[ABN]

Laying a new Pine Floor and decided to oil it using Satin Osmo Polyx. Being new to using oil I have tried it on some of the off cuts before applying to the main floor. The results thus far have been very disappointing. THe sheen looks very patchy varying from matt to looking very nice according to the type of grain its laying on.

Reading the bumph they sent it states

"If after the first coat the surface still appears to be very rough .... this coat can be sanded using a white or beige pad"

What do they mean by that. I'm assuming by pad hey are talking of some form of cloth ?? but how can cloth sand
considering that all the sanding will be done by hand what can I do/use to get an even finish?

 

[WoodYouLike]

Laying a new Pine Floor and decided to oil it using Satin Osmo Polyx. Being new to using oil I have tried it on some of the off cuts before applying to the main floor. The results thus far have been very disappointing. THe sheen looks very patchy varying from matt to looking very nice according to the type of grain its laying on.

Have you applied two layers? The first layer can appear patchy. Let it dry for a few hours, then apply the second layer. Buff this with a cloth to get a better result.

Hope this helps

 

[ABN]

Tired 2 coats and even went to 3 coatds in the end. The extra coats seemed to make no difference, the matt areas still looked matt and hence very patchy.

Have now tried sanding again between coats and it does look a quite a bit better. However in areas such as the knots there is still no improvement. Wondering whether the oil is not penertrating into the knots and should be thined, if possible, when treating the knots.

But really don't want to have to sand between applying coats, one reason for choosing to use oil, as the paper clogs soooooo quickly, a couple of rubs and needs changing (not sure there's enough sandpaper in the world to do the whole floor ).

 

[WoodYouLike]

Have now tried sanding again between coats and it does look a quite a bit better. However in areas such as the knots there is still no improvement. Wondering whether the oil is not penertrating into the knots and should be thined, if possible, when treating the knots.

But really don't want to have to sand between applying coats, one reason for choosing to use oil, as the paper clogs soooooo quickly, a couple of rubs and needs changing (not sure there's enough sandpaper in the world to do the whole floor ).

Knots have a very open structure and will soak up more oil, leaving more wax on top = patchy area. What we normally do is apply the hardwaxoil with a sponge, leave it for a few minutes and then buff the floor to spread the hwo more evenly and to remove any excess. Then we leave it to dry for hours. Indeed, the floor can look patchy at that moment, areas where the oil has been soaked up more etc. We apply a second layer the same way and nine out of ten times end up with a good result.
I do understand that the tools we use are professional tools which you might not have access to.

Pine has a more open structure then Oak. Can you try to buff the floor with a buffing machine or even with an old fashion buffing block? If that doesn't make any difference try a layer of normal wax, not the hardwaxoil, and buff that.

 

[ABN]

tried that on another sample with a knot and made it look much better thanks

but (isn't there always a but)

although I thought I had given the sample a realy good sanding there were some small unnoticed scratch/cut marks on the surface. As soon as it was oiled these stood out like a saw thumb (perhaps I'm being to fussy). I feel that with a varnish type finish these would not have noticed as they would have been filled with the varnish.

This combined with the fact that its a country quality pine and has lots of knots and as you a pro can only get the knots looking good 90% of the time which means I will only be able to do it 10% off the time is pushing me, reluctantly, more and more towards the use of varnish

Would a solvent based varnish give a look closer to the warm looking oiled finish rather than the water based varnish which seem to add no character to the wood at all.

Also which one would you recommend for a fusspot amature diyer ?

 

[WoodYouLike]

although I thought I had given the sample a realy good sanding there were some small unnoticed scratch/cut marks on the surface. As soon as it was oiled these stood out like a saw thumb (perhaps I'm being to fussy). I feel that with a varnish type finish these would not have noticed as they would have been filled with the varnish.

Hi ABN (Algemene Bank Nederland?)
Sanding errors/mistakes/scratches will also show when varnishing the floor.

What you could do (could have done) is brush hardwaxoil on the knots, buff it in and let it dry. Then apply hardwaxoil to the whole floor, buff, dry and apply second layer.

As for varnishing the floor I can't really give you any tips, we love oiling and when a customer request a varnished/lacquered floor we supply that pre-finished (or in other words, we hate varnishing .

 

[ABN]

Hi ABN (Algemene Bank Nederland?)

Nope
ABN=AnyBloodyNick
Every nick that i wanted was already taken so gave up