Re - Stripping Floorboards

[Paul-man]

Our bathroom floorboards have been varnished/stained (not sure of the difference or how to tell) previously. We were at one stage going to cover them with ply and lino, but many of our friends think we should keep them as they suit the house. (1907 terrace)

However, in places there are splits (mainly near nails and where they've been lifted) and also the stain is peeling off in places.

If we keep the floorboards bare, i'd like to sand them down and start again. The boards run across the room which is only about 3 feet wide along the length of the bath and 5 feet either side of the loo.

So, with all of the above info, these are the questions!

1) Is there any point sanding them down? Should I just re-stain over the top (not sure of the colour)

2) If I do sand down, given the width of the room, is a floor sander economical? Would a belt or orbital sander do the same job?

3) If I sand them down, what is the chance of getting them back to pine colour, given they've already been stained a darker colour?

 

[tall_tone]

Hi Paul-Man
Always worth re-finishing wood boards if at all possible, although while you are doing it you will wish you had gone for the Lino option.

1/ Do you want to stain the boards as this always complicates matters? You will probably get to like the unstained colour.

2/ If you have Belt type sander to hand it would help, but with that little space to work in I would look for a decent edge sander and possibly a hand belt sander.

3/ No problem getting them back to the original colour, as you have already said it's peeling off any way. Work through the grits from about a 60 grit upto a 120 and then apply your choice of finish. Plenty of chatter on here about the pros and cons of Lacquer or Hardwax Oil

The splits in the wood can be filled with a filler mixed with the 100 or 120 grit wood dust. Solvent based are best but you may only be able to find water based.

I recently used an Anti Slip wood flooring lacquer which is designed for commercial usage, but would probably work well in a bathroom given wet feet.

TT

 

[Paul-man]

Hi Paul-Man
Always worth re-finishing wood boards if at all possible, although while you are doing it you will wish you had gone for the Lino option.

1/ Do you want to stain the boards as this always complicates matters? You will probably get to like the unstained colour.

2/ If you have Belt type sander to hand it would help, but with that little space to work in I would look for a decent edge sander and possibly a hand belt sander.

3/ No problem getting them back to the original colour, as you have already said it's peeling off any way. Work through the grits from about a 60 grit upto a 120 and then apply your choice of finish. Plenty of chatter on here about the pros and cons of Lacquer or Hardwax Oil

The splits in the wood can be filled with a filler mixed with the 100 or 120 grit wood dust. Solvent based are best but you may only be able to find water based.

I recently used an Anti Slip wood flooring lacquer which is designed for commercial usage, but would probably work well in a bathroom given wet feet.

TT

I have stripped the whole floor back using a hand belt-sander. Bad back now, but hey-ho!

It looks pretty good, just need to finish the edges by hand/chisel!

With regards to the filler you mention- I have collected 1.5 coffee jars full of dust. Is it WOOD filler I need or general purpose polyfilla type stuff?

I'll add some photos too so you can give an honest opinion of the finished look.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Lecol7500 is our preferred wood filler. Only use it to fill the splits, not the gaps between the floorboards (you'll end up doing that every year due to the seasonal movement of the boards)