Should I attempt to sand a painted floor?

[groovybug]

Hello everyone,

We have just moved into our new place. The whole place still has the original pine floorboard, some places in better condition than others. Currently the hallway and the bedrooms floors are painted black. I want to sand and strip it back to original wood colour, however Im not sure if this is a good idea. As the floor is not even with cracks an dents in many places, so the black paint has gone into many deeper corner of the boards, as well as all around the nails. Would it be a mammoth task to make it free of paint again? Or is it a case of “one you go black you never go back”?

Would love to hear experience of those who have attempted to strip a painted floor.

Many thanks!

 

[just pumps]

Sounds like a massive task to get back to bare wood.

 

[Tigercubrider]

Why not work on the worst one first? That way you'll either find out it's a good idea or not.
Try paint stripper on the depressions and nail heads. Do that before sanding to get an idea of practicality.
Don't ponce about with b and q type strippers.

Then try sanding a small bit and hire a sander if a test patch works ok?
Then you'd know whether it's time to buy a carpet

 

[opps]

Personally, I think that you are on a hiding to nothing. You would have to remove so much of the timber that you would make the floorboards too thin. 90% of the floor might look fine, the other 10% might be awful.

 

[groovybug]

Thanks guys. I will try on a patch to see how it goes but you are probably right, there will always be some bits that will be impossible to get clean. I absolutely cant stand carpet but two solution is just get a new floor, or find another paint colour to go on top of the current one.

 

[johnny2007]

Lift the lot and turn them around.
Then sand and stain/varnish.

 

[opps]

Lift the lot and turn them around.
Then sand and stain/varnish.

I like your thinking but some boards are likely to run under non load bearing walls, and the OP might need to pull some of the skirtings off. Additionally some might have radiator tails that run through them.

 

[johnny2007]

I like your thinking but some boards are likely to run under non load bearing walls, and the OP might need to pull some of the skirtings off. Additionally some might have radiator tails that run through them.

Multitool

 

[groovybug]

Lift the lot and turn them around.
Then sand and stain/varnish.

That passed my mind! Maybe one day ..

 

[opps]

Multitool

Doesn't help if the board runs under a wall though. You can cut the board but it won't be supported at the end.

 

[johnny2007]

Doesn't help if the board runs under a wall though. You can cut the board but it won't be supported at the end.

4x2 screwed to existing joists

 

[groovybug]

4x2 screwed to existing joists

Definitely if there is a will there is a way. However I worry I will break/split a lot of the board after lifting. At which point maybe it is better just to buy new or reclaimed boards to replace.

 

[johnny2007]

Definitely if there is a will there is a way. However I worry I will break/split a lot of the board after lifting. At which point maybe it is better just to buy new or reclaimed boards to replace.

That would be necessary in any case because surely some of them will need to be replaced.