Polishing floorboards

[MikeK]

Hi,

We have floorboards in our house that are beginning to get the run down feel. They don't have a urathane (?) coat. My iunderstanding is that you can just oil them and polish them. Can anyone pls provide any advice as to:
- what oil & polish to use; and
- what's the best way to do this.

Thanks,
Mike.

[aussiecolector]

I've got to do something with mine too oneday. I was thinking about sanding the floor and then useing tung oil. But I've got no idear realy.

[Gumby]

I've just had new tomber floors put down and they used two coats of a hard wearing urethane. I think it was from Wattyl. I wouldn't use oils which will be hard to clean. Get a product made for the job and check out a few websites like wattyl and Boral (for timber floor instructions)

[Bear]

We just done our floorboards we used the watyl products and are happy with the results. Just make sure you buy the watyl applicator makes a big difference

[nt900]

I use straight tung oil on our boards, which are old Baltic pine. It’s a very different look and feel to urethane or the like. We prefer it but not all do. If your boards are currently oil and you have liked them so far, and they need a freshen up, continuing to use oil can be a good idea. It will be cheap and easy to get a fresh floor looking result.

* What sort of boards do you have. How old.<O</O

* Consider if you change the finish from oil to urethane, that you are changing the way in which the boards can absorb and release airborne moisture. They will be completely sealed on top and this may result in moisture retention and possibly cupping.
<O</O
If you were to re-oil all you have to do is (depending on current condition of the boards and finish):
* light sand with hand sander (can be a little uncomfortable on the knees).
* run in oil (can use a variety of applicators, whatever works for you)
* some people sand between coats – I don’t
* another coat of oil
* possibly another, depending on how the look is coming along, I usually do three<O
* burnish, polish/rub like mad, this brings up the shine.<O

This is how we do it anyway. May only cost you a couple of hundred $ in oil, nice and cheep compared to other options or getting a 'pro' to do it. Depending on the condition and flatness of your boards you may need some more sanding done, possibly may need to hire a commercial sander. But remember, just because everyone else sands the absolute cr*p our of the boards, does not mean yours need it aggressive sanding, or sanding at all.<O
<O
Have a look at Intergrain or Organoil products for more information.<O</O

On our second place we are about to apply tung oil and 25% Black Japan. Gives a nice dark brown colour to the Baltic boards. You can adjust the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com[img] /><st1:country-region w:st=[/img]Japan</ST1lace</st1:country-region> to suit your taste.<O

[MikeK]

Thanks all. Anyone with any recommendations of techniques & products to use when fixing small holes in the boards?

[nt900]

Timbermate - many colours available, easy to use.

[hippychick]

We have a large open plan area floored with Sydney Blue Gum and finished with Tung Oil (not pure).
In the Kitchen, it has worn very badly - lots of grey patches (I've only had polyurethane floors before so didn't realise Tung oil needs better upkeep) I asked someone to give us a quote to fix it - they said we would have to do the entire floor and quoted us thousands$$$.
Can i just hand sand the boards back a little and apply more of the Tung oil mix? Or will it look too different from the rest of the boards? The boards run horizontally across to our dining and lounge area, so I can't do it neatly to an edge of a board so that it finishes in the kitchen.
Thanks so much,
alison

[nt900]

Hi hippychick, what tung oil blend did you use. It could be the fact that the tung oil blend you used contains some synthetics, like polyurethane, that you have a maintenance problem. The beauty of pure oil is that you can spot repair or refinish without the problems of taking the current surface finish back. Do you know exactly which product the floor was finished with?