Preparing floorboards, sanding down & varnishing etc?

Question

I'm planning to have bare floorboards in my living room. They look ok but are painted black around the edges about 18''. I'm thinking about hiring an industrial sander today. Someone has suggested making them black all over to save work? If I sand them down do I just put on a varnish or a stain? I've got a large rug to throw down on top. I thought bare floor boards will look good with our log burner.

Answer 1

I used varnish on my floor as it creates a seal so water will not swell the boards, it will wear a lot better too.

Also if you stain and then don't like it it will take a fair bit of sanding to get rid of.

make sure you sand with the grain ie along the board not accross

Answer 2

Bang all the nail heads down before sanding.

Use rougher grit papers, going down to finer grit papers.  Sweep up the loose grit off the floor between sandings.  Sand the whole floor and bring it down evenly, rather than dishing it where it is marked more.  Sand almost at 45 degrees to the floorboards, bringing it more in line for the fine finish sanding.  Be careful with the coarse grit paper, it can dish your floor in a second.  Have the machine moving forward as you switch it on and lift up as you stop otherwise you will dig more at the beginnig and end of each pass.  It's like mowing the lawn, but only sand pushing the machine forward, not pulling it back.

Oil the floor as a finish or you can stain then varnish or just varnish.  A water based varnish will not last as long, but will not darken your floor like an oil/solvent based one.  The very best product is Sadolin PV67 which is a two part catalytic varnish - it dries in 10 minutes, brushes are unusable afterwards, very expensive, but the best.  Read instructions very carefully.

Answer 3

Go with taf's advice.  

Answer 4

Clear stain weather sealant is the best .  It really brings out the best in natural woodgrain colors .  If you want to save some $$ and are a do it yourselfer type individual ... go to the hardware store and buy an electric hand sander for $75 with sand paper and go to town .  Just tell the hardware store person what you are trying to do and they will hook you up .  Probably under $100 .  Then all the finishing work takes is your time ... After 1 or 2 boards you will get the hang of it .

If you just want it done by someone else  ... I would not pay more than $20 hr .  I would have them bid the job .  Get 3 different bids .  I would not pay strictly by the hr .  They can talley up the hrs needed to do the job and then submit the talley to me . Remember , they need to be licensed and bonded .  So they cannot sue you if they hurt themselves on your premises .  Just trip and fall going up your stairs to the house and they can sue in a bad way ........  

Answer 5

The sander should do the job ok and yes it dose look nice when its done. But if you have a suspended floor you will loose a lot of heat thru the floor . As long as your ok with this then ok. Good luck with today.