Oak flooring

hadepsx

Hi I have a solid oak floor that has a lot of black marks, wear and tear etc. How would I spruce it up to look like new. Do I just sand it and then roll on a wood stain? Anyone do this job before. I would rather not have to pull it up and replace with a new floor. Thanks for any replies.

policarp

Sand it and why stain, unless you want a darker colour.
Oak is a natural colour so why change it?

hadepsx

I tried sanding it in a small area and the black mark didn't really go away. What type of sandpaper do you recommend. Thats the main reason why I mentioned staining it, to make the marks less visible. I agree though, would rather keep the oaks natural colour

drunkmonkey

You'd need to get a stand up belt sander and look at varnishing it rather than staining it.

hadepsx

Thanks. Should a job like this be done before or after a full wall paint job. Thinking about all the dust etc.

Juwwi

If your doing it yourself your best off hiring a floor sander .

remove all the old varnish and then give it 3 coats of clear varnish.

by the time you rent the sander , buy the vanish and sandpaper , you might not be far off the cost of hiring a professional .

drunkmonkey

hadepsx wrote: »

Thanks. Should a job like this be done before or after a full wall paint job. Thinking about all the dust etc.

I'd say after as your going to get dust everywhere try and hoover as much of it as you go, if you had Somone just hoovering would make it easier, keep the windows open.
As op said cost hiring someone, the last time I did it mid week so ended up paying for the sander daily, see can you hire it over a weekend as you might only get charged for a day.
It's 100% oak you have? Is it solid or engineerd?

I've to go at a few floors soon but was looking at whitewashing them to give it that Scandinavian look but was talking to an interior decorator and they said just blacken them as that's in vouge apparently. Up to yourself.

Theres a few videos on youtube that highlight all the mistakes DIYers make while doing this.
watch them first !
The biggest pain with this sort of work is the amount of time it takes.
Most people will lose interest after 3/4 hours and end up half arsing it .

hadepsx

Thanks everyone. I'll think I'll just pay someone to do it.

drunkmonkey

hadepsx wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I'll think I'll just pay someone to do it.

It's easy do yourself, maybe just get a carpenter to throw his eye on it to guide you in the right direction. The varnish and rent of the sander are your only real costs, if you got the rent of one for 50 quid over a weekend you'd be doing ok.
I don't know how much someone would charge probably 2 days in it so maybe 300/500 versus 100 euro.

Triboro

It involves more than one sander to do it yourself.
Drum sander for main floor.
Edge sander for the perimeter.
Buffer to key between coats and keep it smooth.
Works out around the same as hiring the pro but you have to do all the work yourself.

hadepsx

Yeah I'll definitely be hiring someone, as if I fcuk it up I'll have herself to answer to, so not worth it lol. Thanks everyone for comments.

listermint

Juwwi wrote: »

If your doing it yourself your best off hiring a floor sander .

remove all the old varnish and then give it 3 coats of clear varnish.

by the time you rent the sander , buy the vanish and sandpaper , you might not be far off the cost of hiring a professional .

Rental 40 quid
Varnish 40 quid
Sandpaper 20 quid


Not sure what professional will be doing your floor for anything close to that

dok_golf

Hire a professional. I'm a painter. Been sanding floors for years and even i will pass an oak floor over to a specialist.

Juwwi

listermint wrote: »

Rental 40 quid
Varnish 40 quid
Sandpaper 20 quid


Not sure what professional will be doing your floor for anything close to that

As mentioned already to do it right he needs to hire 3 machines , 40 ?
varnish for 40 ?
even your sandpaper estimate of 20 is way out ,,

l reckon he'll spend over 150 maybe close to 200 hiring and buying the varnish ,a new brush , roller and roller tray .
all the small stuff adds up .

If he was varnishing 3 bedrooms with floorboards l'd agree that a DIY job would be better value but an Oak Floor that only has a certain mm of Oak
veneer you can sand before you ruin it is a disaster waiting to happen .

Unless its a huge room I'd imagine 350 to 400 will be the quotes .
but it will be like a new floor again when finished .

If the OP is painting himself I'd paint it first , check with the sander guy but l think now the new machines they have hardly create much dust.

listermint

No offence but he said solid oak in the opening post so I didn't take veneer from that.

I've solid oak parquet flooring here and I'm doing it myself. Why would I pay someone for just their time. I have time . Sanding with a machine and varnishing isn't specialist work frankly and you won't convince me otherwise.

Juwwi

Apologies your right l didn't read the OP properly

it all depends on the finish he's happy with then

antiskeptic

listermint wrote: »

No offence but he said solid oak in the opening post so I didn't take veneer from that.

I've solid oak parquet flooring here and I'm doing it myself. Why would I pay someone for just their time. I have time . Sanding with a machine and varnishing isn't specialist work frankly and you won't convince me otherwise.

I put some red deal wide plank flooring down during a house refurb (old house and I wanted to keep that look). The carpenter was a real perfectionist. He put spacers in to give me the characteristic gap between boards rather than butting them tight. He not only ensured the bradnails were in a straight line, he measured in from each board edge to ensure in inch in each side. Really neat.

There were some marks from the building work and I figured I'd get a sander chap in to give is a light rub before staining. I was on the phone to one and I saw the carpenter shaking is head.

"You've sunlight shining right in on that floor. Get any old floor sanding contractor in and you'll see all the uneveness he produces. Get a perfectionist."

I recalled other sanding jobs I'd had done, the swirl marks, the uneveness

And so I did get a perfectionist. And the floor was billiard table perfect.

It might not be the most skilled job. But like everything, there is a knack. And with the best will in the world, a DIYer doesn't have that knack.



BTW OP. Don't varnish the floor. Oak is lovely and to cover it with varnish is a sin. Try Monocoat (The panelling centre sell it). It goes on, soaks in and wipes off. Leaving a sealed oak but with no varnish-layer on top - just the wood itself. I use it on kitchen countertops and if it can handle a sink, it can handle a floor (indeed, it's designed for floors).

listermint

antiskeptic wrote: »

I put some red deal wide plank flooring down during a house refurb (old house and I wanted to keep that look). The carpenter was a real perfectionist. He put spacers in to give me the characteristic gap between boards rather than butting them tight. He not only ensured the bradnails were in a straight line, he measured in from each board edge to ensure in inch in each side. Really neat.

There were some marks from the building work and I figured I'd get a sander chap in to give is a light rub before staining. I was on the phone to one and I saw the carpenter shaking is head.

"You've sunlight shining right in on that floor. Get any old floor sanding contractor in and you'll see all the uneveness he produces. Get a perfectionist."

I recalled other sanding jobs I'd had done, the swirl marks, the uneveness

And so I did get a perfectionist. And the floor was billiard table perfect.

It might not be the most skilled job. But like everything, there is a knack. And with the best will in the world, a DIYer doesn't have that knack.



BTW OP. Don't varnish the floor. Oak is lovely and to cover it with varnish is a sin. Try Monocoat (The panelling centre sell it). It goes on, soaks in and wipes off. Leaving a sealed oak but with no varnish-layer on top - just the wood itself. I use it on kitchen countertops and if it can handle a sink, it can handle a floor (indeed, it's designed for floors).

Sorry but im a perfectionist, I can appreciate other people are not and dont have the time. I would dedicate the time to it because i want to.

Thats not a slight. But i firmly believe people have abilities they are often told they dont.

Triboro

antiskeptic wrote: »

I put some red deal wide plank flooring down during a house refurb (old house and I wanted to keep that look). The carpenter was a real perfectionist. He put spacers in to give me the characteristic gap between boards rather than butting them tight. He not only ensured the bradnails were in a straight line, he measured in from each board edge to ensure in inch in each side. Really neat.

There were some marks from the building work and I figured I'd get a sander chap in to give is a light rub before staining. I was on the phone to one and I saw the carpenter shaking is head.

"You've sunlight shining right in on that floor. Get any old floor sanding contractor in and you'll see all the uneveness he produces. Get a perfectionist."

I recalled other sanding jobs I'd had done, the swirl marks, the uneveness

And so I did get a perfectionist. And the floor was billiard table perfect.

It might not be the most skilled job. But like everything, there is a knack. And with the best will in the world, a DIYer doesn't have that knack.



BTW OP. Don't varnish the floor. Oak is lovely and to cover it with varnish is a sin. Try Monocoat (The panelling centre sell it). It goes on, soaks in and wipes off. Leaving a sealed oak but with no varnish-layer on top - just the wood itself. I use it on kitchen countertops and if it can handle a sink, it can handle a floor (indeed, it's designed for floors).

Any idea on the price of the monocoat you mention,dont see a price for it on the paneling website.