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Help with salvaging pine (??) flooring upstairs.

16 years ago

I have some, what looks to be, soft yellow pine flooring in my home. Has the characteristics...lots of splintering, knots and isnt very hard. I'm attaching some pics. I just want to know how I should go about restoring the flooring. I have some gaps and cracks and areas where I have pieces missing. Also some boards make a squeaky sound when stepped on...I dont know what to do about this because there is no plywood subfloor underneath. I have this picture of the original floor with no modifications or anything right here.
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Here is a picture of a closet that I sanded down with a palm sander trying to get rid of the splinters and what not.

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I just want to get a darker color going without losing all the contrast in the wood. Any suggestions on stain or seal or example pics of what I COULD get out of this wood would be appreciated. Thanks

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Comments (6)

carpetguy4
16 years ago
You can go to a local hardwood store and get a spreadable putty and let dry. You really need to rent a floor sander and edger to get a better job, it makes it a lot easier than a palm sander. good luck..........Eric
glennsfc
16 years ago
If I can figure out how to post pics...I'll show you some examples of what can be done with seemingly impossible floors. Your floors could look great with expert sanding and finishing work.
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Thank you for the comment, @Sombreuil We have roughly 1600sqft of the floorboards, almost all of which are in good shape (we can see the underside of the floor above since we're down to the studs.) The homeowners of yesteryear actually put down newspaper when they covered the subflooring with layers and layers of linoleum, so they were largely protected in many places. We are hiring a company to pull a denail them- we are not planning on doing this ourselves! The flooring in the kitchen photo above is not really the target color- the cabinets, however, are the color we're hoping for in our kitchen. We are not really looking for a gray undertone, but certainly not a very yellow one. More so something with a bit more richness and a bit darker, which is why I was looking for suggestions from the fine folks here...
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silverrush540
Original Author
16 years ago
You think I can get by with a belt sander? The wood is tongue and groove so I dont want to bring it down to bare wood..I'd like to keep some of the patina. Can anyone recommend a good product I can use on top of the stain so that the floors become hard and that the splinters arent an issue anymore?
glennsfc
16 years ago
Your palm sander is probably your best choice; a belt sander may be too aggressive. You are probably already sanding down to bare wood, although not sanding through the stained or aged top surface.

A commercial two-part waterborne polyurethane will protect your floor and also help to 'glue together' loose fibers. Nothing will harden the wood at all.

Professionals use the 3M epoxy adhesive floor repair 'gun' to treat ragged edges and slit grooves. We inject the epoxy under a loose problem area, such as a split groove or a flaking face sawn layer to support these problems and repair defects. The clear epoxy sets in about 5 minutes and cures rapidly after that.

If you want no shine at all, consider using BonaKemi NAturale waterborne polyurethane...expensive stuff.
silverrush540
Original Author
16 years ago
I actually would like some shine...when I say harden the wood I just mean so the top coat is hard so that I dont get any slivers.
glennsfc
16 years ago
Traffic, also by BonaKemi, or Street Shoe by Basic Coatings or an equivalent waterborne product will give you a serviceable surface.

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