Wood Flooring Reading

If you are lucky enough to have solid wood floors in your house, it is really worth taking the time to protect them properly. There are several different ways to treat and protect wood floors and, as with any painting or varnishing job, preparation is the key to a good finish. Correct preparation is even more essential when the paint or varnish is being applied to floors. Floors obviously take more of a beating than walls, etc, so getting it right first time will mean less repair work in the future.

First and foremost, clear the room of ALL furniture, etc. Now vacuum the room from edge to edge (in fact especially the edges). Once the floor is clean, use a lint-free cloth dipped in white spirit to further clean the boards. If you want to bring up the grain of the wood slightly, take a wire brush and carefully stroke it along each board following the direction of the grain.

If the floor is already painted or varnished, rub it down well with abrasive paper to strip the boards back to bare wood. This is backbreaking work, so hiring a floor sander might be a better option, especially for big rooms. Floor sanders are very powerful, noisy and create a lot of dust, so take your time and make sure the room is well ventilated. You can also hire a smaller sander designed to let you do the edges of the room without taking gouges out of the skirting board. Using a floor sander will result in a much smoother finish than sanding by hand.

Like wood stain, Floor Varnish is available in either water-based or solvent-based formulas. Solvent-based offers the best results in many cases, but can be unpleasant to apply due to the smell. Varnishing your floorboards can produce a stunning finish, and there are many shades to choose from. However, even with the three coats that you will need to apply, varnish will inevitably begin to crack after 3-4 years. Fixing this will mean stripping the floor back to bare wood and re-varnishing. As with all floor treatments, work towards the door, not away from it!

You will need a couple of different brushes when varnishing wood floors, a 25mm-50mm brush for varnishing the edges of the room and round obstacles such as fireplaces, and then a 100mm brush for covering the rest of the floor. You might also include a soft cloth pad for applying the first coat, but this is not essential. As when using any paint or varnish, make sure that the brush is spotlessly clean and free from dirt or grease before you start.

Thin the first coat of varnish by adding 10% white spirit and then rub it into the wood floor using the cloth pad, following the direction of the grain. This will act as a sealer coat and should help to provide a much better finish. Let this coat dry for a few hours...