A recipe for filler - Blackbutt flooring

[noodlenut]

I'm in the death throws of completing a two year reno, none to soon according to she who knows, and am laying a T&G Blackbutt floor over particle board. The issue is these beautiful 130mm boards are a feature grade and while I love the charactor it gives the floor, I'd hate to lose one of the kids down a knot hole!;)

Can anyone help me with a recommendation for a good filler, I'm keen to keep the lovely deep red almost black of the gum veins and knots, while having it accept the Livos Ardvos oil we've selected for the finish.

I've heard suggestions a mix of a jarrah putty and bitumous style paint gives a good result...any others???:confused:

Thanks in advance,

Noodles

[Auld Bassoon]

You could try filling the knot hole with epoxy (eg West System), and sanding smooth when set/cured. This shows the feature and yet retains a smooth surface.

[noodlenut]

Cheers Auld,
Is it possible to tint the epoxy? I'd love it if it could mimic those pockets of sap you sometimes come across when converting a log.

[echnidna]

I wouldn't use anything except "Agnews Water Putty"
It was designed for floors and sets hard and sands cleanly to a fine finish,

Its a dry powder that you mix with water, once set its totally waterproof.
I have tinted it with dry pigments or water based paint.

[noodlenut]

Lovely Bob,
I'm looking into suppliers tomorrow...

Noodles

[derekcohen]

Noodles

I would stick to epoxy. It will be self-levelling and easy to sand. The West System that Steve recommends is great. If you want to tint it, go to Bunnings - they have a wide range of oxide tints for cement that will work well (that is what I use). Mix up your own colour.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[bitingmidge]

You can always mix the epoxy with wood flour from the same timber. Just run a fine sander over the timber till you have sufficient dust for the mix.

The guys that sanded our (Blackbutt) floor, actually trowelled a wood-flour based filler over the whole floor to fill the minor cracks and gaps before doing anything.

Cheers,

P

[Ashore]

If you use wood flour based filler don't use it to fill between the boards as when the boards expand and contract with temperature the filler will crack and pop out, filling the knott holes in the boards however is usually fine and will give you a close colour match.

Rgds

[noodlenut]

Many thanks to all for their responses, I'll have a try of the different methods and see if I can't get a few piccys for the forum...

Noodles

[Gaza]

use builders bog tinited with cement oxide on suitable for knot holes etc not between boards.

[truflor]

truflor manufacture a special 2 pack epoxy to fill blackbutt but keep those p\black features

[Dusty]

Try this Timbermate Putty (http://www.timbermate.com.au/products/timbermate_colours.html).

It's the most used filler in the flooring market.

This is how I use it (http://clintfudgefloorsanding.googlepages.com/fillingtheboards).

[Larry McCully]

Noodles

I would stick to epoxy. It will be self-levelling and easy to sand. The West System that Steve recommends is great. If you want to tint it, go to Bunnings - they have a wide range of oxide tints for cement that will work well (that is what I use). Mix up your own colour.

Regards from Perth

Derek Hi derek, can you please tell me wher i can get The West System. And what is it.

[Connollys]

The Epoxy is will give you by far the best result and the finish will be dead flat. We use it on every floor with fantastic results. If you have any trouble sourcing it we are a stockist of the West Systems Epoxy aswell as Timbermate. As one other member mention do not fill between boards it will crack out. If you intend using the oil you stated I would apply it over what ever you choose to go with on a test piece first to make sure they dont reject. Cheers Craig www.connollys.com.au