Need advice on finish for Crows Ash Floor

New member to the forum and first post...


I'm extremely lucky to have a house full of T&G Crows Ash flooring that I am about to refinish and am keen to know the members opinion on the best finish materials to use.

The house was built in 1937 and has crows ash flooring in all rooms except the kitchen (Spotted Gum?). I have just removed some delightful 20 year old carpet :) and the boards have been finished before maybe with a wax as they are all watermarked
They have basically no signs of wear and just a few scrapes where furniture has been dragged across the floor.

I am looking for a satin finish that will retain their lovely yellow colour.

I am also interested in any opinions if I should fill the 1-2mm gaps between the boards and what with? as the boards are still quite active and will cup and twist slightly in differing weather conditions, they are also quite greasy/waxy to the touch where i have lightly sanded a test patch and I am concerned that the finish will not stick or fail prematurely.

Thanks
Chappy

Remember when a lot of these old floors went down, they where not intended as "quality timber floors", they where just what you made a floor out of, because chip board and plywood where not yet commecially available.

So lots of the timber was not kiln dried and the floors where not laid tight.

After all the only reason you had a bare timber floor is because you could not afford or obtain carpet or lino.

ANYway

Who knows what has been used on the floor or what has gone down the cracks.

If the cracks are only 1 to 2mm, forget trying to fill them, if the floor moves with the weather, it will just spit out what you put down there.

I know its not modern or trendy, but my inclination would be to sand ( not with an industrial floor sander) till you have a fair surface and wax the bugger.

Wax may not be hard wearing but, with a good electric polisher no matter what you do to the floor it will come good with another coat of wax and a run with the polisher.....and the wax will tend to fill the cracks.....

I've seen plenty of floors done with good quality varnishes look pretty sad after a couple of years....but I have seen several ballroom floors that have never seen anything but parifin wax continue to look great year after year.

cheers

Thanks Soundman

I like the wax idea I think if i scrape the dust and crap out of the joints where i can i will then put a bit of wax into the gaps Maybe with a shoe brush to get it in there then at least the vacuum will pull the dust out and the boards can move as they wish

The house has been in the family for most of its life and I think the floor was meant to be on display. the floors were always bare and had scattered rugs there is some shadows from where thy used to be. as well as some nail holes Looks like the rugs were nailed down :( the carpets were only laid in the late 80's by my wife's Grandmother
The house is listed on the QLD Heritage register and is pretty special to us.

Can you advise why you dont like the industrial sander? I have done a patch with a random orbit, then some with a 100G belt the The random will be usefull on the edges but too slow for the whole floor. My concern with the belt is that you will get waves (like if you had used too small a wood plane). maybe the hardness of the crows ash will prevent that...

Chappy

I don't like the industrial stand up floor sanders because they are so agressive and you will sacrifice board thickness.

I have sanded a floor with a belt follwed by a random orbit.

belt sanders work very much better if you tune them up.
Flatten the platten either by cross filing or hand lapping on a surface plate
Fit graphite slip cloth in place of the metal slip plate if not already fitted..renew if worn.
Buy quality belts
Some belts will require tuning.....smooth the lap joint with some 80 gritt a little.
If there is too much of a bump in the grit side scrape it a bit with an old chisel

It made a huge diffiernce to my hitachi, there are several other I know who will testify the same

Then learn how to use a belt sander as a precision instrument.

Be conservative in your grit selection, if the floor is basicly flat 80 grit should be plenty coarse enough.

be generous in your abrasive replacement......sharp sand paper cuts so much better.

to begin with work with the machine diagonally spanning as many boards as posiible corner to corner, move the mechine predominantly sideways in the line of the boards......I find a long loop action best.....for goodness sake do not let that machine stop moving and never in a straight line.

Concentrate on keeping the platten flat and your action smooth and consistent.......that will be easier on you too.

you don't need to press.....if it aint cutting....replece the belt.

You can mow down pretty big lumps with 80 gritt or achieve pretty good accuracy with a light touch.

I would then go across to a ROS with 80 gritt....ROS produce a considerably finer finish with the same grit......then step along to 120....and 180.....if ya not using a film forming finish you may want to go to 240.

AND..don't even think about using either without a vacume extractor connected.....good extraction will keep you cleaner and healtier and will improve the performance of the machines no end.....including reducing your abrasive consumption.


cheers

Thanks for the advice
Belt sander is a Dewalt 430 and my random orbit is a used and abused Bosch PEX 125 AE. I will investigate a new slip plate for the belt and fit(another) new bearing to the RO

My test runs were with 100 grit and that seemed ample for the job and agree the vacuum extraction is a must. and doing a finish with 240 RO is a step finer than i was planning but will give it a go I could also buff wax with the RO as well

Im doing the utility/sun room first, Its a room we dont use much. I use it as a work/hobby room for restoring the leadlight windows etc, only about 20 more of these to go... and a couple of french doors, and an interior door where the lead has failed and the panel has bowed

Sounds like my chore list just got a little bit longer.

The 125 mm ROS is a bit smaller than I would like...if ya gona do a whole pile of floor.....investing in a 6 inch machine would be worthwhile.

I and a number of friends have the metabo machine, but the makita and the bosch are not shabby.

remember it is the outer part of the disk that does the majority of the work and that extra inch cover a lot more area and keeps the pad flatter.

As far as the finish grit....we all have our standards....I'd probaly be stopping at 180 for a floor myself.......lots of people would be thinking 120 is fine.....

cheers

cheers