Bought a house - what floor do I have and what to do with it?

Hi all,

I recently bought my first house with a beautiful wooden floor. I have no idea what type of wood it is, so I hope the photos are good enough to ID what type of floor I have.
It is in a good condition except in a a few spots. It needs a new finish on just a few square meters.

I'm not sure what the previous finish is but it looks pretty matt and there is some residue on the skirting boards, that has a darker colour, so my guess is staining. Any suggestions on how to give this floor a new, matt finish?

Cheers

Alex

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Flooring looks like your typical VIC Ash/Messmate/Tassie Oak hardwood flooring and I would hazard a guess that it has been finish with an oil of some description but as to what type :dunno:

Hard to tell the type of coating but it does not have the typical plastic coat of a synthetic varnish so it can be some kind of oil...and oils aint all oils. If it was a natural penetrating oil then yes, you can redo part of it, you can also go over the paint marks with a maroon pad and reoil. Depending on how old the coating is there may be a slight colour difference however this blends in with time. most finishes, oils or varnishes, if not wiped off the skirting will dry a darker colour. Let me know if you want a sander to have a look at it as there is one in Torquay who uses oils and other coatings.

Thanks all sofar.

Had a bit of a look around online and Tasmanian Oak seems to be the timber indeed. So thanks for this sofar!
Now of course trying to find out what type of treatment has been done... I understand that putting an oil over a different existing oil can have disastrous affects...
what type of oil would people normally use for a matt (perhaps low sheen) finish on a wooden floor?

It's probably not really 'done', but I would love to contact the previous owners and find what type of coating they used.

Cheers

Alex

I'd have a look around and see if I could find a small qty of 100% Tung Oil, then apply this to a small, out-of-sight test area and see what happens.

If it just puddles on top or 'orange peels' or (insert a whole slew of possible complications here) then the floor was most likely finished with either an outright PolyU or an 'imitation' Danish Oil with high PolyU ratio... and IMHO your best bet is to rent Floor/Edge Sanders from Bunnies and redo the entire floor as though freshly laid. This would allow you to use the finish of your choice.

If it penetrates & dries properly, then the floor was probably done with a better quality Danish which means you can probably get away with a light sand and using another good quality Danish over the top.

Again, doing a small, out-of-sight test area first is the safer path. (More expensive, buying small amounts rather than 4L tins, but better that than buying 4L's you can't use, eh wot? ;) )

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Thanks,

I received the following information from the previous owner:

'The floor is finished with a burnished hardening oil called 'Organ Oil'.

Hope this helps. What is your suggestion to maintain the floor?


Cheers Alex