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How to bring old wooden floors back to life?

I am wanting to sand and stain then seal & cover with a clear finish my old wooden floors just wondering what is the best stain & clear over to use as it’s a high set older home I am thinking it’s best to just have to wooden floors due to movement but with movement will that make the clear coat crack ?

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JacobZ

Hi @Jaz94,

A warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is wonderful to have you with us.

Have you got any photos you can share? It would be handy to see what you are working with before offering advice. Let me know if you need a hand uploading images, I'm happy to help if required.

For some guidance, you might like to check out How to stain your timber floors with Oil Based Stain & Varnish from our supplier, Cabot's.

After sanding and cleaning, they recommend using a coat of Cabot's CFP Floor as a sealer, followed by 1-2 coats of Cabot's Oil Based Stain and Varnish in a colour of your choosing, followed by 2 more coats of CFP Floor.

These products are designed to flex with slight movement of the house, so there is no real need to worry about the clear coat cracking unless there is a major issue with your house.

You might also like to check out How To Seal Timber Floors for some guidance on the process.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

Nuno

Hi @JacobZ and @MitchellMc,

We're pondering whether to rejuvenate our wooden floors, or tile over them. The house is a small 1930s Queenslander (7.2m x 6.7m), so we're assuming that the floors are Hoop pine. If they are, we probably should honour the history of the house and bring them back to life. If not…might cover them up since rejuvenation is going to be a big job.

Firstly, can you help identify if they are Hoop pine (photos attached)? The difference in colour in the photos is just the lighting in different parts of the house - they are a deep honey in real life.

Secondly, going down the restoration path. The planks are pretty straight and I'm not seeing much, if any, cupping but there are gaps of various sizes between all of the planks as shown in the photos. I don't know if this was intentional to allow for movement or whether it's just that the timber has contracted over the past 100 years. I'd want to fill in all of these gaps since they are such a dirt collector, but wouldn't want it all just to crack out. Is there any special filler we should use or is something like Timbermate the best? We're going to need a LOT of it since we need to fill in between every single plank :(.

Since there is SO much filling to do, would you recommend doing this before we even do the first sand?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Nuno

Just realised I forgot to attach the photos 🤣

MitchellMc

Hi @Nuno,

From the photos, your floors do look most likely to be Hoop pine, which would be consistent with a 1930s Queenslander. Personally, I’d lean towards restoring them as the character and warmth of original timber is hard to beat, but ultimately that’s your decision based on how much work you want to take on and the final look you’re after.

Regarding the gaps and filling: typically, you do the initial rough sanding first. This brings all the boards back to a uniform height and removes any major scratches and gouges. Once that’s done, you can fill the gaps. After the filler has cured, you do your final sanding and finishing.

For larger areas like yours, I’d recommend using Selleys 380g Baltic No More Gaps Timber Floors Gap Filler. Check the colour against your boards to make sure it blends well. If it suits, using a Ryobi 18V ONE+ Caulking Gun makes the job much easier than hand-caulking. I used one recently for over a hundred lineal metres of caulking, and it was a dream. After the first 8-hour day of caulking, I gave up and went and purchased one.

It’s a bit of work, but with the right prep and tools, your original floors can really come back to life.

Here's a helpful step-by-step guide: How to sand timber floors. We also hire floor sanders, which are essential for this kind of work.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

Nuno

Thanks @MitchellMc,

Another could of questions. It looks like there might be some old filler between the boards, or it could just be 100 years of collected gunk. Either way, would we have to remove all of this before doing the new filler (please say 'no' 😆)?

Your suggestion of the Selleys and Ryobi caulking gun sounds amazing. But if we decided to go down a cheaper, albeit more labour intensive option, would a big tub of Timbermate still be OK?

Thanks again,

Nuno

JacobZ

Hi @Nuno,

Unfortunately, yes, it would be wise to scrape out the old filler because fresh filler will not properly bond to unstable material, which can lead to cracking or failure over time. Scraping back to solid, sound timber or firmly adhered filler ensures a stronger, longer lasting repair.

Yes, a big tub of Timbermate filler would also be fine. Depending on the size of the area, this Timbermate 8kg Pine Wood Filler is likely the best option.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

Nuno

@JacobZ Ergh. I was afraid you'd say that. That is a really big and tedious job. How do you do it? What tool(s) would you recommend to try and speed it up/make it easier?

JacobZ

Hi @Nuno,

You could use the pointed tip on a Craftright 5-in-1 Scraper, or tools that are typically used for grout removal, such as a QEP Double-Sided Grout Removal Tool or DTA Tile Scriber And Grout Remover.

Or you could use a multitool with a Grout Removal Blade, assuming the gaps are not too narrow for the available blades.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

MitchellMc

Hi @Nuno,

I think you'll find most of that is debris and not filler. I would suggest picking up one of these Trojan 4 Piece Pick Sets as they could be dragged through the gaps rather quickly and would get in deeper and fit better than some of the above tools.

Mitchell

Nuno

Thanks so much @JacobZ and @MitchellMc! Will probably grab a mix of both your suggestions. Love the idea of the quick picks and the multi painters' tool will also always come in handy. Keep you posted!

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