How to match timber floor stain & finish and repair?

[joffa101]

Hi,

I would like to make some repairs to our timer floor boards. It is an 1890's Brunswick Victoria house, so I think the boards are Baltic or cypress pine. They were stained and finished about 14 years ago but there is some wear and tear and a few splits that I would like to 'fix' without starting from scratch. I am not expecting a 'perfect' finish, but to stop the splits/wear getting worse.

• Does anyone know what stain would be closest match? And what type of finish? 
• I was going to use some Sellys Baltic pine no more gaps to fix some splits and fill holes, then sand and stain/finish the areas - is that the right 'fix'? Or is there a better solution?

Any suggestions @MitchellMc ?

Thanks in advance.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @joffa101. It's brilliant to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about restoring timber floors.

I have some concerns about doing touch-up repairs on floors as when you do finally have the flooring re-done, you could be left with splotches from your touchups. The fact that the coating is flaking indicates that it's a surface coating, not a penetrative stain. If you stain these areas to a similar colour, that stain will remain impregnated in the flooring. This might not be an issue if you're going for a similar colour in the future. Also, sanding areas and doing spot repairs are not really recommended, and flooring coatings get their strength from being one continuous coat.

Have you considered having your flooring re-done? If it's lasted 14 years and you would potentially have them sanded and re-coated in five years, it might be worth holding out or getting some quotes at the moment to see how much it would cost. We also hire sanders, so you could look at doing this work yourself if you want to keep within a budget.

It wouldn't be possible to give you any close suggestions on what colour stain this is. I'd recommend you pick up a few colours that look close and test them out in an inconspicuous area. The Selley's product would be fine to use, but as mentioned, it would be best to coat the entire floor rather than a spot coating.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[joffa101]

Thanks for replying so quickly!

>The fact that the coating is flaking indicates that it's a surface coating, not a penetrative stain.

So you think it was something with a single stain and varnish product like?: https://www.bunnings.com.au/timber-protect-250ml-oil-based-light-walnut-one-coat-stain-and-varnish_p...

Yes, I hear you about re-doing the floors - but we have timber floors in 3 bedrooms & 2 living areas. That would involve moving every bit of furniture in the house out  

[MitchellMc]

Yes, something like that, which has sat on the surface @joffa101.

You could always do one room at a time; no need to do it all at once. If you can do a reasonable job of re-staining those areas, you can go over the existing coating with Cabot's CFP, just need to do a test section to make sure it adheres. However, given the coating on there is compromised to a certain extent, you can't guarantee the longevity of the new topcoat. If the old coating continues to flake off, the new coating might come with it.

Mitchell