Pine Flooring

[Mike.C]

Hi All,

I am about to lay a mixture of new 8 and 10 inch pine floor boards in our house and i want to make them look like they have been down for a few decades. Any ideas on what finish i can use?

Regards

Mike

 

[Mike.C]

Come on you guys someone must an idea?

Regards

Mike

 

[Chris Knight]

Mike,
I would ask your question here, it is one of the best and most active finishing forums (fora?) http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/phpBB2/index.php?sid=cec7ee3d81d47af6364e76df13a1d691

I would have thought some sort of amber stain and possibly a bit of sensitive distressing would produce the effect you want. Potassium dichromate might work quite well.

As always with stains - do several checks on offcuts and in both artificial and daylight before tackling the real thing - otherwise you are guaranteed an upset.

 

[Mdotflorida]

Hi Mike

Best I can come up with is to lend you my six year old son and his friends for an afternoon. They could take it from brand new to well used in a couple of hours flat !!! I have the floor to prove it.

Jeff

 

[Mike.C]

Hi All,

Waterhead, thanks very much i am sure i will find my answer on that site. As for the distressing i noticed that you said sensitive and i agree, one or two worm holes to many and it can look a right mess.

Jeff thanks but i have got one of those already.

Regards

Mike

 

[Noel]

Mike,

When you say "new pine boards" are we talking ordinary white pine from the local yard or somethinf else? I went this about five years ago.

Rgds

Noel

 

[Mike.C]

Hi Noely,

In a way yes they are ordinary white pine boards from the local yard.

When i say "in a way" i mean that the wood itself is the same wood that would have been made into floor boards (2 of them had been), but i got it cheap before it was machined. apprantly timber yard had gone bust and i got 300m2 at a auction.

I have now machined them myself.

Regards

Mike

 

[Mike.C]

Hi Noely,

You asked if my timber was the ordinary white pine from a timber yard are you going to tell me what way you went 5 years ago. As i am still trying to find the best way to treat these boards.

I do not know what it is but i am finding it very hard to get any advice on finishing, is it me, or do we lack the knowledge in this subject?

Regards

Mike.C

 

[Alf]

I do not know what it is but i am finding it very hard to get any advice on finishing, is it me, or do we lack the knowledge in this subject?

Can't speak for anyone else, but I know I'm woefully ignorant on the subject and therefore reluctant to give my unreliable advice.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Noel]

Sorry Mike, lost the plot.....
No, the reason I asked if the boards were new or not was that I used relaimed (about 90 Sq Yds worth) pine about 5 years ago and thought maybe you were using reclaimed timber. As your timber is a bit fresher not sure what I can offer. I've personally never found a satisfactory method of distressing / ageing new pine. It is possible, no doubt, but any I've seen or tried still looks "new".
I can certainly waffle on about old pine if you're interested?

Rgds

Noel

 

[Mike.C]

Hi ALF,

When you look at the superb quality of work by members on both this forum and elsewhere i find it unbelievable that we cannot come up with a decent finish for pine furniture or flooring. After all it does not matter how good your project has turned out if you can't lay on a good finish you might as well bin it.

The answer maybe that we are all snob's and pine is not good enough for us.

Regards

Mike.C

 

[Alf]

Pine snobs? Nah, I don't think so. True, in my case I hardly ever use pine, so my knowledge of finishing it is very limited. But then I hardly ever use walnut either. Ergo I'm a walnut snob? :wink: Have you tried the advice centre at Finney's btw?

Cheers, Alf

 

[Aragorn]

Mike
Finishing new pine to make it look old is the age old problem!
I sometimes have to make repairs to pine floors, but where possible I always use reclaimed (i.e. always! can't beat that look).
For new pine, I make a stain mix from Morrells Light Walnut, plus a green or red stain in small quantities depending on which way the pine colour needs to go (i.e if it's too green, add red, if it's too red add green, small quantites): this all goes into a meths base to dilute it down to the right kind of shade.
I've spent some time perfecting the mix and it gives an attractive old pine colour. For a floor, varnish it with a water based varnish 4-5 coats and then to get the older look, how about waxing it? You could build up areas of well waxed and buffed bits for the polished look and sand it down more in places for the worn look.
Hope that helps!

 

[Mike.C]

Noely,

The plot heh? I got the wrong end of the stick or was that the floor board.

When you asked if " i was using New Pine Boards as you went this way 5 years ago " i thought that you were going to tell me how you made them look old. But i now see what you mean.
By the way are reclaimed boards expensive?

Thanks Alf i will try Finneys.

Aragorn. Thanks very much I will certainly try what you suggest.

Regards

Mike

 

[Aragorn]

Around here (south) reclaimed pine is around £0.80 - £1.00 a foot (seemingly regardless of width). Depending on the reclaimation yard it will come as ripped up or with all metal removed. I pay a little more and get the metal removed option. Can't stand sharpening planer blades :wink:

 

[Keith Smith]

I think that the reason no one has come up with the perfect solution for treating a new softwood floor is that there isn't one.

I personally never stain pine and just use caustic soda and/or tea to take away that new look, it soon mellows if it is exposed to sunlight.

As for floors I think your best bet would be to seal the floor with a floor sealer and then wax, if you don't seal the wood first dirt will get under the wax and into the wood and it soon looks a mess.

Hard finishes (varnish) on new softwood are easily damaged and are hard to repair; and oil soaks in so much it is hard to get any finish.

 

[Mike.C]

Hi All,

Although i hate to admit it it looks like i have made a huge mistake buying and turning this pine into floor boards, because from what has been said here and elsewhere it does not appear that i am going to get a satisfactory finish what ever i do.

Before i install them i am still going to try the tips i have been given, but to be honest i do not hold out much hope.

I am a bit cheesed off really because i have already turned a lot of the wood i got at auction into floor boards, but all is not lost because if i do not use them i can always use the table saw to cut the T&G off (all bloody 4 sides) and use it on some other project.

So it looks like reclaimed is the only way to go.

Thank you all for trying.

Regards

Mike.C

 

[Noel]

Hard luck Mike, guess everyday is a school day...
Although hard to swallow I think you've come to the right conclusion. As well as the general look of reclaimed boards the odd rusty stain and water mark gives them a character all of their own. Pine is obviously not the most wear resitant of floor coverings but we're very happy with the end result and it wasn't a nightmare to lay either.
Couple of pics:

As you can see the kids have been at it....

Not quite as yellow due to the lights.
The saddle boards are beech, which matches well.

Rgds

Noel

 

[Keith Smith]

Mike the seal and wax does give an acceptable finish but if you do decide not to use them why not use the fact that they are t&g and glue them up into wider boards

 

[Mike.C]

Hi All,

Keith not a bad idea.

Noely nice job, and your right the beech does work well.

When you got your reclaimed boards what sort of condition did they come in? I know Aragorn said that you can have them de-nailed, but i am talking about prep wise e.g. did you have to sand them lightly or a lot? The reason i ask is i have seen someone on Discovery Home & Leisure shoving the boards through a thicknesser and they still came out showing age, or that is what it looked like on the TV anyway.

How wide are the boards you laid?

Once again thank you all for your help.

Regards

Mike.C