I purchased a property 2 years ago which had concrete floors throughout. I’m a lover of real wood floors so I decided to put down kiln dried soft wood, which is cheaper than hardwood but alot stronger than normal softwood. The whole process had taken me about 2 weeks to put down but the results were brilliant. My next step was to decide on Colour and whether to use a stain or a wax. The colour I selected was an almost black stain (Jacobean mixed with another stain to create almost black) after speaking to various people I decided to go with a stain because it would enhance the grain far better than a wax would. Once the stain was applied it looked absolutely fantastic and made the house look brilliant throughout. However my next hurdle was what product do I use to seal and protect the flooring from heavy traffic. This was the area where people’s opinions were very much divided. The product I opted for was a 'Ronseal diamond hard gloss finish' which would enhance the grain even further. I followed the directions on the tin and applied the varnish three times. Once it had dried I went over the floor with some low grade wire wool and the floor looked like glass....perfect. I purchased a proper floor polisher etc to keep the appearance looking great.
2 years on and the floor has some very serious traffic patches which look awful and I’m now in the process of thinking about sorting it out. Before I go any further I would like some advice on what to do next. Do I sand the floor down back pine all thou i'm going to use another almost black stain?
Do I use a stain again or is there something else available to enhance the grain look?
What is the best product available for Varnishing. I need the floor varnish to last alot longer this time?
Let me recap
• Do I sand back to pine?
• Stain or wax?
• What make of varnish?
I know the story is long but its better to get the whole picture. I hope you guys and girls out there can help
AndyP
